"What are you doing?! Kakashi-sensei said not to eat breakfast unless you want to throw up!" Sakura screeched at me.
I looked over my shoulder as my mouth was open wide, my chopsticks merely millimetres away from delivering my delish breakfast into my mouth, before shrugging. I finished my bite of food before saying, "I don't really mind throwing up. The pain it causes inside of my stomach and esophagus really-"
"I don't want to hear it," she interrupted as she looked away from me. "You are so weird sometimes."
I chuckled before quickly polishing off my plate. "Come on. I made extra. You didn't have dinner last night."
"I don't want to throw up," Sakura said snottily as she went back towards her bedroom.
"Bet you don't want to be lacking energy for the survival exercise either!" I yelled after her. I got the sound of a slamming door in reply before shrugging. "Meh, whatever. More for me."
A little while later, my sister and I were off to the training grounds. We arrived at the same time as the other two and ended up standing by the three stumps.
Well, they did.
I went over to the stone and silently prayed for a while. I realized that my teammates had no clue that this was important and felt just a bit of disappointment. Once I was done praying for all those who had lost their lives on the line of duty, I went back to my three teammates.
For the next few hours, I drifted in and out of sleep until Kakashi-sensei finally arrived about an hour before noon.
"Hello guys," he greeted.
"You're late!" Sakura and Uzumaki-kun yelled at him angrily.
"A black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way," Kakashi-sensei lied.
I rolled my eyes at that excuse before looking over at the marker once again. I had focused on the names there until Kakashi-sensei brushed past me.
"I've set this alarm to go off at noon." Kakashi-sensei said as he turned his attention towards us. He then pulled out two bells attached to red string. "I have two bells here. Your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails... doesn't get lunch. Instead, you will be tied to that tree stump so I can eat your lunch in front of you."
Haha! I ate breakfast! Suck on that sensei! I thought as I put my hands on my hips and smiled triumphantly.
"All you need is one bell... apiece. But since there aren't enough to go around, two of you are definitely headed for the stumps... And whoever they are will be the first of you to fail. Two of you are on your way back to school... and disgrace," Kakashi-sensei said dramatically.
I rolled my eyes as I put my hands into my pockets. I knew it was bullshit that he was using to motivate us, but telling the truth would have been slightly better.
"You may, if you choose, use shuriken," the man stated as he hid the bells away in his right fist. "Attack as though you mean to kill, or you'll never stand a chance."
"But... But that's so dangerous!" Sakura exclaimed.
"You couldn't even dodge an eraser! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Uzumaki-kun yelled with a laugh.
"Only the weak speak loudly. Let's forget about the loser, and we'll start on my signal," Kakashi-sensei said with slight annoyance. It was clear that he wasn't really annoyed though.
Uzumaki-kun failed to notice and pulled a kunai out. He flicked it around and went for the attack, blinded by rage.
I immediately moved out the the way and covered my sister just in case.
Kakashi-sensei made his move and grabbed Uzumaki-kun's hand with his right hand. With his left hand, he grabbed the back of Uzumaki-kun's head. He then moved the boy's arm back so that the kunai be very close to killing the boy while being pointed at the back of his neck.
I felt an odd sense of anger fill me. I kept a neutral expression as I stared at the kunai that Uzumaki-kun held. I had a strange impulse, an impulse to cause harm to Kakashi-sensei.
"Not so fast. I didn't say, "go"," Kakashi-sensei said before looking down at Uzumaki-kun with a smile. "But at least you struck to kill... So it seems you've begun to respect me." He gave a chuckle. "Maybe... Just maybe... I'm starting to like you four. And now... Ready... Steady... Go!"
I quickly jumped back into the treeline and watched Kakashi-sensei closely. I dropped my little act of stupidity and began to calculate possible moves of him whilst trying to think up a plan to get those two bells. I knew that I only needed one, but I wasn't exactly going to use those bells for myself. I was definitely going to give one to Sakura and the other to Uzumaki-kun.
Uchiha didn't deserve the bell. He was blinded by the need for revenge, something I personally knew was a bad thing. He couldn't tell that his life was being stolen by his desire to kill his older brother.
Yeah, I knew. I was one of the few kids that managed to find it out. Well, I actually found it out from Itachi-senpai himself. I really was directionally challenged as a kid, and Itachi-senpai was someone that would take time out of his busy schedule to help me get to a place that I needed to go...
I had stumbled across him and immediately saw how much blood he was covered in.
"What are you doing out here so late at night?" Itachi-senpai muttered after giving a sigh.
"You're... all bloody..." I mumbled as I looked up at him nervously.
"I just came back from a mission," he said as be brushed a few strands of hair back.
"O-oh..." I felt a bead of sweat run down the back of my neck. "Hey... Who'd you kill?"
