Disclaimer: WHY CAN'T I OWN NARUTO?!
We were waiting for our new sensei to arrive. He was late. Really late. Naruto would complain and Sakura would nag him. This has gone on for a couple of hours now. I was trying extremely hard to refrain from knocking myself out.
I was sitting on top of a desk next to Sasuke, trying to block out Naruto and Sakura's bickering, when Sasuke asked me in a suspicious voice, "Why did you run away from Naruto and I earlier?" I glanced over at him.
'Sharp. He really doesn't miss a thing.'
"I didn't want to get into the middle of a stupid fight between you two."
"Hn." he grunted out, narrowing his obsidian eyes at me for a moment before turning away.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" I heard Sakura yell. I looked over to see Naruto standing on a stool, placing an eraser on top of the doorway.
"That's what he gets for coming late. Surprise!" Naruto stated as he jumped down, beaming. Sakura scolded him.
"Hn. Our teacher's a Jounin, an elite ninja. You think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke questioned.
"Yeah, Sasuke's right. You're so clueless Naruto."
I rolled my eyes. Of course Sakura would agree with him. I wanted to say something about it, but I know I shouldn't get into a fight with her, so I just said, "Hey, you never know," and smiled at Naruto, giving him a thumbs up. I kind of wanted it to work as payback for our sensei for being so late heh heh...
We saw a hand reaching for the door, and a head popped in, with the eraser hitting it straight on. It was quiet for a second, before Naruto burst out laughing. I laughed too, and tried to smother it with my hand over my mouth.
"I'm sorry Sensei! I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen. I'd never do something like that." Sakura declared. 'Psh. Kiss up.'
I looked at our sensei for his reaction. Wait, silver hair?
'Kakashi. This will be interesting.'
"Hmm, how can I put this? My first impression of this group: You're a bunch of idiots."
I grinned at him.
We were now up on the roof, facing our sensei who was leaning against the railing. I sat on the bottom step Indian style in front of Sasuke, with Naruto to my left, and Sakura to my right.
"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time." Kakashi-sensei said.
"Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?" I had to agree with Sakura on that one, I had no clue what to say.
"Things you like, things you hate. Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that." he replied.
"Why don't you tell us stuff? I mean, before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work." Naruto told him. 'Oh, I wanna hear this.'
"Me?" Sensei pointed to himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate... I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future, never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies." Well, I kind of expected him to answer something like that.
"Okay, your turn. You on the right, you're first."
"Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said, adjusting his headband. I almost giggled. He always used that catchphrase. He continued, "I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"
'Oh Naruto.' I inwardly sighed. I hated how the other villagers treated him. I don't understand why they would do that to him...
Kakashi-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Alright, next."
"I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like, uh, I mean the person I like is," she blushed and glanced at Sasuke. "My hobby is, uh," she continued to stare and blush at him, and giggled. "My dream for the future is..." she flat out squealed.
'Kami. Is that all she thinks about?' I was disgusted by it. Even though I had a crush on Naruto, I still focused hard on my training, trying to improve constantly. I didn't obsess over him.
"And? What do you hate?" Sensei asked her.
"Naruto!" she screamed, and poor Naruto looked devastated. I sent a glare at her.
'I'm still always here for you Naruto...'
"Next."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." I turned around to watch him as he spoke. "I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything." Sakura whimpered. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan," My heart pounded. I felt him. "and destroy a certain someone." He glimpsed at me. I turned back around. I felt chills go up my back. I pulled my knees to my body, hugging them with my arms. Silence.
"Okay, last one."
"...My name is Yuki Ryuho. I like to be with my friends. I hate... foolish people. A big hobby of mine is training. My dream is to become strong, to make my clan proud of me, and... to..." I paused. "to protect those who are precious to me." Kakashi-sensei intensely stared into my eyes, before nodding.
"Good. You're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."
Kakashi-sensei then went on to explain that we are having a make-it-or-break-it test tomorrow, and there was a big chance we could fail.
"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway!?" Naruto yelled.
"Oh that. That was just to select candidates who might become Genin. Or not." Kakashi said.
"Whaaat?!"
"That's how it is. I decide whether you pas or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5 A.M. And bring your ninja gear."
'Forget this, I'm going to pass! I've worked too hard and long not to! Kakashi knows it too! I will not lose.'
"That's it, you're dismissed. Oh, and tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else, you'll puke." Sensei added.
I narrowed my eyes. It was going to be tough.
