Well, my pretties, I have two reasons and two reason only for my absense:

One: CURSE YOU, WRITERS' BLOOOOOOOCK! T^T

Two: ...flamers are so cruel.

I've been dealing with a flamer on my Team Thirteen story who took it upon him/herself to insult my grasp of the English language, my writing skills, and my person in general simply because my story "killed off his/her brain cells", so I've been a bit busy. Sorry.

Anyways. I can't promise that I'll update soon, but I'll do my best. This story is going to follow Sakura throughout her entire time on Team Seven, so Sasori won't be back for awhile.

Also, the poem at the end: the last line basically means, "So that they may see just how far you'll go to succeed."

While I'm at it, I'd like to reply to a review from laelruin:

Thank you very much for telling me your concerns about the story. I just figured that since Lee could handle weights on his legs when he was twelve years old that caused mini-earthquakes to errupt when they hit the ground, a six-year-old could handle eleven-pound weights. Since they're all ninja, I'd expect them to be able to wear weights at a younger age than normal people — but that's just the way I see it. I'm sorry if you don't agree, but please pretend for the sake of my story, if you don't mind. Also, please don't be creeped out by Sasori's whole "You're gonna be my tool thing." (Haha, it does sound kinda creepy, now that I think about it...) It wasn't intended to be scary, and he won't be turning her into a human puppet; just think of their relationship like Zabuza and Haku's except without the whole "I'm about to be killed by this lightning attack; come stand in the way and get your guts blown out so I can live" part. And thank you so much for reading my story. :) It makes me very happy to know that you thought about it so much as to analyze the problems and still be interested in it.

Thank you all, as well. :)

Pleae read and review!


Underestimation


Sakura flattened herself to the ground beneath a thick tangle of undergrowth, Naruto at her side. Despite his compulsive nature, he knew not to yell out in complaint lest he give away their position. Kakashi stood in the middle of the clearing, glancing around curiously, and Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

The kunoichi could sense him, though — and it gave her an idea.

"Naruto," she whispered, voice so low that he had to strain to hear. "How good are you at making a clone?" To her confusion, his face split into a wide grin.

"Good enough, Sakura-chan," he replied quietly, eyes dancing with satisfaction.

"Can you conceal your chakra?" she asked. His blank look was all the answer she needed. "Alright, close your eyes." He did so without hesitation. "Relax. Feel your chakra. Don't grab it like you're about to do a jutsu; just touch it." It took him a second, but he accomplished it without fault. "Now, picture yourself throwing a cloak over it. Hide it."

She smiled as his chakra signature suddenly disappeared. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Kakashi's head snap up. He was a natural.

"Perfect, Naruto," she murmured, proud. "Just ignore your chakra; shove it away and pretend it isn't there. Then make a clone, but don't mask it's chakra."

He copied her as she followed her own instructions. Two clones appeared crouched behind them, and Clone Sakura grabbed Clone Naruto's arm.

"C'mon."

The copies leapt off and carefully made their way around the clearing to the opposite side, but just before they got situated, Sasuke made his move.

Kakashi ducked a sudden flurry of shuriken as if it was nothing. Head tilting to avoid a kunai to the face, he watched the Uchiha appear before him calmly.

"Ah. Sasuke." He smiled. "Well, I must say — I didn't expect you to be the first to attack. You're just like the other two."

"I'm not like them," he bit out distastefully.

In a flash, he flicked out a handful of shuriken. The second Kakashi dodged, he tugged on a hidden wire, springing a trap he'd set in record time. Eyes widening slightly, the jonin dropped backwards almost all the way to the ground as a rather large cloud of kunai hurtled overhead. Before he could even raise himself halfway, Sasuke called out the name of a jutsu that nearly made him freeze in shock.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

What? he inwardly yelled in disbelief. He can't do that! He hasn't got enough chakra!

To his utter amazement, the boy launched a huge, deadly fireball that brought pride to the Uchiha name straight at him.

Naruto scoffed quietly from beneath their bush as Kakashi disappeared in the flames. "Nothin' special. He couldn't even touch Kakashi-sensei, but I hit him with an eraser!"