He looked at me with surprise, his sharingan activated. He definitely didn't just come back from a mission. He closed his eyes before giving a small sigh. "Of course I couldn't slide it past you. Come here Ren."
I hesitantly approached him and stopped only a few steps away.
He kneeled down and put a hand on my shoulder. He smiled kindly at me before saying softly, "It was nice knowing you. Goodbye."
"Wha-" I cut myself off as his eyes began to swirl around. I felt dizzy, and my body began to collapse. I fell easily into his arms and just barely heard his last words to be before I slipped into unconsciousness.
"I killed my clan."
I bit my lower lip as I snapped myself out of it. I looked down at Kakashi-sensei and saw that he was taunting a very wet Uzumaki-kun. Shit. I missed a lot. Ah, how the hell am I supposed to get those damn bells by myse- Oh my gods! That son of a bitch!
Uzumaki-kun's clone grabbed Kakashi-sensei from behind with a large grin.
I immediately moved from my spot and attempted to take a bell, only to pass by a clone of Uzumaki-kun. "Ah... A substitution... Shit..."
"Hey! What're you doing?! Those bells were going to be mine!" Uzumaki-kun yelled at me.
"Teamwork!" I blurted out as I held my hands up in mock defense.
"Wait... Teamwork...? So... If you get a bell... And I get a bell..." Uzumaki-kun held up two fingers before looking at me suspiciously. "How do I know you won't take both of the bells for yourself?"
"Because I pledge my allegiance to the future Hokage," I promised.
He hummed before turning away. "No-can-do Haruno-kun! If I'm going to be the greatest Hokage, I need to do this by myself!"
"How the flying fuck are you going to beat a jônin by yourself?!" I screamed after him as he ran away from me.
"I have kage bunshins!" He yelled back.
I looked at him with annoyance before raising both of my middle fingers. I then huffed before turned towards the two that were probably still hidden away in their original spots. "Come over here if you want to use teamwork!"
Neither Sakura nor Uchiha bothered to show themselves.
"Great, I'll just sit over there and wait for all of us to fail then," I said as I pointed at the marker. I moved the food out of my way and began to read over all the names that were on the marker. I ignored practically everything else until Uzumaki-kun grabbed one of the two bento boxes. "Are you kidding me?"
"What? I'm hungry! A ninja must see through deception after all," he grinned at me foxily.
I rolled my eyes and turned away. "Don't eat so close to this marker."
He grumbled under his breath before ignoring my warning.
I sighed before just punching him across the face. "There, now will you move?"
"Hey! What was that... for...?" Uzumaki-kun trailed off as he looked behind me nervously. He gave a sheepish laugh and said softly, "Just kidding..."
"Too late," Kakashi-sensei said, making me jolt. He then grabbed Uzumaki-kun and tied the boy to a stump. He then turned his attention towards me. "Do you want to try now?"
"Mind as fucking well," I muttered as I stood up. "So, before I fail at getting those bells, can I ask you something?"
The man gave a hum.
"Who's name is it?" I asked as I pointed my thumb over my shoulder at the stone.
He looked at it sadly before saying softly, "Names."
I dropped my thumb and gave a small nod. "Okay. Do you want me to just come straight at you like my idiotic teammates have done?"
He gave a small nod. "Sure, that's pretty simple."
I pulled out a kunai before looking at Kakashi-sensei blankly. "Great."
His brow furrowed for a moment, but only for a moment. He then immediately pulled out a kunai of his own and stopped my hand from going any closer to his neck.
"Great," I muttered softly before pulling out a second kunai. I slashed towards his thigh, but missed. I was kicked harshly in the gut and ended up sliding a few meters away. "Great..."
He repositioned his kunai as Uzumaki-kun cheered me on in the background.
I released a small breath before lunging for him again. I watched his shadow move as he jumped over me. I quickly performed a few hand signs before turning around. I looked him dead in the eye before casting the highest-level genjutsu that I knew.
He was caught in it for a moment before releasing it. That was all the time that I needed though.
I had four kunais placed around him that were stabbed through different pieces of paper. I quickly threw a kunai towards Uzumaki-kun and finished performing the necessary hand signs. I slammed my hands into the ground before watching the seals from the pieces of paper crawl up Kakashi-sensei's legs.
"This level of- There's no way." The man looked at me with slight apprehension as he failed to move his legs away from my crawling seals.
"The fourth ninja art - fūinjutsu..." I said as I looked up at him blankly. "Restraining you like this takes up quite a bit of chakra, however..."
"Wha- I can move!" Uzumaki-kun exclaimed as his ropes fell away. "Time to get those bells!"
I grinned maliciously at the man that was almost fully immobilized. "I'm giving my bell to my sister. Uchiha and I will fail, got it sensei?"
Just before Uzumaki-kun could touch the bells, the alarm went off.
"You fail," Kakashi-sensei stated happily with a closed-eye smile.
