Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


Chapter 2 – Do I Even Want To Pass?

I made my way downstairs glad that I'd gone to bed early the night before because despite knowing that Kakashi was undoubtedly not going to turn up anywhere near the time we were told, I still had to.

"Good morning, sweetheart." My dad greeted with a smile over his coffee mug as I entered the kitchen.

"Morning," I returned the greeting opening the fridge to squint at its contents.

"There's some soup left in the pot," He suggested as I closed it in defeat "and some rolls left in the bread bin."

I made a sound of agreement as I retrieved one of the rolls, taking a bite as my dad moved over to the pot, scooping some out for me into a mug "Has mom already left?"

"About half an hour before I heard you begin to stir." He told me "She should be back in a few days. Just the usual escort mission for the merchants." I let out a hum.

"Do we have any spare storage scrolls for food?" I asked already looking around the cupboards "I want to take some lunch with me but don't want it to get in the way during the test…I may as well also take some for the other two, they probably won't eat breakfast because Kakashi told them not to."

He rolled his eyes exasperated "Which is stupid, food gives you the energy to fight. It's better to eat and potentially throw up while training rather than not and pass out."

"You don't have to tell me." I told him, ceasing my search for the moment to take the mug of soup he handed me, dipping the last bit of my roll into it as I shot him an amused look "I was raised by a med-nin."

"Damn straight." He said proudly straightening his uniform that marked him as such. "I think there's a spare one behind the biscuit tin." I finished off my soup, rinsing out my cup before pulling out the stool that would allow me to reach the tin that sat on top of the fridge, pushing it aside with a sound of triumph as I closed my hand around the scroll.

"Speaking of which," He retrieved another scroll, this time from his pocket as I hopped off of the stool with my prize "Your mother asked me to pass this along before she left." I took the proffered scroll "It's the things you asked for before bed last night."

"Aha," I acknowledged with a grin, placing it in the pouch on my waist, patting it once in delight "I'm sure they'll come in handy."

My dad let out a sound of amusement as he refilled his own mug with coffee, watching as I checked the storage scroll to see if it already contained anything, and upon seeing it was empty began loading in different food stuffs, including a few protein bars and pouring what was left in the pot into a thermos, meeting his eyes with a cheeky grin "What? Did you want it?"

He shook his head with a smile "No you're good. I'll be going out for lunch with your uncles today."

"Tell them 'Hi' from me."

"Will do." He answered, eyes peering over at the clock on the wall "What time did you say you had to get there again?"

"At 6, which is…" I looked at the clock myself "…in just under ten minutes, crap!"

I finished packing the scroll hurriedly as my dad laughed, shoving it in my pouch before grabbing my dad in a quick hug that he returned before hurrying out of the front door and into the main courtyard that our family shared, it already being lit with the light of the early morning sun.

I returned waves to those who were unfortunate enough to be awake at this time, admiring the collection of houses that were decorated so similar but each with plenty of individuality shining through, many decorated with various plants. Our family was nowhere near as big as the clans but was still plentiful enough that we'd carved out a good section for ourselves in the village, having been a part of it since its founding. Our little community was a bit similar to a gated one from my previous life but far more open and made up entirely of family, my dad's side, was made up of mostly med-nin but also had a few active and retired shinobi, as well as those who had decided to take the civilian path.

And no one was treated any different. A truly supportive family. I once again appreciated that I'd been given such an easy life, no pressure at having been born into a clan, but still access to so many opportunities…

Somewhere I wanted to be able to always return to.

With that thought, I clenched my fist in determination, increasing my speed as I made my way to the training ground we'd been told to meet at.

I made it there to see both Sasuke and Naruto already waiting, the Uchiha sitting in a meditative pose against a tree, obviously having been ignoring Naruto who was pacing excitedly but upon my arrival turned to point an accusing finger "You're late!"

I stared at him unimpressed "If you think the few minutes I was possibly late by was bad, boy you're in for a world of surprise."

At my statement Sasuke cracked his eyes open to look at me as I moved to sit down near them in the grass, Naruto asking "What's that supposed to mean?"

"…I take it neither of you have actually bothered to look into our sensei?" I asked, slowly pulling the food storage scroll from my pouch, casually unrolling it in front of me.