Sakura remained silent, staring at Sasuke in awe. She was speechless. A boy his age being able to pull off a Fire Jutsu — especially one of that magnitude — was nothing sort of mind-boggling. His chakra levels shouldn't have been that thoroughly developed; that jutsu required chunin, maybe even jonin, skills. She, after two years of working-to-the-bone practice, had failed to execute even one Wind Jutsu in the scrolls given to her by aniki because she just didn't have enough chakra. That guy — Sasuke? He was a prodigy.

What he wasn't, however, was a sensory type. Not by a long shot.

Sakura watched with something akin to amusement as he looked around furiously for Kakashi, who was hidden underground directly below him. She nearly snorted; that was just too good. If she had had a camera that could photograph chakra, she'd be taking pictures like no tomorrow.

But, sadly, she didn't. She doubted such a camera had even been created.

And no camera = no blackmail.

O woe is she.

Watching Sasuke struggle to find Kakashi, though?

Yeah.

Still funny as hell.

Naruto had nothing to say at this point; he was apparently attempting to figure out where the man was, as well. Wondering if he'd be able to do it even though he hadn't had specialized chakra training, she opted not to tell him.

This continued on for another minute — a minute in which she imagined Kakashi sniggering gleefully to himself. Despite how much she detested Sasuke, she knew she had to step in when she sensed that the jonin was about to attack. They were still a team, after all.

And it wasn't like they stood a chance without the jerk.

"Follow my lead."

Naruto glanced at her in confusion. Before he could ask what the heck she was talking about, her clone flew out into the open from the other side of the clearing. Obviously startled, his clone stumbled after hers. She watched (felt?) with satisfaction as Kakashi's signature spiked underground, signaling that he had frozen up in surprise.

Perfect.

Smirking, Sakura sat back with Naruto to let their clones handle the dirty work.

"Naruto, Sasuke — move!"

Even though the Uchiha despised the two idiots on his team, his battle instincts won out. He leapt up into the air as high as he could with Clone Naruto while Clone Sakura, not so much as pausing, reared back her fist and slammed it into the ground. Both boys studied her incredulously as she did so, wondering what in Kami's name she expected to accomplish.

Kakashi, who could detect her every movement from below ground by feeling the way her chakra flowed throughout her body, was baffled.

What good was punching the ground going to do? What — did she think her fist was going to magically pass through it without breaking and hit him? He had to give her credit for finding him, but still — was she crazy?

These thoughts all occurred in the split second before her blow landed.

And they all disappeared more quickly than they'd come when the earth around her exploded in a massive fissure.

A miniature earthquake devastating the area no less than twenty feet in diameter erupted beneath her fist, exposing Kakashi. Naruto nearly lost his balance when he and Sasuke landed. All three males stared at her in horrified (in the blond's case) disbelief.

"Kakashi-sensei, you really should do a better job of hiding. I'm insulted."

"…you—" was all he managed to choke out, lone visible eye wide.

Sasuke, seeming to snap out of his daze, pelted off another blindingly fast Fireball Jutsu in the hopes of catching Kakashi off-guard.

He nearly did. The man jerked back to alertness when the flames were near enough to singe his hair, and he disappeared in a flurry of leaves. The trio stood there for a moment, Sasuke and Clone Sakura scoping out the landscape while Clone Naruto eyed the kunoichi warily. The real Naruto shifted uncomfortably.

"Sakura-chan—"

"Not now, Naruto," her clone interrupted, trying to concentrate. "After we get the bells."

"We?" Sasuke hissed, glaring at her. "You're still stuck on this stupid teamwork notion?"

"Stupid?" she echoed furiously, rounding on him. "If we hadn't stepped in, Kakashi-sensei would've floored you!" In her anger, she gave up on all attempts to locate said man. "None of us — not one of us — will get a bell if we don't work together!"

"There's only two bells!" he growled.

"Did you ever stop for a moment and wonder why? !" she flashed back, bringing him up short. "You idiot, he's doing it on purpose! He's pitting us against each other to distract us from working together! Open your eyes!"