It was 5 A.M. The sun hadn't even risen yet, and I was walking to where we were supposed to meet. I felt like I was going to fall over of tiredness any second. As I arrived, so did everyone else. Everyone looked exhausted except for Sasuke.
I furrowed my eyebrows. 'Wow. I really should wake up and be more alert like him.'
I stood up straighter and rubbed my eyes as we met in the middle. "Good morning." I greeted them. Naruto let out an indecipherable noise, Sakura gave me a half evil, half sleepy look, which I ignored, and Sasuke just crossed his arms and grunted. After we stood around for about ten minutes, I figured Sensei would be late again, and suggested we sit down, so we did.
Naruto was pretty much sitting up asleep, and started to lean towards Sakura. She shrieked and pushed him away.
I sighed. I then tapped his shoulder and patted my lap. He smiled gratefully at me, before basically falling over onto it. I bit my lip. 'Am I his second choice?'
Sakura tried to do the same thing multiple times with Sasuke, failing every time, before finally just deciding to rest using her bag as a pillow.
After a while, I looked over to find Sasuke glaring at me. I raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"
"What's with you and the dobe?" he pointed at Naruto, looking repulsed.
I looked down and noticed I had been absent-mindedly stroking his soft hair, and stopped. I shrugged, "He was tired."
Sasuke snorted. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't act like you're better then me Uchiha." What was his problem?
He looked almost... apologetic? Sad? Before he looked away and shifted back to emotionless.
'You know, you're not alone Sasuke...'
I sighed. "It's okay Sasuke." I whispered almost inaudibly.
-.-.-
It was hours later, and we were all awake in the bright sun.
"Morning everyone. Ready for your first day?"
Naruto and Sakura snapped up, screaming, "Hey, you're late!" at Kakashi-sensei.
"A black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." he replied. I smirked.
"Well," he cleared his throat, "let's get started."
He walked over to a tree stump and placed an alarm clock on top of it. "Here we go. It's set for noon."
He pulled three bells out of his pocket. "Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it." he said as he jingled the bells. I knew not to underestimate him.
"If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and watch as I eat my lunch in front of you."
'That's why he told us to skip breakfast! To make it harder. Ugh.'
"Wait a minute, there's four of us. How come there's only three bells?" I asked him.
Kakashi-sensei smiled. "Well that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy."
I growled. Not me.
"Then again, all four of you could flunk out too. You can use any weapons including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."
"Those weapons are too dangerous sensei!" Sakura exclaimed.
Naruto laughed. "Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser."
I shook my head. 'Silly Naruto and Sakura.'
"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores, losers." Kakashi-sensei said. I could tell Naruto was getting angry.
"When I say start, you can begin."
Suddenly, Naruto was running at him with a kunai, but Sensei stopped him with one hand, and pulled Naruto's arm back, making the kunai point at the back of his head.
"Don't be in such a hurry, I didn't say start yet." I backed up a little. I needed to be prepared for anything to happen at any minute.
"But, you came at me with the full intention of destroying me, so, how can I say this? I'm actually starting to like you guys." I smiled a little bit.
"Get ready, aaaaand," I crouched down, "start!" I quickly jumped away. I went into a tree where I could hide and watch Kakashi-sensei.
"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements, and hide effectively." Sensei stated out loud. I carefully peeked around. Everyone was hidden well.
"You and me right now! Fair and square! Let's go!" I face-palmed. 'Dammit Naruto!'
Kakashi-sensei looked at him. "You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit weird."
"Oh yeah? The only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto shot back. I had to choke back a snicker.
Naruto started sprinting towards Sensei, but stopped dead in his tracks as Kakashi started to pull something out of his pocket. "Shinobi Battle Techniques; Part One: Taijutsu. The physical part."
'Wait, taijutsu is had-to-hand combat, so why is he pulling something out of his pocket?' I wondered.
He slowly pulled out... a book? Icha Icha Paradise? I sweatdropped.
Sensei told Naruto to go ahead and attack, that his weak moves wouldn't effect him. Naruto dashed towards him, trying to land kicks and punches, but to no avail. Sensei blocked every one without even taking his eyes off the book.
Out of nowhere, Kakashi-sensei disappeared and ended up behind Naruto! 'Be careful Naruto!'
"Don't let your enemy get behind you."
'Is that... a tiger hand seal?! That's completely dangerous!'
"Naruto! Get out of there!" I screamed out at him. He looked confusedly in my direction.