"…Were we supposed to?" Naruto asked, scratching his head in confusion. Even Sasuke had furrowed his brows at the question.

I let out a sigh, activating the seal on the scroll to let a few of the food sealed within appear "Yesterday, how long did it take for him to turn up?"

"A few…"

"…Hours." Sasuke finished for him, straightening up as he clocked on.

"Bingo." I pointed at him "And for him that's common. I don't think I've ever heard of an occasion where he's actually been on time. So," I picked up two protein bars, tossing them at my teammates "You better settle in boys, we've got a while to wait."

Naruto looked at the bar in confusion, it growing when he saw Sasuke unwrapping his "…but he told us not to eat."

"Get with the program, idiot." Sasuke told him, causing Naruto to scowl at him. "If he lied about our meeting time, what else has he lied about?"

I blinked a bit in shock at how easily the Uchiha accepted my words, "Not how I would have put it, but he's right Naruto." I agreed "A lot of people in my family work at the hospital and they'll all tell you the same thing – you shouldn't fight on an empty stomach if you don't have to. Fighting requires energy, which you get from food, so eat up."

With that said, and seeing that both of us were going to eat anyway Naruto dropped to sit on the ground, tearing open his own bar before devouring it quickly. I sighed as he turned to look at me after looking dejectedly down at the empty wrapper in his hands. I gestured to the food in front of me "Help yourself, but leave enough for everyone." I told him, giving Sasuke a pointed look as he didn't move to take anything "Both of you."

The Uchiha reluctantly took one of the onigiri I'd packed, not meeting my eyes or giving any thanks as Naruto enthusiastically dug in.

I let out another sigh, taking a harsh bite out of my own roll. If I do end up stuck on this team…I peered over at the boys …then we've got a long way to go.

"Good morning class!" Kakashi greeted us when he turned up almost 5 hours later.

Naruto jumped up first from where we were still sat, the food having long since been packed away as he pointed an accusing finger "You're late!"

"I've set this alarm to go off at noon." Kakashi completely ignored him, showing us the clock he'd set, placing it on one of the nearby stumps as Sasuke and I moved over to stand beside Naruto. He then proceeded to take two bells out, them jingling with the movement "I have here two small bells…your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails doesn't get any lunch. Instead, you will be tied to that tree stump," He nods over at the one he set the timer on "and I will eat your lunch in front of you."

"So that's why you wanted us to go without breakfast!" Naruto accused before crossing his arms smugly "Well it's good that we didn't listen then huh!"

I held back a sigh as Kakashi looked us over intensely, hearing Sasuke mutter 'idiot' under his breath "Oh? And whose idea was that?"

"…Mine." I admitted.

He stared me down at the admission "And what made you think you knew better than me?"

"I didn't think I knew better, I did know better." I told him "My dad's a med-nin and backed me up. I didn't disobey without reason."

He continued staring at me for a moment before letting out a hum, turning to address us all, clearly dismissing the subject as he held up the bells again "All you need is just one bell each. But since I only have two…one of you will definitely be tied to the stump, and whoever that is will fail." He dragged his gaze over us, making sure to meet each of our eyes as he spoke "One of you… will go back to the academy in disgrace."

"You may, if you choose, use weapons. Attack as though you mean to kill or you won't even stand a chance." Was his final remark.

"…All weapons are allowed?" I double checked, not looking at him as I adjusted my fingerless gloves.

He let out an affirmative hum as Naruto chortled "You couldn't even dodge an eraser! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"Only the weak speak loudly." Kakashi stated simply "Now, let's forget the idiot and we'll start once I give the signal."

Naruto let out a yell as he charged, kunai out to attack him in anger, only to be halted as Kakashi moved too quickly for my eyes to follow, manoeuvring himself behind Naruto so that the blond was pointing his own kunai at the back of his head, Kakashi holding him in place with no apparent effort.

"Not so fast. I didn't say 'go'." He chided lightly "But you at least struck to kill…so it seems you've begun to respect me."

I think he was just pissed off, personally. I thought, though was still begrudgingly impressed by the jonin's display.

He gave a short chuckle looking us over again "Maybe…just maybe…I might be starting to like you three. Ready…set…GO!"

At his words I immediately shunshin'd away and hid myself among the surrounding greenery, making sure to conceal my chakra as best I could while I did so, Sasuke appearing to have done something similar as he was also no longer within sight on the field.

