A/N – I've got a question for you readers. Is me being a schedule more convenient for you readers? On Thursdays, I post predominantly for "The Great Medic", but if I don't get a chapter out for that fanfictions, one-shots will replace it. On Tuesdays, I'm going to post predominantly for "He's My Son", but those chapters are going through edits so chapters for my other minor stories are going to go there. Also, I think I'm going to post random things like "Naruto OC Review" on Wednesdays; posted two reviews yesterday. I was just wondering if you readers liked me being on a schedule for posting? I certainly like it, it's less stressful for me.
The next morning, Naruto found himself walking through the woods of training grounds seven. This training ground was the designated area for Team 7 to meet up at for their survival exercise. He was almost an hour late due to him deciding to eat something before arriving at the training grounds; energy seemed more important than throwing up, to him at least. He appeared in the clearing, noticing three logs standing up vertically in the center. To the left, Naruto could see both of his teammates sitting against a rather large tree. While Sasuke looked completely annoyed, Sakura kept talking his ear off – albeit with a slurred vocabulary – which caused the blond-haired boy to chuckle quietly. "Good morning." He smiled, closing the distance between them, sitting down in front of them, "How'd you two sleep?"
"Naruto!" Sakura squeaked in surprize, "You're an hour late!"
He nodded, "I noticed."
"Why?!"
"Took the time to eat something before coming here. What about you two?" The twelve-year-old asked them, getting weird looks, "Did either of you eat something or did you come here on empty stomachs?"
"Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat." Sasuke stated suddenly, "We'd throw up if we did."
"Sasuke-kun's right and… I don't want to throw up." The pink-haired girl said.
He sighed, pulling out two boxes from his bag, "You need to eat."
"Excuse me?" The shocked voice of the Uchiha's flooded the area.
"I suspected that you two wouldn't eat anything." He put a box in each of their laps, "I made you both something. Not only will it fill you up but it will give you enough needed nutrients. It passes through your system easily so the likeliness of you puking with that in your system is unlikely. Trust me."
Sakura was the first to pull back the lid, the content's aroma filling her mouth. Her stomach made an undignified noise, a blush appearing on her face. "This… smells really good." She stated, grabbing wooden chopsticks that were placed on the side of the container. Pulling them apart, Sakura started to eat slowly.
Sasuke looked down at his own box. After a few seconds, he sighed and started to work on eating his own. He looked up at Naruto, seeing a soft smile on his face. "What?" He asked with a harsh tone of voice.
"Nothing." He put up his hands in defense, the smile never leaving his face.
The Uchiha rolled his eyes, going back to eating, "Whatever."
"So… we won't throw up after eating this?" Sakura asked, still wary, "Right?"
"Nope. I put a little bit of turmeric in it so that you will have a smooth digestive ride and have more than enough nutrients." He grinned.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Turmeric? What the hell is that?"
"Turmeric is a special type of herb that's found in countries like Water and Lightning. It needs lots of heat and rain to be sustained. It's been imported into Konoha about forty years ago for medicinal and culinary uses." Naruto stated, "It'll help you two out."
"How can it be used for medicinal purposes?" Sakura questioned, nearly halfway done with her food.
"Well, turmeric is supposedly the most powerful herb on the planet since it's able to fight and potentially reverse diseases… it could also be because it has so many healing properties. The list of all the things that turmeric can be used for is just astounding! It can be used for the following things: Alzheimer's disease, anterior uveitis which is basically swelling in the middle layer of the eye, arthritis, bronchitis, bypass surgery, cancers, colds, Crohn's disease, depression, diabetes, diarrhea, dyspepsia or more widely known as heartburn, fatigue, fever, fibromyalgia, gallbladder disorders, headaches, Helicobacter pylori infection, hemorrhage, high cholesterol, intestinal gas, irritable bowel syndrome, itchy skin, jaundice, joint pain, kidney problems, leprosy, lichen planus which is a skin condition, liver problems, loss of appetite, lung infections, menstrual problems, recovery after surgery, skin inflammation from radiation treatment, stomach bloating, stomach pain, stomach ulcers, systemic lupus erythematosus which is an autoimmune disease, tuberculosis, ulcerative colitis, urinary bladder inflammation, water retention, and worms."
His two teammates blinked in surprize. Sasuke was the first to speak up, "What are you, a walking medical encyclopedia?"