"Oh, fuck you," I snarled as I lifted my hands off the ground. I watched the seals quickly retreat to their separate pieces of paper and grumbled.
Uzumaki-kun sobbed as he was retied to the middle stump.
I collected my kunais and papers before grabbing the clock. I threw it at our teacher and took its spot with my arms crossed. "This is such fucking bullshit..."
About ten minutes later, Uchiha and Sakura found their way to us as sat down on the ground in front of Uzumaki-kun.
All of our stomachs growled as Kakashi-sensei placed two bento boxes before us.
"Oh my. Listen to all the little stomach growl! By the way you three, I have an announcement about this exercise," Kakashi-sensei said, making my brow furrow.
Three? There's four of us, I thought with great confusion.
"None of you need to worry about being sent back to the academy!" Kakashi-sensei exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Uzumaki-kun cheered as the others looked happy. "This rocks! It means all three of us-"
"-are being dropped from the program permanently," Kakashi-sensei and I interrupted in unison.
"So you knew?" Kakashi-sensei questioned immediately afterwards.
I gave a small sigh as everyone looked towards me. "Yeah, I knew. I'm friends with Gai-sensei and his team."
Kakashi-sensei looked slightly disgusted with that statement before shaking it off. "You three should give up on being shinobi."
"By the way, who passed?" I asked.
"You did," the man replied.
"Wait, really?" I blurted out in surprise, earning a nod from the silver-haired shinobi.
"What do you mean by give up?!" Uzumaki-kun screamed at our sensei. "Give me a break! So none of us got your stupid bells! Why the hell should we quit over that?! And why did Haruno-kun pass?!"
"Ren is the only one of you that has what it takes," Kakashi-sensei stated.
Uchiha grew furious at that revelation and went after Kakashi-sensei. He was easily taken down though and was sat on by the teacher.
"What you are is a trio of spoiled brats," Kakashi-sensei spat out.
"Don't step on Sasuke-kun like he's some kind of bug! Get off of him!" Sakura yelled.
Kakashi-sensei glared at us. "Are you trying to make fun of shinobi with your behavior? Well, are you? Did any of you besides Ren stop to wonder for one minute why you were put onto teams?"
"Uh... Excuse me?" Sakura asked stupidly.
"Obviously not," Kakashi-sensei replied to his previous question. "So you missed the entire point of this exercise."
"It had a point...?" Uzumaki-kun asked.
"Of course. And that point determines whether or not you would succeed," Kakashi-sensei explained.
"But... You haven't explained what it is!" Sakura objected.
Kakashi-sensei gauged their reactions for a moment before saying with great exasperation, "I don't believe this..."
"Aw, come on already! Just tell us what it is!" Uzumaki-kun yelled.
"Ren..." Kakashi-sensei called out.
"It's teamwork," I answered with my eyes closed and arms crossed.
"If the four of you had come at me together, you might have been able to take these bells," our teacher said.
"If we were expected to function as a team, why did you only have two bells?! Even if we'd work together, two of us would still have had to go without lunch. You're preaching teamwork, but you played us against each other!" Sakura yelled out defensively.
"Of course. This task was designed to cause dissension in your ranks," Kakashi-sensei explained.
"What?!" Uzumaki-kun exclaimed.
"The situation was set up to reveal which of you would set aside individual interests and propose to the others that you work together for the good of all," Kakashi-sensei said before glancing up at me, "Just as Ren had done."
I gave a small sigh as I looked up towards the sky. "You can stop the ass-kissing now."
"Instead of which..." Kakashi-sensei continued on as if I had said nothing. "Sakura, you ignored Naruto and Ren, who were right in front of you while you instead focused your attention on Sasuke, though you didn't know where he was. Naruto tried to do, single-handedly, what should have been the work of all four! And Sasuke had already decided that the other three just got in his way, and he was better off playing solo. In a way, Ren was almost no better. In the end, he managed to twist Naruto around his finger." Kakashi-sensei ranted.
Asshole, I thought as I kept a straight face.
"You are a team! Learn to act like one! Yes, it's necessary for a shinobi to have individual skills, but what's even more important now is teamwork!" Kakashi-sensei explained before reaching his hand back into his pouch. "Making a plan as an individual is bad for your team and exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger. You might as well kill them yourself... Like this..."
I gave a small nod before watching him pull out a kunai.
Kakashi-sensei pointed said kunai at the Uchiha's neck. "Ren! Kill Sakura and Naruto or Sasuke dies!"
I motioned for him to kill Uchiha and got a glare from the teacher in reply. I gave a small shrug as my own response.
"The day could come when one of you may be taken hostage, and you're forced to make such a choice," he explained as he stood up and put his kunai away. He turned heel and walked over to the stone. "Look at this marker... All the names engraved on this stone are heroes of this village. Ninja."