"And if we do work together?" he demanded, attempting to find a hole in her logic. "When we have the bells, who gets them? Because someone has to go back to the academy."

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't care who gets the bells," she spat, surprising him — though he'd never admit it. "You two can have the bells; the point is just that we get them." Sensing his next argument, she cut him off. "My goal is to get stronger, Sasuke," she said flatly. "Getting stronger doesn't mean rising in the ranks; hell, I don't care if I remain a genin for the rest of my life. Getting stronger means doing everything I can to make myself better, no matter what. It's about self-respect — not respect from others." She turned her back on him. "From no one except aniki."

The last part was barely a murmur, but he still heard it. His expression hardened, and he grunted. "Whatever."

.

.

.

Kakashi sighed quietly to himself, crouching on a well-hidden branch a few yards from the clearing. He was by no means visible, but he could hear everything his team said.

He was impressed that Sakura had figured out the goal of his test, but she was going about it entirely wrong. It was a rule of nature: One cannot bully an Uchiha into doing something he/she doesn't wish to do. Perhaps if she had been a bit more patient with the boy…

…Well, he wasn't sure anyone could be patient with an Uchiha, come to think of it.

But he had to commend her for trying, at least. Naruto was obviously content to forget about Sasuke altogether and just work with Sakura, while all Sasuke wanted was to do it by himself. And even though she had tried, Sakura had given up trying to convince them much too quickly. That definitely wouldn't work.

So, as much as it pained him, he'd have to fail them if they couldn't get their crap together.

And he was just starting to like them, too. What a shame.

.

.

.

Five more minutes of arguing, in which — suspiciously enough — Kakashi didn't even attempt to attack, only proved to further piss them all off. They continued yelling and insulting even after the conversation had ended (somewhere around the time Naruto called Sasuke a "baka-teme"). And as amusing as it all was, Kakashi was severely disappointed. Nearly grinding her teeth together in frustration, Clone Sakura ran a hand through her messy hair. The real Sakura and Naruto remained crouched down in the undergrowth, grumbling to themselves under their breath.

"Look, Sasuke," she said acidly, trying to reason with him. "It's simple: Help us beat Kakashi, and you get one of the bells. That's it. No tricks, no hidden motives, no nothing." She didn't notice the absence of the '-sensei' suffix.

His glare didn't waver. "If you can't get the bells by yourself—"

"And, what?" she snapped, quickly losing her cool once again. "You think you can take down a jonin all alone? Are you completely mental?"

"If the dobe can hit him with an eraser, I think I'm more than capable of taking him out," he retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean? !"

They both ignored him. "There's a thing called 'dumb luck.' Look it up." They also ignored his outraged cry at her comment. "Back in the classroom, Kakashi wasn't expecting an attack — but out here? He'll see you coming a mile away."

"Tch." Sasuke started to walk away. "I don't have time for this."

Clone Sakura glowered after him. "Fine. But if we fail this because of you, I'll kill you."

He pretended he didn't hear. No sooner than he'd disappeared into the trees, presumably searching for Kakashi, said man appeared before the pair in the clearing. Naruto tensed, one hand darting for a kunai, but Sakura topped him.

"It's a clone," she reported, eyes narrowed. Truth be told, if he had even tried to match his clone's chakra level to his own, she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the fake and the real one. But he didn't need to know that.

Clone Kakashi also didn't realize he was facing Clone Naruto and Clone Sakura. By severely underestimating their abilities (genin weren't supposed to know how to mask their chakra), he'd unintentionally given them an advantage. He cracked a smile, proud that she had noticed.

"Shinobi Battle Skill Number One." His hands flashed through a series of seals much too quickly for either one of them to keep up. "Ninjutsu." Sakura's eyes widened, and she grabbed ahold of Naruto's wrist. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu."

An enormous dragon with a long serpent-like neck rose from the small lake behind him — of the water. They both gasped, staring like fools; they'd never seen anything like it. For a moment, Sakura thought she was dreaming. Because surely, surely, that thing couldn't be real. Then, like lightning, it struck down at them with a wide-open mouth, showing off sharp-looking watery teeth.