"I take that as a compliment." Naruto laughed, "However, there are a few more things turmeric can be used for. Did you know that you can apply it to the skin? When doing that, it can be used for acne, bruising, eye infections, gum disease, infected wounds, inflammatory skin conditions, leech bites, pain, ringworm, skin sores, soreness inside of the mouth, sprains, and swelling."
"Are there any side effects of having turmeric?" Sakura asked, not even going to ask as to why Naruto knows all this stuff about the herb.
"There are a few side effects, however, you two won't experience them since I gave you such a small dose of turmeric." The two nodded in relief as the boy continued with his knowledge about the herb, "There have been some reported cases where there have been allergic reactions to it. The reaction is usually a mild and itchy rash but you two seem fine. However, had I given you a high dose of turmeric it would have caused diarrhea, hyperactive gallbladder contractions, hypotension or low blood pressure, increased liver function tests, increased menstrual flow, increased risk of bleeding, nausea, or uterine contractions in pregnant women but that doesn't apply to you two."
"You could have warned us about that before we started eating," Sasuke grunted.
The blond-haired boy sighed in exasperation, "I just said that you'll be fine. I didn't give you a high dosage."
The Uchiha glared at him, having already finished his food, "And why should we believe you? You could be pulling this out of your ass."
Naruto's grin suddenly fell from his face, "Sasuke, I am only going to say this once, do you understand?" An angry and shocked expression filled the other boy's face. Sakura looked in between her two teammates, trying to figure out what to do. "Do not ever doubt my abilities as a medic-in-training. I know what I'm talking about and you should be grateful to have some type of medic on your team. You look like a brawler; therefore, you're going to get hurt a lot and you're going to need me to heal you when you leave to lick your wounds." He stated passively aggressively, getting a low growl out of his dark-haired teammate, "I kept my mouth shut when you initially decided to doubt my knowledge, experience, and abilities while we were in the academy. However, as teammates on a gennin team, I can't keep up this façade like it doesn't hurt me. When it comes to this stuff, you're right about me being a walking medical encyclopedia. I know what I'm doing. You'd do well to remember not to doubt someone before they've even gotten started."
"You're such a dobe." Sasuke huffed in frustration.
"Sasuke, that hasn't gotten a rouse out me in years. I'm not going to up and say 'Teme' like I used to. I'm not the obnoxious, naïve, and idiotic asshole I was before." He blinked, shoulders sagging, "Look, if we're going to be on a team together, we must come to an agreement of some sort. We don't have to be friends, but we should know that we've got each other's back. That goes for you too, Sakura." The pink-haired girl stared on with shock. "I know that you'll always be there for Sasuke because you are in love with him. However, we haven't had a proper conversation in years so I don't know if you'd be there for me if I need you. You should know that, as a medic-in-training, it is my duty to keep my comrades alive and well." Naruto gave the two a smile, "That means that I will always have both of your backs, no matter what."
The Uchiha sighed, "Fine. Whatever this survival exercise is, I'll keep an eye out for you two."
"And I'll help you two out however I can!" Sakura stated excitedly.
"Good." Naruto nodded, approvingly, "I promise that I won't let you down."
From a distance, high up in the treetops, Kakashi watched with an unconscious grin hidden behind his mask. "They've already decided to use teamwork and I haven't even said what the test will be." He internally chuckled, "We've definitely got a prodigy team this year."
Two hours later…
"Good morning everyone, did you sleep well?" Kakashi gave the group an eye-smile, having finally appeared from supposedly out-of-nowhere. The three jumped at the intrusion before standing up to face him.
"Kakashi-sensei?! You're late!" Sakura squeaked out, rather loudly if you had asked her teammates.
"Yeah, we were getting pretty bored waiting on you." Naruto said, stretching his arms out, a pop coming from his back, "I hope this doesn't become a habit of yours, Kakashi-sensei."
The silver-haired Jonnin ignored the slightly condescending tone the blond-haired boy had given him. Instead of correcting him on his lack of respect to someone more experienced and older than him, he decided to give his genins a bored look, "You see, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way."
"Well, even if you had to take the long way, it wouldn't have taken you three hours to get here, Kakashi-sensei." The twelve-year-old boy stated in a matter-of-fact tone that he'd adopted a while ago, "You're probably just like Shikamaru, lazy… or a procrastinator."
"Ehm, well, that's up for debate." Kakashi gave his students another eye-smile, "Let's get started, shall we?" He walked over to one of the logs that were in the center of the clearing and placed a weird looking clock on it. "This clock will be set for noon; that gives you about four or five hours to complete your task." The Jonin said, clicking the button at the top of the clock.