Uzumaki-kun perked up. "That's it! I've just made up my mind! There's where I want my name to go! I'm not gonna throw my life away! I want to be like them - a hero!"
I couldn't help but let sadness crawl onto my face at that statement.
Kakashi-sensei cleared his throat. "...But the ones listed there aren't just any heroes..."
"Really?! What kind of heroes are they?!" Uzumaki-kun yelled eagerly.
When Kakashi-sensei didn't reply, I gave a sigh. "Listen, they're a special kind of hero. If you wish to become Hokage, you must do it before you get your name engraved on that stone."
"Why?" Uzumaki-kun asked curiously as the other two looked at me with great interest.
"Every single one of those heroes are KIA. They've all been killed in action. For the sake of the village, those faithful ninja have died on the line of duty. That is why they are heroes..." I explained softly as I looked over at that marker.
Uzumaki-kun immediately lost his enthusiasm and looked down at the ground sadly.
The other two weren't really any better.
"This is a memorial. It includes the name of my best friend," Kakashi-sensei explained.
I slipped off of the stump and patted Uzumaki-kun's head reassuringly. I looked at the stone and wondered which poor shinobi was the one that Kakashi-sensei held so dear.
"...Pay attention!" Kakashi-sensei demanded as he glared over his shoulder. "I'm giving you three one last chance. One that will be far more difficult that our last little game with the bells. If you're prepared to continue, you may eat one of the bento boxes. But no sharing with Naruto. He goes hungry."
"Why?" Sakura questioned.
"He brought it on himself when he tried to sneak lunch for himself. If either of you feed him, you fail the test right there," Kakashi-sensei explained as he moved away from the stone. "My word is law. Do you understand?" Kakashi-sensei asked threateningly before turning his attention back to me. "Let's go Ren."
"I'm coming," I said softly as I walked over to him. I allowed him to teleport us away to a location not too far away. I held on a sigh as I sat down and held my legs close to my chest. "Hey sensei... When you said that only nine people pass... I want to be the one that fails. Sakura is really only becoming a kunoichi for Uchiha, and Uzumaki-kun really should end up as a Hokage. I don't really fit in there, so I-"
He gently patted my head as he sat down next to me. "Don't be like that. I honestly was expecting you four to fail, so that's why I didn't tell you that there's been an exception this year. Ten people can pass and become genin."
I looked up at him in surprise. "R-really?"
He nodded before looking up. "I've failed every single student of mine before now."
"Teamwork is really important to you, huh?" I asked softly.
"Uchiha Obito... was my best friend. He died to save my life," he said so softly, I nearly missed it. He looked over at me, sadness clear in his eye. He patted my head once more before standing up and poofing away.
I looked towards the ground for a moment before sighing. I had read that name over many times. I briefly wondered how old that Uchiha was when he died, but brushed it aside. I knew it wasn't any of my concern and went to join my teammates.
"In the ninja world, those who violate the rules and fail to follow orders are scum. But those who do not care for and support their fellow shinobi are even worse than scum," Kakashi-sensei said.
I smiled softly at him as I sat myself down on the log that Naruto-san was tied to. I then watched Naruto-san give a blush at our teacher's words with a devious smirk.
Kakashi-sensei then held his thumb out towards us. "This exercise is now closed! You all pass! That's all for today, Team Seven! Your duties will commence tomorrow! Now, let's go home." He grabbed his bag, as did the other two, and began to walk off.
"I can't believe you blushed at him. So you have a crush on Kakashi-sensei, huh?" I asked the Uzumaki before running off with my own bag.
"Wait! It wasn't like that! Hey! I'm still tied up! Guys! Hey!" Uzumaki-kun screamed.
The four of us ignored his screams as we went off back to the main part of the village.
"Oh, by the way Ren," Kakashi-sensei called out.
I hummed and looked up at him. I felt my smile become forced as I stared at his presumably sinister smile.
"The next time I say not to eat breakfast, don't eat it," he said darkly before giving a closed-eye smile.
"Of course, sir..." I replied quickly with a small bow of my head. My non-existent ovaries have exploded! I really want him to beat me up now!
Sakura snickered at me softly as Uchiha gave a smirk.
I stuck my tongue out at both of them before pouting slightly. They could never understand the wonders of masochism...
~Later~
I snickered as I capped my permanent marker. I slipped it away before shaking Uzumaki-kun awake.
"Uh? Who? What time is it?" Uzumaki-kun asked dumbly.
I cut the rope binding him to stump and put his backpack in his arms. "You fell asleep training again idiot. Go get some ramen and sleep at your apartment."
"Mkay Otou-san," he mumbled sleepily before stumbling off. He was completely unaware of the dicks and rather lewd words I wrote on his face.
I had my hands on my hips as I watched him leave. I'm official the cruelest father in all of Konoha.