"Too late. Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu:" Kakashi-sensei said. I held my breath as his hands headed for Naruto. He... poked him in the butt. "A Thousand Years of Death!" Naruto went flying into the river.
Of course. Of course. He would do something like that.
As Sensei pulled his book back out, two shuriken came soaring at him from out of the water. He caught them easily with his fingers. Naruto crawled out, soaking wet. I couldn't hear what Sensei and him were saying, they were too far away at this point. Abruptly, a group of Narutos burst out of the water.
"Ha ha! You're over-confident Sensei! That's why you weren't ready for my best attack, my Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
My eyes widened. 'What?! Shadow clones?! That must have been what he wasn't telling me that night! That's such a powerful jutsu, how did he learn that?!' I was shocked.
"Great technique, but I don't think you can maintain it for very long." Sensei said as the clones charged at him. "You talk like you're the best Naruto, but you're still the worst student. You can't beat me with this jutsu." A clone then jumped on Sensei's back from behind.
I blushed, grinning. 'Yeah Naruto! Go get him!'
They all piled on top of him, holding him down, as one jumped up and threw a punch heading straight for Kakashi-sensei's face. Wait... Sensei was gone! Naruto ended up punching himself in the face?! After fighting with all of his clones, he finally dispelled the jutsu, revealing no Sensei and a bruised Naruto. Kakashi had used a simple replacement jutsu. Naruto just made himself look pretty lame.
I squinted my eyes. There was something shiny by the tree. A bell! It was obviously a trap though... Naruto wouldn't fall for it... Would he?
I sweatdropped. The answer was yes, as I watched him get yanked up into the tree, hanging there with his feet tied by a rope.
Kakashi-sensei hopped out, and walked over. He started to lecture Naruto about not taking obvious bait. 'This is my chance! His guard is down! I can't fail!'
I threw a kunai at him, aiming straight for his head, but he dodged. I leaped out of the tree, sending more kunais and shuriken at him. He continued to avoid them. I got closer and started throwing faster. He kept dodging! I growled.
I was right in front of him now, fighting him hand-to-hand. I aimed a dropkick for him, but he moved out of the way. I landed in a squatting position, and whipped my head around to see a foot flying at me. I quickly flung myself on the ground and rolled away as he tried to punch me in the gut. I jumped back up and continued to attack him. I pulled my arm back, and sent my fist flying towards his face. He grabbed my wrist inches away and held it there. I threw my other arm towards the bells, but he stopped that one also. I was about to lift my foot and knee him where it would hurt, but he stepped on it.
He looked me straight in the eyes. "Why aren't you using your technique?" he asked me.
I smirked at him. "Because I'm taking it easy on you Sensei."
In a flash, he let go of my arm and his fist connected with my cheek, sending me flying backwards. I landed roughly on my back, my skull bouncing on the ground. I heard some gasps.
I slowly got up onto my knees, tenderly rubbing my jaw. 'Uuuugh...' My head was throbbing.
"Don't get too confident Yuki." I heard him say. "Go ahead and try to use your kekkei genkai. It won't even help you."
I looked up at him and narrowed my eyes. I could feel my chakra burning inside of me. My hands heated up. "Fine, but you asked for it."
I sprang up, and flung myself at him. When my fist was near his face, it burst into flames. He narrowly dodged. I swiftly aimed a kick at him, my foot also in flames. He jumped back. I continued throwing my self at him, my hands and feet covered in fire. It was happening so fast, I felt like everything was a blur. He then leaped back, landing about 20 feet away from me.
"Is that all you got?" he asked in a mocking tone.
I wiped a tiny bit of blood dribbling from the corner of my mouth away. "Puh-lease." I responded.
'Concentrate. He's trying to make you mad.' I focused my chakra to my hands. I made a couple of hand seals. "Hinotama no Jutsu!" A small ball of fire appeared in one. I threw it at him. He skidded away.
'How does he keep avoiding everything?!' I kept throwing small balls of fire at him with my hands. He would jump and each one would miss.
'Wait, that's it!' I sent a ball of fire at him, and he hopped up into the air to dodge it. I made a larger ball of fire and threw it at the ground where he would land. It exploded, and created a large cloud of smoke.
I fell onto my knees, panting hard. I had used up a lot of my energy. 'Yes! Now I can go get a bell!' The smoke started to clear slightly. 'I knew I could do it.' I thought proudly as I smiled. I looked down at my hitai-ate. 'I've definitely earned this.'
"Not so faaast." I heard someone say in a sing song voice.
My head snapped up. 'What? No!'
