Why, you may ask, did I split these two chapters up? Easy! SOLIDARITY! If I didn't, I feared it would simply exacerbate things. Heh.

Gaara isn't here yet. Travel on, poor darlings.

Sakura: She-

Naruto: Doesn't-

Kakashi: Own-

Sasuke: ...

Hoshiko: He means anything. ;)

While Sakura, Sasuke and I were hiding and watching Naruto get beaten, we were all wondering what the hell was going on. Well, let me rephrase that. I was wondering what the hell was going on. Relying on sound sucked sometimes, and even if I was used to not seeing I wasn't able to feel the chakra movements from where I was, which reminded me how much I actually relied on them. As such, I missed much of Naruto's show. Then there was no more yelling, and I figured out- due to my incredible intellect, of course- that I should now be very scared. Sasuke tried to attack Kakashi, but he failed as well. Well, not really a surprise, and probably good for lowering his ego, but it meant one less person between Kakashi and me. Sakura screamed, and my blood froze. I was good at keeping quiet, but I knew that Kakashi would be able to find me no matter how well I had hidden. I was living with the academy teacher, for god's sake, and he told me extensively how large the gap was between a genin-wannabe level and a jounin.

The sounds of fighting came from Sasuke's area again, so I thought more diligently on my plan, less focused on listening for an attack. It wouldn't last long- and the time was closing in on a few minutes. Kakashi left the area where Sasuke was trapped after their skirmish. I hid behind a tree as I heard something, but it was just Sakura. She had her fangirly pass-out moment, so I grabbed Sasuke and pulled him out. He didn't thank me, of course, cold bastard that he was. Oh, no, I was picking up Naruto's words now… Sakura woke up and started hugging him, much to his humiliation. Alright, I didn't like hugs all that much, but that doesn't mean I'm like him. I felt like laughing, but time was almost up. "People. Hug time, if there is any, is after we win. I don't want to go back, and I know you don't. So let's get them, and then fight to see who gets to continue. Alright?" Sasuke turned his head and exhaled deeply, which I took for his emo yes. Sakura would just go along with Sasuke, so I went on. "Alright!"

"I can still get it by myself." Of course… "Don't make that face in my presence!" My mistake. I schooled my features to be utterly, perfectly serene. No! Bad! No giggling! "There is a man…" Oh god, not this again!

"WE GET IT! The man, the man, the man, the maaaaaan. Let's just get the freaking bells, ok? I'll make sure to give you mine if you shut up. It'd get me out of your class!" Haha. Sasuke needs at least one bell. He has none of his own. Obviously, he took offense to my laughing at his bell-less-ness, and stomped off in the direction of Kakashi.

Straight into a trap. "Well, do you still feel like making fun of Naruto? Huh? Huh? Oh bell-less one?" When Sakura didn't attack me for insulting Sasuke, I called, "Sakura?" Oh, shit. I was freaking alone. I crouched and listened for Kakashi. I was pretty sure he wouldn't make a sound, but my hearing was… there! Just an intake of breath, through a mask. Hmm. Interesting sensei indeed. I faced the place where I sensed him last. I bet he was reading his book again, waiting for me to move. I didn't want to, but the timer was ticking. Lets see- I could move fast, use my sharp heels and claws, and had a strong kick. Strength and swiftness would be wasted on him- he was of a far superior level. I shifted forward on my feet, and kicked off. I was awfully light for my height, and I jumped pretty high. I felt the air move as he followed me. There we go- gotcha. I dashed forward, midair, pushing backwards with my arms to leap forward and dig my talons into him like a harpy of legend. I brought my hand forward, too, just in case, and I gripped him by the arm before he dashed away. It wasn't really fortunate- although I was really lucky to grab him, he was too heavy, and I fell. He pinned me to the ground with kunai taken from the others, and so I lost. But he was panting, so my job was as much of a success as I could have hoped for. I should really incorporate that jumping attack into my taijutsu, it was quite useful and I liked the feeling of air. Maybe… I'd just… take a little nap… didn't get much sleep… I yawned. But as soon as I fell asleep… my alarm clock rang. Or rather, the alarm for the end of the training session rang. Well, crap. Now I would have to go back and deal with all of the stupid people again. At least it was over. I hopped up, since Kakashi had left me to sleep there, and jogged to the poles in the center of the clearing. I thought, what if I had grabbed for the bells instead of his arm? Seeing was really a big help to the rest of these people. Shaking my head before I lapsed into an emo day, I reached the clearing. Naruto's stomach was complaining loudly, but his mouth was shut- he must have been tied up. Sakura wasn't complaining, so she and Sasuke weren't tied up. Oh, great! They got bells and now they would most likely shove it in my face. I just had to bug Sasuke about his bell-less-ness… I still giggled at the thought, so I guess I wasn't feeling too guilty.

Kakashi showed up finally, to see Naruto tied up and the remaining three of us sitting on the ground, stomachs growling, snapping, roaring, and everything in between. "You guys look really hungry. By the way, about the training exercise- there's no reason you guys should return to the academy." Sasuke made a sound in response. It was amazing. Sakura, for once, was shocked into silence, and all Naruto do was act even happier.

"Then, yes! All four of us! Yeah!" Naruto just couldn't contain himself.

"Mmhmm, all four of you… should give up on being a ninja." I couldn't believe it. I was beginning to think I had anger issues, because people got me riled up way too much. I tried to sit quietly with my eyes tightly shut for once. I was already weird enough. But damn, no one was going to tell me I couldn't be a ninja! For once, I could connect with the feelings of rage and disappointment in my team.