Sasuke narrowed his dark eyes, "And what task is that?"
Pulling out two rather old looking bells from one of his pockets, Kakashi held them up in front of him at eye-level, "Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch and you'll be tied to those posts." Kakashi pointed at the logs in the center of the clearing where the clock was at. They followed his stare before going back to looking at their teacher once he had put his hand down. "While tied up, you will watch me eat my lunch in front of you." He gave the three an eye-smile.
"Oh, so that's why you didn't want us to eat breakfast." Sakura nodded her head before patting her blond-haired teammate on his back, "Good thinking, Naruto. You really saved us this time!"
He nodded, giving her a small smile of appreciation, "Thanks, Sakura."
Kakashi looked in between the three of them, pretending that he hadn't been spying on them this morning to see what they had done while he wasn't in their presence several hours ago, "So, you decided to go against my warning and eat breakfast instead?"
Naruto shook his head up and down, agreeing with the statement, "People come into the hospital all the time because they didn't eat anything before training and ended up feeling queasy, low on energy, and patients tend to pass out, waking up weaker than before since their body didn't have anything to pull energy from. I couldn't just let that happen to my teammates. We need all the energy we can get."
"Interesting." He thought to himself, tying the bells to one of the loops on his pants.
"Kakashi-sensei, I have a question?" Sakura suddenly asked, getting a nod from her teacher to continue, "Why are there only two bells if there is three of us?"
The silver-haired man gave them another eye-smile, "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." There was the initial reaction of shock and determination, but from there his students' emotions started to take a different tole. Sakura was still holding primarily on to shock but there was an underlying worry clouding her eyes. Sasuke's face mostly held the determination from the initial reaction but his eyes kept darting to and from his teammates. Naruto's face neither held shock nor determination after the initial thought, but instead looking inquisitive and holding a look of wonderment, enlightenment. "I can't really tell whether he's figured it out or not." Kakashi thought to himself, deciding to have more fun with the three. "Then again, all three of you could flunk out too." He tried not to laugh at the surprize that kept coursing through them, minus Naruto who seemed too wrapped up in thought to hear his teacher, "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, Kakashi-sensei!" The pink-haired girl's face held disbelief and worry.
"Sakura, Kakashi-sensei is a trained Jonnin, I'm pretty sure that shurikens are like sticks to him by now," Naruto stated with a blank face, almost getting a chuckle from his teacher.
Kakashi sighed, "Alright, you may begin."
Naruto nodded, pulling out a few circular objects and throwing them on to the ground. Grabbing both of his teammates' wrists, he swiftly guided them away from the plume of purple and blue smoke that filtered out of the smoke bombs. Kakashi let out a quick cough as it consumed him inside of the clearing. The older man's eyes widened in shock before covering his mouth and nose with a gloved hand. He dashed to the side, effectively stepping out of the noxious fumes but he was already starting to see small dots of color.
The silver-haired Jonnin grit his teeth "Should've known that a smoke bomb coming from Naruto would have some type of noxious substance in it. He's been volunteering at the hospital for almost two years and been studying medical ninjutsu for almost five years, I'm sure he's picked up a few tricks." He could feel his heart rate quickening up as the little amount of noxious gas he'd inhaled started to do its worse. "He most likely used a smoke bomb that had a lower dosage of… whatever the hell was in that so the side effects will only last for a few minutes." Kakashi looked at the area where he saw his students take off, pulling out his favorite book to read to pass the time, "I doubt he would try to kill me."
"Get off me." Sasuke hissed quietly, pulling his arms away from his teammate once they'd successfully hidden in the brush.
"Sasuke, calm down. If I had let you stay there, the side effects of that gas would have been worse for you since you are younger and have a weaker immune system than Kakashi-sensei." Naruto explained, "I was protecting you."
He growled lowly, "I don't need protection, especially from someone like you."
"Someone like me? What does that even mean?" He stated back, no hint of malice in his voice.
Sakura looked in between the two, "Guys, I don't think we should be fighting right now. We need a plan or something."
Naruto turned to her, "You're right, Sakura." He glanced at the Uchiha before sighing. The blond-haired boy crossed his arms, "I apologize, Sasuke, for assuming you'd want to be protected from something that would have knocked you out within seconds and made you useless during this survival exercise."
Sasuke balled his fists, standing up, "Whatever, I'm going to get a bell."