I had used up a lot of energy, and my body felt exhausted. 'I can't give up though.' I shakily got up, resting my hands on my knees as support, I was still breathing hard.
"That's it? I expected more from a member of the Ryuho Clan. I'm pretty disappointed." he said as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. He jingled the bells.
'He's just trying to get you riled up.'
"You're family must be disappointed as well. Oh wait, they're not here anymore, are they?" My jaw dropped.
"Because you're too weak." My body started shaking. My eyes glazed over. I could feel the anger seeping through. 'How dare he?!'
"You were too weak to protect them." A rage filled me. I think someone screamed. It was a blur after that.
Sasuke's POV
I observed silently from my hiding spot, watching Yuki and Kakashi battle. They were gaining speed every second, and Yuki finally started to use her kekkei genkai. They were moving so fast, it was hard to keep up.
'Hn. She has improved a lot since we were younger. I'm still faster of course, but she's definitely no weakling. I wonder why she hangs out with that baka Naruto...'
I looked on, as Kakashi jumped farther away. Yuki did a couple of hand seals, and started to sling balls of fire at him. It reminded me of something.
Flashback
Why couldn't I just get this jutsu right? I was trying so hard. I'll never be like Itachi, and my father will just hate me. I tried again, and only a small burst of fire came out of my mouth.
"Hey Sasuke!" I looked over to see Yuki standing there grinning and waving at me, her other small hand clasped in her father's. She said something to him, and he nodded. She smiled, then started running towards me. "Bye Otou-san!" she yelled out. He chuckled, shaking his head and walking away.
She came up next to me on the dock. "Konichiwa Sasuke." she said.
I nodded my head towards her. "Hi Yuki. What are you doing here?"
She shrugged. "My dad came to see yours. I didn't want to be stuck with them so I decided to come stay with you instead."
She then squinted her eyes and leaned towards me. "What's that?" she asked, as she pointed at my face and then poked it. I winced and jerked back. "Ow!" I narrowed my eyes at her, gently touching the wounds. "They're burns."
Her eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry!" When I didn't respond, she pouted and gave me puppy dog eyes.
I rolled my eyes at her. "It's fine."
She beamed, and reached into one of her pockets to pull something out. "Here." she said, taking out a small container.
"What is it?" I asked her as she started to open it.
She held it out to me. "It's a burn cream. I don't really use it much anymore, my skin's almost completely immune by now."
I crossed my arms and turned my head away. "Psh, I don't need that." I heard her sigh. I then felt something cold on my face, and yelped.
"Quit being such a big baby!" I opened my eyes and saw her hand rubbing the cream on around my mouth. I gave in.
"I'm not a big baby." I mumbled.
She giggled. "Of course not Sasuke." I could feel my face heat up slightly from embarrassment.
She retracted her hand and closed the container, putting it back into her pocket. I did feel a lot better now. "Arigato." I said.
"No problem. So whatcha doing?" she asked me.
"I'm trying to master the Gokakyu no Jutsu." I told her.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "Isn't it too early for that?"
I clenched my fists. "Itachi learned it at an even earlier age."
"You're not Itachi though Sasuke, you're you. You should just take things at your own pace."
I snapped. "But you don't understand! It's all about Itachi! I want to make my father proud of me, like he is of him!" She backed up a little, her eyes wide and wet. Oh no, I didn't mean to make her cry! I hated it when girls cried. She was just trying to be nice.
"I'm sorry Yuki." I said softly.
She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "It's okay."
She then smiled. "I'm too sensitive sometimes. So, want me to help you out with it?"
"Really?!" I asked eagerly.
"Sure! Show me what you've got so far." she instructed.
"Okay." I took a deep breath and prepared myself. I didn't want her to think I was weak or lame.
I made the hand seals. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
Once again, a small flare of fire came out of my mouth. She would probably laugh at me now. I turned to see her reaction.
"Good." she said. Wait, what? "Okay, now let me give you some tips."
She closed her eyes, and held out a hand. "For fire techniques, they come naturally to me, but you need to really concentrate. Focus on your flowing chakra. Make it feel like it's burning. This will probably hurt the first couple of times, but you'll get used to it." I watched as a small fire ignited on her palm.
"Then focus that burning chakra to certain spot of the body. In your case, your mouth." The fire turned into a ball.
"Then, when you really improve, you can do things like this." The fire started swirling around in a pretty pattern, before she shut her palm and it vanished. "I can't hold it for very long right now, but I'll work on it. Now you try."