"The basis of all shinobi arts is to become invisible…to eradicate your presence." Kakashi stated peering around as he took note of how well we performed before pausing, a bit dumbfounded upon spotting that Naruto had not moved even tried to hide.

"It's time for the match to begin!" He called out loudly "Let's make it a real match, worthy of the greatest warriors!"

"…You may be thinking of the wrong kind of match."

"The only wrong thing here is your hairstyle!" Was Naruto's retort as he dashed directly at him…just like he did before.

This boy…I think I could feel my eye twitching as I watched Naruto attempt the exact same thing Kakashi had turned back on him earlier, only this time it seemed he actually showed some caution, skidding to a stop as the jonin reached into the pouch at his side.

Kakashi didn't even bother to look at him as he said "Let me teach you the first shinobi battle skill. Taijutsu: The art of hand-to-hand combat."

The sight of Naruto's face as Kakashi pulled out a book was priceless. I squinted, just making out the orange cover…Of all the smut available in this world… I still don't understand Kakashi's obsession with the Icha Icha series…

"…? Is something wrong? I thought you were coming for me?"

"…But…you-I mean I-Why are you…? That's a book!" Naruto exclaimed, obviously giving up on trying to figure out a logical reason behind why he'd pulled it out.

"Of course it's a book." He told him, not taking his eyes away from it as he turned the page "I've been dying to find out how this story ends. You can carry on, it shouldn't make any difference to the outcome considering who I'm up against."

Now that he did understand, roaring "I'M GONNA FLATTEN YOU!" as he charged him again, jumping to gain some height as he aimed a punch, which Kakashi casually blocked with one hand, still reading. Changing tactics, Naruto spun quickly while still in the air, changing to a kick which the jonin responded to by simply crouching down so that it passed harmlessly over his head, book still steady in hand as he turned another page.

"Alright! THAT'S IT!" Naruto sprinted forward once more, pulling his arm back for another punch, only for his fist to pause mid swing as Kakashi vanished from in front of him "What the…?"

"Showing your back so many times is very poor taijutsu, idiot." Kakashi stated flatly from his place now crouched behind Naruto, hands put together into the tiger seal…though I knew he had something different in mind than ninjutsu.

I remained silent, doing my best to keep myself concealed despite really wanting to sigh as I witnessed him perform 'Konoha's most sacred technique' launching Naruto across the training ground with what was essentially a superpowered butt poke, ending with him landing in the nearby water with a loud splash.

At this point I'd decided I'd wasted enough time and left my space, making sure to stay out of sight as I headed not towards Kakashi but further into the trees circling us that I knew I could make use of…If that bastard thinks I'll faint from a low level genjutsu then he's got another thing coming. With that said I set to work, pulling out the scroll I'd borrowed this morning with a smirk.

"You know you were more difficult to find than I thought you would be." Kakashi commented stepping out of the treeline to face me "Still easy though." He raised an eyebrow at my unimpressed expression "You didn't even bother to stick around to watch the full fight, that confident in yourself?...or just scared?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes for the multiple time today at the obvious attempt at provoking me, unluckily for him I was neither Naruto or Sasuke and wasn't as prone to acting on my temper impulsively. "Are you going to continue to judge my tactics or are we going to fight?"

"Atsuko…" My mother's voice called, her body appearing through a nearby bush as she crawled towards me heavily injured, stretching out a hand "Atsuko help me…"

"…Kai." With that said my chakra disrupted the illusion, it immediately fading from view, Kakashi also vanishing along with it, though it was likely he was watching me from somewhere nearby.

After another few moments in which I walked a circle around the clearing, waiting for Kakashi to make his first move, only to be offended moments later as I heard the distant sound of another fight taking place. I glared in the direction where he had decided to move straight on to Sasuke, stomping my foot in a way even I'll admit was childish, That fucking asshole! What? Am I not good enough for you to even bother fighting?!

I took a breath to calm myself down turning away from the sounds to head back to the main training ground where if canon proved correct, Naruto would surely still be, Plan B it is. I thought with a grimace, all the traps I'd spent precious time setting going to waste.

I got back to where Naruto was hanging upside down from a tree, caught in a rope snare that the jonin had undoubtedly set, arms crossed in front of him, seemingly unphased by the blood rushing to his head as he muttered to himself "…Shinobi are supposed to read the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings…right?"