Oh, yeah. Definitely real.

Adrenalin rushing through her veins, Sakura yanked Naruto behind her and threw up her left arm. Kakashi, unable to see his students as the water-creature crashed into them, watched curiously.

What was Sakura doing? Surely she wasn't naïve enough to believe the water wouldn't hurt her.

No, he reminded himself. She wasn't that stupid. She'd seen through his clone and detected his chakra underground. She'd even figured out his little game. Sakura was a smart girl; she must have had something up her sleeve.

Yes, it turned out, she most certainly did.

Literally.

Disbelief was evident on the man's face when his dragon finally fell. Sakura stood protectively in front of Naruto, her knees bent slightly in an excellent position for stability. The long red sleeve covering her left arm had been tugged back, revealing a skin-colored thing strapped to her forearm. Thin pieces of it splayed out like fan blades, and a large, pale green circle — for a lack of better words — glowed around them.

Chakra, he realized, shocked. It was a chakra shield.

But what the hell was that thing it had sprung from? He'd have to be careful, lest it contained other tricks he wasn't aware of.

"Whoa…," Naruto murmured quietly, eyes wide. "Sakura-chan…what is that?"

"A keepsake from aniki," she said simply, flashing him a smile over her shoulder.

It was in that moment that Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to separate the pair. They were practically joined at the hip. So, smiling discreetly to himself, he brought his hands into the tiger seal.

Shinobi Battle Skill Number Two: Genjutsu.

Sakura and Naruto sensed his illusion the second it appeared. The former opened her mouth to warn her companion, but he was already caught. Clone Kakashi's eyebrow shot up as Clone Naruto poofed out of existence. Cursing, Clone Sakura dispersed as well.

Interesting, he thought, glancing around. I never even sensed them making clones. He then recalled the split-second he'd felt Naruto's chakra signature vanish. His smile widened. Oh, I see. Chuckling to himself, the doppelganger disappeared. The real Kakashi, currently dodging another fireball — courtesy of Sasuke — beamed. Well, well. They're better than I thought.

.

.

.

"Shit," Sakura muttered from beneath the bush.

Naruto frowned beside her, grumbling about "stupid genjutsu" and "stupid Kakashi-sensei." Though she didn't hear it, she suspected he was also silently complaining about "stupid Sasuke-teme."

"Now what?" he whispered, obviously frustrated.

"Now we pay Sasuke a visit," she replied just as lowly. "He's probably fighting Kakashi alone right about now, so we're gonna help him whether he likes it or not."

He nodded firmly, seriously. Despite his usual trickster disposition, he knew when a situation called for professionalism.

He truly was a trickster, Sakura reflected with amusement. It took someone very smart to fool everyone into thinking he was a complete and total imbecile; she would know — she had seen it firsthand. Sure, he wasn't so great at academics and his level of common sense left something to be desired, but Naruto really was bright. He always knew exactly what to say to cheer someone up (read: manipulate people) and his battle instincts, from what she'd seen when they sparred at the academy, were very sharp.

Plus, now that he'd seen Sakura split the ground in two with just her fist, he was more eager than ever to avoid being punched.

.

.

.

"Shinobi Battle Skill Number Three: Taijutsu."

Not a second after the words left his mouth, Sasuke charged him. Kakashi jerked back to dodge a high kick aimed at his throat, twisting right a moment later when he spotted an incoming punch. Glaring, Sasuke turned on his heel and dropped to the ground. The jonin easily leapt to avoid a leg-sweep and, to his opponent's irritation, planted his palm on the boy's head to propel himself over. Sasuke whipped around and shot his fist out with surprising speed for an uppercut. When his blow was caught, he threw his leg up for a kick. Kakashi caught that strike as well, not realizing he'd just fallen into a trap. He was forced to drop the Uchiha's wrist when a kick from his other foot came, suspending the boy up by his ankles.

Sakura and Naruto appeared at the edge of the smaller clearing, distracting Kakashi long enough for Sasuke to get his fingers on a bell. Startled, the man tossed him away before he could grab it. Sakura eyed Sasuke with nothing short of respect, while the boy just smirked broadly, eating it up. Naruto's quiet mumble sounded suspiciously like, "Show off."