I exhaled. Okay, I can do this. Concentrate. I did what she told me. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
The fire was a lot bigger this time! It wasn't full yet, but much better! Otou-san will like this.
"Yuki! Come, we're leaving!" a deep voice said from the distance.
"Coming Otou-san!" she yelled back.
She turned and grinned at me, giving me a small hug."See, I knew you could do it!"
I smiled. "Arigato again."
She laughed and ran off, waving at me. I waved back. "Bye Yuki!" I called after her. I heard a faint "Sayonara!"
I tuned back to the lake. Time for more practice.
I growled, shaking my head. I was such a naïve fool back then.
As Kakashi was in the air, Yuki's face lit up. She threw another fireball at him, and them a bigger one at the ground where he would land. It exploded in a cloud of smoke. 'Hn. Smart move.'
She fell to the ground, panting. She must be tired from using so much chakra.
"Not so faaast." It was Kakashi, I could see him as the smoke began to clear.
"That's it? I expected more from a member of the Ryuho Clan. I'm pretty disappointed." he said as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. He jingled the bells. She slowly got up.
"Your family must be disappointed as well. Oh wait, they're not here anymore, are they? Because you're too weak." I could see the shock on Yuki's face. It was a completely low blow, but he was obviously trying to make her mad. Could she stay calm...?
"You were too weak to protect them."
I heard Naruto and Sakura gasp, then scream "Kakashi-sensei!"
Yuki's eyes glazed over, but that quickly changed. She became angry, a burning aura seeping off of her. She made some hand seals, ending with the tiger one. "Katon: Moeru Senpu!"
She screamed and raised her fist over her head, and slammed it into the ground. Suddenly, a ring up fire sprang up around her and Kakashi. My eyes widened. As she was running towards him, the ring of fire grew bigger, and turned into half of a sphere. They were completely surrounded by flames. It was deadly quiet. None of us knew what was going to happen. After a few suspenseful moments, a body came soaring high and fast out of the flames. The body flew into the river, and the flames died down into nothing.
Kakashi was standing there. He took out his little book and began reading.
I looked over to the river. Nothing. 'Did he kill her?!' A hand shot out. 'No.' I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.
She climbed out onto her hands and knees, soaking wet and shivering. 'How can she still be up?' She tried to move, but stopped.
"I'm sorry Yuki. You know I didn't mean it, I was just aiming to make you mad. It worked too. Good try though. Another lesson: Shinobi are not supposed to show emotion."
She looked dazed, and then promptly passed out.
I stood there frozen, startled by everything that had just happened. 'Forget about it.' It was my chance now, and I was going to get a bell.
I flung some shuriken at him, and they hit. I heard Naruto shriek that I'd taken it too far. I smirked. I was about to hop out, when Kakashi poofed into a log.
'Another substitution jutsu!' I began to jump from branch to branch to get away. 'Now he knows where I'm hiding. I've got to move fast. I thought he lowered his guard, but he did it on purpose, and I fell for it.'
Yuki's POV (FanFiction isn't allowing me to underline that -_- So let's just pretend it is c;)
It was dark and cold. I cracked open my eyes. I saw a bright blue sky. My whole body hurt.
'What happened?' I thought as I dragged myself up. I then remembered my fight with Kakashi-sensei. He had kicked me out into the river. I had gotten drenched to the bone.
My chakra was intertwined with fire element, my kekkei genkai, so I could easily use fire jutsus, although I preferred to only use taijutsu when I could as to not waste my energy. It was one of the secrets of my clan. Getting sent into the water basically shut my chakra system down. I had mostly dried off by now though, since I had been laying passed out in the sun for who knows how long.
I also then remembered how Sensei had said he was just playing with me, and that a shinobi should not show emotion. A vein popped out on my head. 'I'm gonna get that baka! I let my emotions take control and totally embarrassed myself!'
I knew there probably wasn't much time left, and I still needed to get a bell. I painfully got up to my feet. I felt like I might pass out again. I think I was suffering from minor chakra exhaustion, considering I had freaked out and used Moeru Senpu, which consumes a huge amount of chakra. I just couldn't give up though. I didn't waste years at the academy for nothing! I started walking towards the forest. I couldn't move very fast, and held a kunai alertly in my hand in case Kakashi-sensei ambushed me. My muscles were aching and I was covered in small scratches here and there. I was a ninja and I could take it though, I've been through worse. As I began to walk through a tiny clearing, something pink caught my eye.
'Is that Sakura? Why is she laying there? Did she faint?'