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squeaked out. The boy looked at her with clear anger in his eye, making her freeze. Her heart started to pick up as she continued to speak, "It's t-too dangerous to go by yourself. We need a plan or at least a distraction."
"Sakura's right." The medic-in-training beside her agreed.
He turned, a vicious look in his eyes as he stared down his teammates. The pink-haired girl cowered in Sasuke's shadow as the other boy just gave him a bored look. Sasuke hissed once more, "I don't need a plan to beat Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto stood up, "Yes you do."
The Uchiha swung around, grabbing the blond-haired boy by the throat and slamming him against the tree beside them, "Don't tell me what to do!"
"I was simply giving an opinion. I'm not your mother, Sasuke, I'm your teammate. I was giving you a mere suggestion. If you don't take it, so be it, get yourself hurt. I'll just have to drag you back and heal you up so you can repeat your failed attempt at getting a bell." He said, shrugging. The hand around his throat loosened slightly, but the clear anger and frustration on Sasuke's face continued.
"Why am I the only one who's wanting to take down Kakashi-sensei?! Why aren't you even trying?!" He snarled.
"As a medic-in-training, there are clear rules that I have to follow." Naruto stated, "Rule number one, 'no medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party have come to an end'. Rule number two, 'no medic shall ever stand on the front lines'. Rule number three, 'no medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon'. Lastly, rule number four, 'only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred technique of the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws'." The boy swiped away Sasuke's hand from his throat and locked eyes with him. "I can't stop healing. I can't be the first to die. I can't be on the front lines." He stated, "I want to be a gennin so badly, Sasuke, and I can see that you two want to be one also. We are all after the same goal. So, while it may not seem like I am, I'm trying to think of a plan of some sorts. One that can combine all our talents and abilities but I can't be the only one to support working together. We said that we'd keep an eye out for each other, or have you forgotten?" The blond-haired gennin sighed, "If we're going to be on a team, we need to start acting like one."
Sasuke took a step away from him, giving the other boy some space, "Fine, what do you have in mind?"
Sakura sighed in relief now that the tension was over, "Yeah, Naruto, spill it."
"Alright, but you have to help me out because this is only a draft." The medic-in-training looked in between the two.
Kakashi stopped walking, ears perking up at a sudden noise. With eyes still on the page of his book, he flicked out one of his hands, catching two shurikens with his index and middle fingers. He threw them back to where their origin was located, hitting a log instead. "Substitution jutsu." He mulled inside his head, the sound of feet tapping quickly against the dirt alerting him that someone was almost directly behind him. Swiftly turning around, he saw Sasuke standing there with utter seriousness on his face. Kakashi gave the boy an eye-smile, "Sasuke, so nice of you to join me. I was starting to get lonely."
"Hn."
"Not much of a conversationalist, huh?" The silver-haired man mumbled to himself, looking back down at his book for some light reading. Sasuke lowered his body before bounding forward, using the momentum to appear faster. With one hand, Kakashi blocked most of the Uchiha's attacks, eyes still latched onto the pages in front of him. Flipping to the next chapter, he started to dodge the rest of Sasuke's attacks. He could see that his student was slowly getting frustrated, eyes narrowing and angry grunts leaving him. The black-haired boy growled, jumping up to be at eye-level with his teacher before attempting to punch the man's face. Kakashi bent backward, successfully avoiding the attack before letting out a sigh. Hopping to the side, he finally put that damned book away, "Looks like I'm not going to be able to do any light reading anytime soon."
The two soon engaged in a taijutsu battle which had surprised the Jonnin since he thought that Sasuke would want to automatically use his many jutsu against him. Sensing something behind him, Kakashi jumped to the side. He watched as several shurikens started to fly by him within seconds. Sasuke followed his moves, never breaking eye-contact with his teacher as they continued their taijutsu battle. Once more, the silver-haired man found himself dodging either shurikens or kunai that were seemingly coming out of nowhere. He suspected who was behind it out of his students but couldn't be sure since he didn't know much about their abilities individually. Except for Sasuke, since he could only assume what the boy knew based on his clan.
He crouched down lowly, side-sweeping the dark-haired boy's legs from underneath him. The Uchiha started to fall, Kakashi readying a fist when several blurs grabbed Sasuke and rolled away suddenly. He stopped mid-swing, looking at three Naruto's who was standing in front of his teammate who was starting to breathe heavily. "Shadow clones, huh?" He raised an eyebrow before straightening up. His students suddenly looked on edge. "If you're really a medic, don't you know that medics aren't supposed to be on the front lines?" Kakashi questioned.