"I'll admit it," Kakashi said evenly, silently despairing that he hadn't yet gotten a chance to whip out a certain book that was currently burning a hole through the pouch at his hip. "You're not like the others."

Sakura's fists clenched, and Naruto gave an angry shout. Sasuke's smirk widened, and Sakura opened her mouth to tell him not to get cocky — but, then, the unthinkable happened.

Naruto suddenly gasped like a child being told he could have candy after being force-fed vegetables for his entire life. Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin, mortified with herself for reacting after aniki had always taught her to never show that she had been caught off-guard. Shinobi were supposed to remain cool and collected, dang it! The blond darted to his left with a 1000-watt smile, laughing loudly.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, you dropped a bell!"

Then, to Sakura's horror, he bent to pick it up.

"Naruto, no!"

Too late.

A rope loop sprang from beneath the leaves and caught his ankle. He gave a shocked scream as he was jerked off the ground and slammed into the tree. He whined childishly, swinging back and forth like deadweight.

Then, like icing on the cake, an alarm rang out. Kakashi beamed.

"Well, would you look at that? Time's up, and none of you have bells!"

Sasuke and Sakura groaned at his overtly-happy tone. This couldn't be good.

.

.

.

Two stomachs collectively snarled as Naruto and Sasuke glared daggers at Kakashi, the former tied to a stump between his two teammates. Sakura, sitting on the far left, inwardly snickered at the fact that she had eaten breakfast when the two of them had heeded their sensei's fake warning. Despite that, she still glowered at the man as he smiled brightly back at all three of them.

"Oh, my," he remarked, wickedly amused. "Listen to all the little stomachs growl!" The glares didn't lessen. "By the way, you three… I have an announcement about this exercise."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow in a "What-could-you-possibly-have-to-say" manner.

"None of you need to worry anymore about being sent back to the Ninja Academy."

"YES!" Naruto yelled, attempting to jump for joy and fist pump while still remaining tied to the post. It was much harder than it appeared.

Sakura blinked in surprise, leaning back against her own post as she let it sink in. None of us are failing, huh? she mused. Maybe we made a good impression on him even though we didn't get the bells?

"This rocks!" the blond cheered, squirming within the binds as if he was doing a victory dance. "It means all three of us—"

Kakashi cut him off with a smile that sent shivers down his spine.

"—Are hopeless," the jonin finished bluntly, suddenly looking very serious. Naruto's jaw dropped, while Sakura stiffened and Sasuke glared even more fiercely. "More schooling would be pointless. None of you will ever be shinobi."

"Wha—"

He didn't even give Naruto a chance to scream at him.

"Give it up." His voice was cold, unforgiving. "Not one of the three of you will ever be a ninja."

"What do you mean, 'Give up'? !" the blond shrieked furiously, thrashing this way and that to free himself. "GIVE ME A BREAK! So maybe none of us got our hands on one of your stupid bells, but why the heck should we quit over that? !"

"Because," he said flatly, "not one of you has what it takes."

Then, of all things, Sasuke flew at him, clearly pushed beyond his limits. If Sakura hadn't been on the verge of being banned from shinobi training for the rest of her life, she would've face-palmed at his resolution tactics.

"What you are," Kakashi murmured, catching his student and slamming him into the ground before sitting on him, "is a trio of spoiled brats."

They all stilled when he glared at all of them.

"Are you trying to mock shinobi with your behavior?" he snapped. His eyes narrowed. "Did you even stop to wonder for one minute why you were divided into teams?"

Sakura abruptly unfroze and glared back at him with just as much intensity before switching her burning gaze to Sasuke.

"Teamwork," she ground out, fingers digging into the dirt at her sides. "Like I said three times."

Sasuke growled to himself, looking as though he was wishing her dead. Kakashi, however, leveled her with an icy stare.