I came closer to get a better look and was surprised by what I found. I couldn't help but laugh. He narrowed his eyes at me. I only laughed harder. After finally calming down, I leaned over.
"Whatcha doin Sasuke?" I asked, grinning. He glared at me.
I snickered and began to dig around his head. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there."
As I was working on getting him out, I nudged my head towards Sakura and asked, "What happened to her?" I paused for a moment, then reached over and closed her legs. She better appreciate that.
"I don't know. She came out of nowhere and then fainted."
"Ah, what a wonderful teammate." I said, letting out a chuckle.
After I finished digging him out, we stood over Sakura, waiting for her to wake up. Even if I didn't like her, I wanted to at least make sure she was okay.
She was finally awakening. She jumped up and grabbed onto Sasuke, shrieking that he was alright. He tried pushing her away off, shouting at her to let go. I grabbed my ears, my headache intensifying.
I shakily got up to my feet, Sasuke following my lead as he got rid of Sakura and also stood up. My vision was a little funny, but I ignored it.
"I've got to get a bell before lunch. That doesn't leave much time." I nodded in agreement with his statement. Sakura shot me a nasty glare.
"Sasuke, you're still trying to get one of those bells?" 'Duh, that's what we're supposed to do baka.'
"A while ago, I touched one. Next time, I'll get one." Sasuke said. I liked his determination, I felt the same way. I smiled.
"That is really great. I can't believe you did that. You're amazing." she babbled. I rolled my eyes.
She continued, "Uh, it's almost lunch. There's not really enough time left, so maybe we should just give up and try again next year." I glared at her. I could not believe it. A whole year?! Holy Kami, she really was an idiot. She didn't care about being a ninja at all. She didn't deserve that hitai-ate she was wearing. I would've reached over and snatched it off her head if I hadn't felt so ill.
"You sicken me Sakura." I spat out at her, before turning to walk away. I stopped when I heard a deep voice though.
"I'm the only one, who can destroy that person. I'm an avenger. I need this training and there's no time for setbacks." I looked over my shoulder, and saw Sasuke standing there, staring at the ground.
'Is he... talking about Itachi?'
"That day... I was crying..."
"W-when were you crying?" Sakura asked.
"It was my..."
"Sasuke..." I whispered. I knew how hard this was for him. I just wanted to go over and hug him, like I would when we were little. I just wanted to him to be like the old Sasuke I knew, but... that Sasuke was gone. That happy little boy had been crushed. His innocence was stolen. I felt like I could literally feel his pain.
He looked up and our eyes met for a moment. Then a bell rang.
I whipped back around, my mouth wide open. 'No!'
"Dammit!" I screamed, throwing my kunai into the ground. I put my face in my hands, it was burning. 'Was that really it? All my years of trying so hard, for nothing? Am I really that weak? It can't be over yet... He'll have to give us more time or something, anything...' I felt like my head was going to explode.
"Uh, I wasted too much time!" I heard Sasuke say.
I started to walk back towards the posts, but halted, swaying back and forth. There was black splotches in my vision. I could barely hear, but I think Sakura said my name. I grabbed my head. I started to fall over, but someone caught me. Sasuke. I grabbed his arm for support and straightened myself up, taking deep breaths.
"What's wrong with you?" he questioned.
"Chakra exhaustion." I manged to get out. He grabbed my other arm to help steady me.
"It's okay." I told him. "It was just a short dizzy spell."
Sakura was staring at me, and said a little too sweetly for my liking, "Chakra exhaustion is very dangerous." Was she smiling? I glared at her.
I pushed away from Sasuke. "Just need to get some food in me. I'm fine. I'm not a weakling like some people." I said, looking pointedly at Sakura. She just lifted her nose up at me. We began to walk back, Sakura latching onto Sasuke's arm, him pushing her off, and me trying not to keel over.
-.-.-
Naruto ended up tied to the post. I sat in front of him while Sasuke and Sakura were on either side on of him. I pulled my hood up to try to block some of the blinding sun from my eyes. It wasn't helping my headache very much.
"Yuki, you okay?" Sensei asked with a raised eyebrow.
I crossed my arms and stared hard at him. "Perfectly peachy." All of our stomachs then rumbled in perfect harmony. I sweatdropped.
"Uh oh, stomachs growling, huh? That's too bad." He raised a finger, "Oh, by the way, about this exercise, well, I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy." Naruto and Sakura started cheering.