Naruto voiced what we were processing. "What is that supposed to mean? Why?"

"Because, you punks don't deserve to be ninjas." Sasuke, in a brilliant and astounding show of emotion and failure, tried to attack Kakashi. "Why the hell do you think you were put into three-person… four-person…. Squads?" At our expressions, he explained, "You aren't understanding the answer to this test."

"Answer?"

"Yes, what you need to pass." The sound of the gears turning in our heads was almost audible. "Hopeless…" he sighed. "The answer is teamwork. If you worked together, I'm sure you could have gotten the bells. Hoshiko managed to restrain me for a second. Naruto was a great… distraction. Sasuke almost damaged me. Sakura… well, I'm sure if she was helped out a bit, she wouldn't be in that situation and would be much more of a help. You see?"

Sakura huffed. "But the test is set up so that only two of us can pass! No matter how much teamwork we put in, two of us will fail!" I really wanted to say that I had told them to work together, but it seemed like it wouldn't make a difference.

"Yes. The test is set up to make you fight amongst yourselves. The purpose… is to see if you can forget about yourself… and successfully work together under these designed circumstances. Yet, in complete violation, Sakura, you only thought of Sasuke, leaving Naruto. Naruto, you were just running around by yourself. Sasuke… you assumed the others would get in your way and went off on your own. Hoshiko, you heard your teammates in trouble several times and never tried to help. Missions are done by a team, although superior individual ability is important to a ninja. But… what's even more important is teamwork." Although I got all that, I wondered how Sasuke felt with Kakashi sitting on him… it couldn't be pleasant, I felt how heavy he was before. "Individuals can endanger the team, and get their friends killed. For example… Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!" Psh. He isn't allowed to kill the last remaining member of the Uchiha clan. Naruto and Sakura still panicked anyway. "See? If a hostage is taken, you will be risking your life in these missions." As I thought, Sasuke gasped for breath when Kakashi got off of him. How embarrassing. I wish I had a camera. "On this stone, many names are engraved of heroes of the village. "

Naruto burst out, "Yeah! I'll get my name on that stone too!"

"The people on this stone are all heroes, yes. But not just heroes. These are heroes who died on duty." As sick as it was, when everyone fell quiet and solemn I really wanted to know what was on that rock. I had a remarkable amount of sensory images from when I was a baby… if I heard a familiar name, I would know, right? "This is a memorial. My best friend's name is also carved here."

He paused, and we held our breath. "I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch, I'll make it even harder to get the bells. If you still want to try, go ahead and eat lunch. But don't give any to Naruto. He tried to eat without the team. If anyone tries to give him any food, they will fail immediately. I make the rules! Got it?" Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly. I got my lunch and wandered over to the memorial stone, running my fingers over the markings one by one. I knew what they should look like, it was described by Iruka just in case it could be of any help. But, name after name, they were all strangers to me. I wondered which one was Kakashi's best friend.

A muttered "Here" interrupted my thought process.

Sakura said, "But- Sensei just told us!"

I shook my head. "It's ok. I don't sense his chakra anywhere near and I can't hear anything but your incessant talking."

Sasuke spoke. "I don't sense him either. After lunch we'll work together to get the bells. If he's hungry, he'll just get in the way."

Sakura's loud voice interrupted the conversation again. "But then… Naruto, eat mine! Sasuke is one of our heavy hitters, while I can't do anything and I'm on a diet."

I sighed. "While were all presenting reasons to give Naruto our lunch, Naruto, you should eat mine. I'm not hungry anymore. I don't have time if I'm to work out the writing on here. Just leave me some of the rice and I'll eat it once we're done. Hmm… I guess I should be as light as possible when I fight, too, no need to get weighed down with unnecessary food…" I lapsed into mumbling and returned to the memorial. Naruto was happy to get all the attention- a smaller kind of happy.

"Thanks." I should have told them that Kakashi had returned to the area right after Sasuke first spoke, but figured Kakashi already knew, and we might as well go down as a team.

"Kakashi's here."

Sasuke snorted, "No he- yes he is."

I blinked at him and tapped my forehead. "Nature's compensation rules."

Seconds later, a loud sound cracked through the training area and Kakashi appeared. "YOU GUYS! … pass!" I snapped my mouth shut again as we all sat for s moment.

"But… why?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi almost seemed too happy, as if he was going to start skipping and throwing flowers soon. And my friends thought I was bipolar! "You guys are the first! Everyone else just followed orders. Morons! Those who break the rules of shinobi are called trash. But you guys know what?" He was suddenly serious again. "Those who don't take care of their friends… are lower than trash."

I giggled suddenly and couldn't hold back the urge to say, "Are they… garbage?" Nobody seemed to get it, but I was cracking myself up.

"Oooookay! All of you pass! Starting tomorrow team number seven will start it's duties!" I was still laughing hysterically in the background. 'duties! Who made that word?'

Naruto started celebrating by yelling. "Wooooohoo! Ninja ninja ninja! I win!" While Sakura trailed Sasuke like a lost puppy, cold boy tried to shake her off, and Kakashi disappeared, he started to yell, "Wait! Untie me! Hey, you!" I looked up from my internal banter of duties and garbage. "Yeah, Hoshiko! Untie me, freaky girl!" I had known Naruto for a while, and he should have known not to encourage me when I hit one of these moods. But I decided to calm myself, and so I just left after a quick slice right above his head, almost cutting his hair.

"Byyyyye!"

"Wait, this isn't fair! You're supposed to be the good guy!"

Yay! Now pause two months so I can write :(