"We're not." The clones stated at the same time. Kakashi cocked his head to the side, three kunai flying past him. In that time, the Naruto's had disappeared from their original spot.
The silver-haired Jonnin could sense that the original Naruto was somewhere close. He started to dodge all the swift and precise movements of the clones, realizing that there was something very strange in their hands. "Syringes?" Kakashi thought to himself, being wary of the clones' hands, "From what I know from that kid is that there is probably some sedative in that." Sasuke appeared in front of him, trying to use a roundhouse kick against him. Using a cartwheel to get away from the kick and the syringes, he took a breath before stepping to the side by instinct, a giant shuriken passing him by. "So, Sakura's the one doing that…" He mulled to himself, "Man, I really won't be able to read anything with these three around. I shouldn't have given them this much time to plan and prepare." The three clones and Sasuke started to approach him. Kakashi leaned forward, getting ready to attack, "I need to end this. It's almost noon."
"Eek!" A strangled noise left one of the clones before they poofed away, the syringe they'd been carrying dropping to the ground. Sasuke rolled across the grass to grab the object, barely dodging a swift attack from his teacher. The Uchiha looked behind him as he ran, seeing Kakashi destroying the remaining clones left in the clearing.
Their plan failed.
"Time for Plan B, I guess…" Sasuke mumbled to himself, turning around and going through some of the hand signs. Kakashi was still approaching him. "Fire Release: Great Fireball!" He shouted out before sucking in a breath and exhaling out a large fireball.
"Well shit." The silver-haired Jonnin thought to himself before being replaced by a log just as the fire reached his location. When he looked back to the fireball's origin, he saw that Sasuke had successfully fled from him. Rustling came from around him as almost a dozen clones of Naruto surrounded him. In one fluid motion, they all started to attack, hands glowing blue.
"We won't let you hurt out teammates, Kakashi-sensei!" The clones chimed together, advancing towards him at a fast pace.
Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows in thought, all the while dodging the many fluid attacks that rained down on him. From all the years he's been in the field, he'd only ever known medic ninjas – excluding Tsunade Senju – to be in the background, to never be on the front lines or do an attack like these clones were. After all, from what he'd seen so far from his student, Naruto didn't seem like the person to go against the rules which included the rules that every medic ninja followed. Maybe his teammates coaxed him into using clones as a distraction for the rest of them while they prepared. If that was the case, then Naruto would still be following the rules by keeping himself away from the battle but close enough to keep an eye on his teammates. Kakashi smirked to himself.
Having been lost in thought, he barely managed to flee from the two pairs of gripping hands at his hip. He saw the wide – almost disbelieving – stares of Sasuke and Sakura who seemed to have fallen from the treetops to try and get the bells from him. Another swarm of clones – albeit smaller than the previous dozen that had appeared earlier – seemingly came out of nowhere. Kakashi looked out into the sea of heads, counting at least sixteen blond-headed clones, Sasuke, and Sakura. Some of Naruto's clones were standing behind their two teammates while others were standing protectively beside or in front of them.
Kakashi tried to hid his grin, succeeding at that, "They're going to make a great team."
He watched as Naruto's clones – the ones that had just appeared and what was left from his earlier battle – start to take two different types of forms. The ones in the back pulled out about three or four senbons out – probably soaked in a sedative or a slow-acting poison; Kakashi couldn't tell anymore – before holding them out in front of their faces and crouching down low to the ground. The ones that were in the front and on the sides started to cloak their arms in blue chakra that Kakashi knew was sharp to the touch from their earlier interactions. The silver-haired Jonnin watched as Sasuke's eyes pointedly look at Sakura and behind them at the clones, giving them a curt nod. They advanced towards him quickly and the older man tried hard not to be pleased with their ability to work together as a team.
After a while, he noticed that the clones who were holding senbons had retreated to the treetops, flinging the weapons from above. Some of the senbons had just barely grazed his skin, making him feel quite dizzy and his stomach churn slightly. However, being a trained ninja, he was able to correct his footing and block out the swirling objects in his line of sight. Knowing this information, Kakashi was sure to be more aware of where those clones were throwing the senbons.