'What the... Something's not right here... Naruto fell into an obvious trap, Sakura just fainted, not sure what happened with Sasuke, and I fought Sensei, but failed to retrieve a bell...'
"Then, then, that means all four of us, I mean all four of us-"
Kakashi-sensei cut Naruto off, "Yes, all four of you are being dropped from the program, permanently." I stopped breathing.
"Drop us from the program?! That means we can never become ninja! You said if we couldn't take the bells we'd be sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that?!" Naruto shouted as he fidgeted like crazy under the ropes.
"Cause you don't think like ninja. You think like little kids, like brats." he replied. I felt a flare of anger inside me, but still felt too weak to do anything about it. He knew how hard I worked!
Sasuke on the other hand ran at Kakashi-sensei to attack him, but Sensei caught him and pinned him down, twisting Sasuke's arm behind his back and placing his foot on top of Sasuke's head. "You think it's all about you." he said to him.
"Hey!" I yelled out at Sensei.
"LET GO OF SASUKE! HE'S NOT JUST SOME BUG YOU CAN STEP ON!" Sakura screeched.
"Dammit Sakura, stop screaming!" I yelled at her, covering my ears again. I felt like blood was rushing around in my head at 100 miles per hour.
"You don't know what it means to be a ninja, you think it's a game, huh?" Sensei asked Sakura. "Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?"
"I don't know what you mean!" she replied.
"I mean, you never realized what this exercise is all about, not even close." he said.
"What it's about?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Yes, that's what determines whether you pass, or fail."
"But that's, I mean, I wanted to ask you about that from the beginning..." Sakura trailed off.
"Tch, use your head. Four people on a squad, why do you think we would do that?" It hit me then.
"Aaah! How are we supposed to know why you picked four people?! We didn't make the rules!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Teamwork." I whispered.
"Yes Yuki, teamwork. It's so basic." Sensei said. "If all four of you had come at me together, you might have been able to get the bells. Too late now though." I felt stupid. It was so simple.
Sakura questioned the bells and Kakashi-sensei explained how we were supposed to be a team and overcome that.
"Sakura! You obsessed over Sasuke who was gone, while Naruto and Yuki were right in front of you, and you wouldn't lift a finger to help them!" Sensei hollered. "Naruto! You do everything on your own, everything. Sasuke! You thought the others were far beneath you and worthless. Arrogance. Yuki! You actually helped out the others, getting closest to the meaning of the test, but not fully. You also let your emotions take control during our battle, even when you knew I was purposely trying to upset you, and exhausted yourself sick! I bet you're suffering from chakra exhaustion now." I averted my eyes.
"Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course you need individual skills, but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad, this can lead to failure, and even death."
He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a kunai. "For example, Sakura," he placed the kunai against Sasuke's neck, "kill Naruto and Yuki now, or Sasuke dies!"
My instincts kicked in, and I grabbed a skuriken out of my pouch and threw it at him. He easily deflected it.
He nodded at me. "That's what happens on a mission."
I heard Sakura and Naruto sigh in relief. "Oh boy, that was scary." she said.
"Yeah, and good job at doing nothing!" I said to her. She just scrunched her face up at me.
Kakashi-sensei continued, "The enemy takes a hostage, and you've got an impossible choice, and someone ends up dead."
He put the kunai away and got up. "On every mission, your life is on the line."
He walked over to a big rock. "Did you look at this stone? The names engraved on it? They are all ninja, who are honored as heroes in our village."
"That's it, that's it that's it! I've decided I want my name to be engraved on that stone! I'm not gonna live and die for nothing like a dog! I'm gonna be a hero, a hero!" Naruto blurted out. I shivered. 'I hope that will never happen. He doesn't know what that stone is for...'
"They are... a special kind of hero." Kakashi-sensei stated.
"Huh? What kind of heroes are they? C'mon, tell us!"
"K.I.A. heroes, Naruto. Killed in action." I said softly. It became quiet.
"This is a memorial stone. The names of some of my closest friends are engraved here." I turned away, my heart twisting. His name wasn't engraved there, but I knew my father was one of the people Kakashi-sensei was talking about.
He continued, "Alright, I'm going to give you one more chance, but I'm making it much harder on you. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch to build up strength, but, Naruto doesn't get any." He walked towards Naruto. "It's your punishment for trying to break the rules and eat lunch by yourself. And, if anyone tries to feed him, that person will immediately fail. I make the rules, you follow them, got it?"
-.-.-
We were sitting there eating lunch. I felt slightly better now, after resting and eating. I had some chakra left in me. If I had used it all, it could have been much worse.