"Saying it isn't enough," he retorted. "You have to actually try. And clearly," he continued, giving each of them an accusing look, "none of you were willing to do that." He shifted his weight on Sasuke to get a better position for what he was about to do, earning an irritated grunt. "Making a play as an individual is bad for the team and exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger. You might as well kill them yourself." Then, out of nowhere, he whipped out a kunai and pressed it against Sasuke's throat. "Sakura! Kill Naruto, or Sasuke dies."

While Naruto screeched a terrified, "WHAT? !" and Sasuke stiffened, Sakura dropped into an aggressive stance, kunai flashing in each of her hands. Kakashi, satisfied with their reactions, released Sasuke from his death-grip and put the weapon away. He stood up nonchalantly, allowing his unwilling volunteer to return to his post.

"The day may come when one of you is taken hostage," he informed them matter-of-factly, "and you're forced to make a similar choice. When on a mission, your lives will always be on the line." Slowly, as if reminiscing, he walked over to a large stone marker and placed his hand gently upon it. "Look at this marker," he said distantly, eyes never leaving the engravings etched into its surface. "All of the names carved into this stone…heroes of our village. Ninja."

"That's it!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning, seeming to have forgotten failing the bell test. "That's where I want my name to go!" Sakura's head snapped around so quickly that the popping of her neck was audible. "I'm not gonna throw my life away! I'm gonna be a hero — just like them!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, while Kakashi glanced back at him, expression clouded with some unknown emotion. "Ah…but the ones listed here aren't just any heroes…"

"Really?" Naruto leaned forward anxiously, grin growing larger. "Then what kind of heroes are they? Huh?"

"They're dead, Naruto," Sakura replied flatly, green eyes steely. His smile froze in place, and Sasuke flashed a quick look in her direction. "The people who are recognized on that stone all died in the line of duty."

Kakashi gave a small nod of agreement. "This is a memorial," he said. "It includes the names of all of my closest friends."

Naruto stared at the ground, speechless. After a long moment, Kakashi turned to look at all of them sharply.

"Pay attention," he ordered, clearly not playing around. "I'm giving you all one last chance — one that will be far more difficult than our last little game with the bells." They all perked up. "If you're prepared to continue, you may eat one of the bento boxes." He waved a hand to indicate the two lunches sitting on the memorial stone. "But no sharing with Naruto. He goes hungry."

"Why? !" he demanded angrily.

"You brought it on yourself when you fell for such a basic trap," he deadpanned. Naruto grimaced, inwardly cursing himself for picking up that stupid bell. If either of you feed him, you fail the test right there." He glowered. "My word is law. Do you understand?"

He disappeared without waiting for a reply.

"This'll be a breeze!" Naruto laughed, smiling to himself like always. "I can go without lunch — no sweat!" As if on cue, his stomach growled loudly.

Frowning, Sakura walked over to the memorial stone and grabbed the two bento, tossing one of them to Sasuke. He nodded at her without meeting her eyes, sliding off the lidding and quietly beginning to eat.

"Naruto."

He looked up sullenly from staring at the ground in hunger-induced misery, nearly choking when Sakura stuffed a clump of rice in his mouth with her chopsticks. Sasuke said nothing as he watched them, his opinion on the matter clear when he didn't object.

"Wh-what? !" he coughed, barely managing to swallow the rice before she forced a slice of beef into his mouth. "Sakura-chan, what are you—"

"Quiet," she told him sternly, feeding him as quickly as she could. "I'm not hungry, and you need to eat if we're going to fight Kakashi again."

"B-but, Sakura-chan—"

She glared at him, not pausing in her efforts. He managed to smile awkwardly, embarrassed as he chewed on another piece of beef.

"…thanks."

That was when Kakashi suddenly appeared before them in a large explosion of white smoke, lone visible eye nothing short of furious.

"You!" he growled, earning a startled yelp from Naruto as Sakura dropped the bento and made a move to go at the jonin with a kunai. Sasuke flashed in front of his blond-haired teammate, crouched for a fight. Then, completely and utterly catching all of them off-guard, he beamed proudly. "Pass."


Dance, and dance, and dance until you fall;

Dance for one, and dance for them all

So that they may see the height of your wall.