There was movement in the trees that alerted Kakashi's attention to it. He saw a flash of yellow and knew instantaneously that it was the real Naruto. After noticing this, a large circular object – about the size of his clenched fist – flew out into the clearing. Sakura, Sasuke, and the clones backed away for a few seconds as the ball erupted in dark gray smoke, making visibility almost nonexistence. Kakashi, having had to battle without the need for his eyes, wasn't scared at all. He could see swishes in the smoke and light tapping against the ground. Flanking left, he watched as Sasuke's foot appeared and the disappeared, almost as if it had never happened. Ducking down, senbon flew from out of nowhere, barely touching his nose.
This continued for several minutes, attacks becoming frantic. In that time, he was able to destroy about five of the clones and throw Sakura away from him when she had tried to engage in a taijutsu fight. The smoke, Kakashi had noticed, was starting to thin out too. It was enough to see silhouettes in the distance; however, it didn't tell him exactly how far or how close his students were to his location. A disgruntled noise left him in surprized shock as arms and legs wrapped around his midsection and under his shoulders, limiting most movements in his upper body. He turned his head around, desperately trying not to grin in proudness, as he saw the small smile of one of Naruto's clones attached to him. Using a simple kawarimi to replace himself with one of the other clones, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself quietly, "Smart, but not smart enough, my cute gennin."
"Now!" Naruto's clone called out. Sasuke and Sakura bounded out of the smoke, reaching for the man's hip and tugging off the bells. A disgruntled noise leaves their mouths as the bells poofed away, 'Kakashi' turning into one of the other clones before the clone poofed away. The clone stared at their teammates with a dumbfounded face before turning to smoke for exhausting their chakra.
"W-What happened?!" Sakura asked, obviously in shock. Sasuke was going to reply when his heard something. Almost as if his body moved on its own, he pushed his pink-haired teammate out of the way just as two pairs of hands quickly grabbed his ankles. Sasuke felt himself being pulled into the dirt directly underneath him, leaving only his head for display. The young girl in front of him quickly stood up in panic, wide eyes displaying her fear and worry. Kakashi pulled himself out of the ground, patting his hands together to get the dirt off. "S-Sasuke!" Sakura squeaked out, backing away from her teacher.
He looked at her and motioned his head towards the woods, "Run!"
She nodded, holding back the tears in her eyes, dashing into the woods as quickly as possible. She needs to find Naruto so that they can regroup and figure out how to get those bells before noon. Breathing deeply, heart pounding in her chest, the pink-haired girl looked around the area quickly. Sakura desperately hoped that she had lost Kakashi in the dense woods around her, but her logical mind disagreed with her heart. She gulped and picked up the pace, trying to remember where they had been hiding before so that she could get to where Naruto was before Kakashi got to her. Sakura felt like her legs were going to give at any moment, the unrelenting fear bubbling instead of her.
"Too slow." A voice said from in front of her. Kakashi gave the girl an eye-smile, fingers moving together in the form of a jutsu. He cast it upon her and cringed at the loud, long scream she made. In mere seconds, the girl tumbled forward, unconscious. "I thought she'd be able to break that genjutsu." He mused to himself, before walking in a different direction to find the last member of their team, "Where are you, Naruto?"
Naruto could feel sweat appearing on his forehead, the clones' memories flooding into him before their demise. Kakashi had destroyed the remaining clones that were in the area after he'd dragged Sasuke underground. His clones' memories showed that Sasuke had pushed Sakura out of the way before he was dragged underground, save for his head. He knew where Sasuke was located – thanks to his clones – however, that didn't mean that he didn't worry about his teammate. Something like being dragged underground could leave broken bones or twisted ankles which weren't fun to deal with. He hoped that the Uchiha would be fine as he sent a few clones out to get him out and bring him back so that they could regroup. Naruto also worried about Sakura, he didn't exactly know where she was and hoped that she wasn't in too much trouble. He'd heard her scream all to clearly in his head and it mortified him. After hearing the high-pitched noise, he sent out a four-man group of clones after her in a weird direction. Hopefully, both of his teammates would be fine.
Getting up from his spot, he left his current hiding spot in search for somewhere else to sit and wait for the arrival of his teammates.
Sasuke looked up at the three clones looming above him. He sneered slightly, "What?"
"Do you need assistance?" One of the three asked, no amount of emotion in their voices but the concern in their eyes spoke the truth.
"I suppose so." He mumbled.
"Stand watch." Two of the clones said to the other one who had spoken earlier. Naruto's clone nodded, walking in a slow circle, head craned to look in almost every direction. The remaining channeled chakra into their hands, turning them blue before attacking the ground around their teammate's body to move the dirt away quickly.