Naruto was tied to the post watching us. "I'm fine! I can go without eating lunch for weeks, believe it!" he said, but his stomach rumbled, disproving that.
I felt horrible. He looked so sad. I couldn't take it anymore. I held out my tray towards him. "Here Naruto, take mine." Everyone stopped moving.
"B-but, Yuki, you'll fail!" he exclaimed.
"Hey, this is about teamwork, right?" I told him, grinning. I noticed Sasuke hold his tray out too.
"What?! No Sasuke! You heard what the sensei said, you'll fail!" Sakura said, ignoring me.
"Kakashi's gone. We need to get those bells as a team, and if Naruto's hungry, he'll be weak and ineffective."
He looked up at me. "You eat yours Yuki, you're still exhausted. This could hurt the team, and jeopardize the mission." I smiled at him. 'Aw, he totally so does care even if he won't admit it!'
Then something that completely surprised me happened. Sakura offered her lunch to Naruto. 'Is she doing it sincerely or because of Sasuke?' She even fed him, although she didn't seem too happy about it.
'Of course he accepts hers and wants her to feed him...' I felt rejected. I had to learn how to deal with it though, and not let it effect me. I slowly took some more bites of my own lunch, since I felt Sasuke's eyes staring at me, and he had told me I should eat it earlier. He then looked away, as if he approved. I rolled my eyes.
Suddenly, there was some dark clouds and a powerful gust of wind, knocking my hood off. I stood up in front Naruto and raised my arms to shield us. Kakashi's head popped out of the clouds. "You! You broke the rules. I hope you're ready for the punishment." he said menacingly.
He began to make some hand seals, and the sky darkened, lightning crackling throughout it. "Any last words?"
"But, but you..." I began.
"Yes?" he asked.
"You... you told us we're a team! We're a squad now, and we're supposed to be here for each other!" I shouted at him.
"Y-eah! That's why they offered me food!" Naruto agreed.
"We're all on this squad, and we're all in it together." I heard Sasuke say.
"Exactly!" I said.
"Yeah! We gave our lunch to him because the four of us are one!" 'A little cheesy, but that works too. Nice Sakura.' We may not like each other, but we are a team now, and we'll have to set aside our differences.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Believe it! That's right!"
"The four of you are one? That's your excuse?" Kakashi-sensei said, getting closer to us.
"It's not an excuse! It's the truth!" I replied.
He smiled. "Hmph. You pass." Nobody said anything. I wasn't sure if I heard him right. He repeated himself.
"What do you mean? How did we pass?" Sakura asked.
"You're the first squad that's ever succeeded. The others squads did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap, couldn't think for themselves." The skies cleared. "A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who breaks the rules are scum, that's true, but, those who abandon their friends, are worse than scum."
I couldn't believe it, we did it! I started to laugh.
"The exercise is over. Everyone passes. Squad 7 starts its first mission tomorrow!" Kakashi-sensei said, giving us a thumbs up. Sakura and Naruto let whoops of joy out, while Sasuke just closed his eyes and smirked. I knew I had a giant grin on my face. We got up. I would be a little sore, but fine by tomorrow after some meditation and a good sleep. Everyone started to walk home. I heard Naruto screaming at us and I jogged back, laughing.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't forget about you Naruto." I said, smiling. What a day.
A/N:
-ASDFGHJKL so school is starting in three days, and I have so much to do. Maybe I should get my sleeping schedule back on track, instead of staying up until 4:30 in the morning writing fanfiction -sweatdrops- On top of that, my laptop broke & it's gonna take a while for me to exchange it & receive the new one.
All of that means that I'll have less time to write & post, so please don't be mad at me if I don't update in a while.
To make up for it, I wrote this long chapter & fixed some minor mistakes in the last one :D
-Anyway, so we found out more about Yuki in this chapter. Her clan's kekkei genkai is that their chakra is intertwined with fire. I've seen a lot of OCs that have water and/or wind based jutsus, so I thought I'd make one with a fire base. Is there more to her clan? :o Or is that just it lol.
Also, how does she know Kakashi?! Dun dun dun...
-Hinotama no Justu: Fireball Jutsu -Finally, I see that this story is getting lots of views, so c'mon you shy chibi readers! Review! :D
Katon- Gokakyu no Jutsu: Fire release/style- Great Fireball Technique
Katon-Moeru Senpu: Fire release/style- Blazing Whirlwind
I'll give you plushies c: C'mon, who doesn't like those?!