Sasuke let out a growl, "Hey! Watch it! You're going to cut something off!"
The clones stopped, looking in between each other before staring pointedly at the Uchiha, "Sasuke, we can just reattach if it if need be."
The black-haired boy could feel his face pale at the thought as the clones started to continue. After a few seconds, he could feel his shoulders loosening up once the dirt surrounding him was being removed. Sasuke let out a sigh of relief, the pressure being removed from his chest soon after. Rather agitated, the dark-haired boy started to wiggle around. After about a minute, Sasuke found that his hand was free and he sighed once more. The clones, seeing this, grinned at each other and started to work fast.
"U-Um!" Naruto's clone that had been standing watch suddenly squeaked out, "We need to hurry, I feel like Kakashi-sensei is near!"
"Are you sure?!" One of the other clones questioned hastily, hands already moving with precise strikes. The watchdog clone nodded, moving to their sides to help them out so that they can get out of there as quickly as possible. Another one of Sasuke's hands became free. The two clones started to pull the boy out, the ground shifting underneath him.
Naruto's clone turned his head, "He's getting close. We've got to go, now!" The three clones tugged together, successfully pulling Sasuke from the dirt. The Uchiha stretched slightly before the four of them started to run in the direction of the original Naruto.
"Kakashi-sensei is steadily approaching our location." A clone informed, "We can't allow him to see where we are hiding out. We'll need to split up."
"Alright, you-" One of the clones pointed to another, "-come with me. I'll henge into Sasuke. Together, we'll try to get him off our trail, got it?"
The blond-haired clone nodded, everyone watching as one of them turned into a carbon copy of the Uchiha. He looked at the original Sasuke and the clone that will be accompanying him, "You two stay safe. It's anyone's game right now."
Sasuke nodded, "Give him hell." The clones nodded, turning right in hopes of Kakashi following them instead. "You know, you clones sure do come in handy in situations like this." He stated.
The imposter smiled slightly, "I guess so. I – the original me – didn't realize that we could use the Shadow Clone Jutsu to be on the frontlines while still playing medic in the background. Thank you for the idea."
The Uchiha shrugged, "We needed another advantage in our plan, even though it wasn't successful, it did prove useful."
"That gives me an idea." Naruto's clone stated.
"What is it?"
"If we are ever in a situation where a lot of people need healing but we don't have enough medics, I – the original me – could use a mass Shadow Clone Jutsu to help everyone." He smiled.
Sasuke nodded, "So, where is Naruto… the real one, I mean."
"He's close. He sent three of us to come get you and a four-man group to find Sakura." The clone stated.
"What happened to Haruno?" He questioned, not really worried about his devoted-fangirl.
Naruto's clone heaved a sigh, "We're not sure but we – the original and the rest of us clones – think that Kakashi-sensei got to her before she could get back to where we were hiding."
"So, he got to her first?" He raised an eyebrow, though, he already knew the answer.
"Sasuke, I must ask as a medic-in-training, but… are you alright? You didn't get hurt at all?" The clone questioned.
The Uchiha rolled his eyes, "Other than a few bruises and cuts from Kakashi-sensei, I'm fine. I don't need your healing."
The blond-haired clone gave him an eye-smile, "That's great, I was getting worried."
"Worried?" Sasuke almost scoffed.
He nodded, "This is only the second time I've been put in a situation like this where I had to look after someone as a medic ninja and backup. It's thrilling and scary."
The dark-haired gennin took a moment to think before turning to look at the clone, "Does the original Naruto know that you're telling me this?"
"Nope but he will once I poof away!" The clone let out a short laugh. Sasuke raised his eyebrow again. Seeing this, the blond-haired clone grinned, "Naruto can see all of the memories and thoughts of a clone once we poof away. That's why we knew exactly what happened to you and where you were because the original clones that were there poofed away and gave the original Naruto the memories. He only just found it out before the exam."
"That is… very useful." Sasuke mumbled.
"We're here. It's right up ahead." The clone stated, "Nice chat, right? See you later!"
"I guess?" He stated, the clone leaving him in a plume of smoke. Sasuke ran forward, seeing Naruto's eyes widened before blinking several times. He looked up at the dark-haired boy and grinned. He guessed that Naruto just got back his clone's memories.
"I'm glad you're okay." Naruto finally said, speaking softly, "I know my clone said the same thing, but are you sure that you don't need anything healed?"
Sasuke sat beside the blond-haired gennin and grunted, "Hn."
He chuckled, "I'll take that as a no?"
"Hn."
"We're back!" A breathless voice called from the right. There were two clones left, one holding an unconscious Sakura on their back. The clone set her down beside the original Naruto before dispelling themselves.
"A genjutsu?" Naruto mused, going through his clones' memories, "Sasuke, can you dispel this one? I'm not proficient in genjutsu."
He nodded, "Move aside." The blond-haired medic-in-training nodded, giving his teammate space. Sasuke flew through a few short hand signs, "Kai."
Sakura awoke with a large gulp of oxygen, eyes wide and filling with tears quickly. She glanced at her two teammates in worry, fear, shock, and utter happiness. Launching herself at Sasuke, she cuddled up against his side, tears slipping out of her eyes. The Uchiha grimaced, a disgusted look on his face and eyes pleading for Naruto to do something.
"Sakura." The blond-haired boy's soft voice alerted her.
Their pink-haired teammate sniffled, peeling herself away from her crush. Sasuke visibly relaxed and gave the other boy a small smile which quickly vanished. Sakura whipped her eyes, "What happened?"
Naruto gave her a smile, placing his hands on her shoulders softly, "Kakashi-sensei put a genjutsu on you. If you need to talk about it later, you can tell me about it after the exam."
She blushed at his politeness, "U-Um… I'm fine, I think… No need to t-talk about it."
He nodded in understanding, "Are you okay? Do you need any medical attention? I heard you screaming a while ago and I was worried."
"I think I sprained my ankle when running but I'm not sure," Sakura said honestly, cheeks growing redder by the minute by the sickly-sweet attention she was getting from the medic-in-training.
"Mind if I have a look?" He asked, eyes wide with curiosity and worry. She nodded, moving her leg so that it was closer to him. He took off her shoe, making Sakura feel slightly embarrassed by the situation. After a few seconds, Naruto nodded, "Yeah, it's sprained." His hand started to glow green, letting it hover over her ankle. "This will help with the swelling and pain but you need to be careful of running on the weird terrain around here." He grinned up at her, "You'll be fine in about a day or so."
She smiled, "Thanks, Naruto. I appreciate it."
Naruto, after putting her shoe back on, turned to look at Sasuke, "You sure you don't need healing at all?"
"I'm fine." He hissed, "Let's just try to make a new plan so that we can become genins."
And plan they did.
One hour later…
Kakashi stared at his students who were all tied against one of the large logs in the center of Training Ground 7. They all had a mix of emotions crossing their faces; guilt, shame, disappointment, anger, sadness, and more were just the beginning. The bells jingled tauntingly at the teacher's hip, the three newly-graduates looking directly at them. "Team 7, for not completing your mission and not being able to retrieve these bells from me, you…" He gave them an eye-smile, "…pass."
"WHAT?!" The shocked screams of the three newly-graduates filled the clearing, leaning forward in surprize.
Kakashi gave a chuckle out, "Yep, you three pass!"
"Not that I'm upset about passing, but… Kakashi-sensei, we didn't get the bells." Sakura stated, giving her teacher an incredulous stare.
"We don't deserve to pass," Sasuke mumbled after a few seconds.
Naruto nodded, "Why are you passing us?"
"You are the first squad that ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through the deception. You were the only squad that was able to do something like that, even before I told you what the exercise was about." Kakashi stated, "There is a saying that I learned many years ago. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum; that's true, but… those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." He was quiet for a few seconds, reading their expressions of almost pure joy. He smiled, giving them a thumbs up, "The exercise is over. Everyone passes. Squad 7's starts its first mission tomorrow!"
"We did it!" Sakura cheered, loudly.
"Hn." Sasuke let a small smile grace his features.
"Yes!" Naruto grinned brightly, feeling his heart swell with happiness.
He was one step closer to being recognized by the village as a medic!
If you have a question, comment it here or in the Q&A Book on Wattpad and I will answer it in the next chapter!
P.S – I'd like to thank WebMD, Dr. Axe, and Wikipedia for the information about turmeric. While I knew that turmeric could be used for medicinal and culinary purposes, I didn't know what all it could do. The information about turmeric that is provided in this chapter is complete, scientifically true so you won't have to worry about me pulling this out of my ass. Also, I recommend turmeric, in the form of a pill or in your food, to anyone who has anything that is mentioned in this chapter.