"Right." I agreed, stepping into his view, my words causing him to startle, the rope swaying with his movement.

"Wha-! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

I pushed on "You were asking about hidden meanings right?"

He squinted down at me "Yeah, so?"

"So," I pulled out a kunai, twirling it on my finger "How about I help you get down and I'll tell you about the hidden meaning behind this exam."

His curiosity was obvious as he gave me a hesitant nod. I walked over to the tree where the line was tied, not looking at him as I asked "Do you want to get down fast or slow?"

"Fast!" He answered without any thought.

Fast it is. I cut the line without a hint of guilt, letting him fall harshly to the floor with a yelp.

He jumped up huffily, looking at me accusingly as he snapped "What'd you do that for?!"

"You said fast." I pointed out "If you said slow I would have held onto the rope and lowered you down. You've got this habit of speaking before thinking that you really need to work on." I held up a hand, silencing his rebuttal "Anyway, I said I'd tell you what the point of this test was didn't I?"

At his nod I answered "Teamwork."

"What?"

"The whole point of this test is to see if we can work together. You already fought him by yourself and you didn't even get near them, he should be finishing up his fight with Sasuke around about now, they started just before I came to get you." I told him.

He crossed his arms "What about you?"

"He didn't even fight me, just tried to strand me in a genjutsu. People always underestimate kunoichi, that's okay though." I told him with a bright smile, my next words causing Naruto's eyes to widen "He'll learn to regret it." I began making my way to where I heard the fighting earlier, gesturing for Naruto to follow "Now let's go get Sasuke."

"Do we have to?" He whined but quieted at the look I threw him, moving to follow without any further fuss.

"Yes. We're a team after all, not a pair." I pointed out.

We arrived in the clearing Kakashi and Sasuke had fought in not long after, Kakashi nowhere in sight as expected, though Naruto burst out laughing upon spotting Sasuke's condition, his body buried in the ground up to his neck, only his head showing which showcased his scowl as Naruto's laughter got louder.

"Naruto, be quiet. Do you want to bring Kakashi over here?" At that he put a hand over his mouth, smothering his chuckles as he wiped at the few tears that had escaped his eyes. I walked over to Sasuke, peering down at him, hands on hips as I asked "Need a hand?"

"…I can get out of here by myself." He told me, decidedly not pouting. Ha.

"I don't doubt it." I told him honestly "It'll still take you longer than if you have our help though."

He peered up at me with a scowl "What do you want in return?"

"For you to work together with us." I answered, crossing my arms "Will you?"

"I don't need your help." Was the expected retort.

Naruto scoffed "You think you can get the bells yourself? Huh?!"

"I got close enough to touch them." Sasuke's response shut him up "Next time I'll take one."

I squinted up at where the sun was already quite high in the sky "Well, I suppose you could…if you had the time." I turned back to look at where he was buried "But with the time you'd waste having to dig yourself out…"

"Do we even need the teme?" Naruto scowled "Didn't Iruka sensei say that your grades were near his or something?"

"Which I will say, once again, is completely untrue." I pointed out, my words becoming more frustrated the more I went on "The only reason my grades in practical ended up turning out that high is because they grade boys and girls on different scales and they only pair us off in spars with our own gender – which is totally sexist might I add, and completely doesn't prepare us for real combat situations! Plus, the only other girl in our class who took her training seriously was Hinata! And she's too nice! She always held back because she was afraid she'd hurt me!" I was breathing heavily as I finished my rant, Naruto looking at me in shock, Sasuke even looked like he was seriously considering my words.

"Anyway," I said, a lot calmer now I'd finally let all that frustration out "As I told Naruto earlier," I looked Sasuke directly in the eyes "the whole point of genin tests is to see if the three can work together as a team." I emphasised "So suck it up buttercup, you work with us, or you fail."

He narrowed his eyes "…and you're sure of this?"

"100% It's one the things Konoha is known for." I replied confidently.

"Fine. I'll work with you." He replied looking up at the sky "It's almost noon."

"Then we better move quick-ly." I sang with a pointed smile, slamming my foot into the ground near him as I made a hand seal to focus my chakra into making the earth softer. Not really an earth jutsu but more half of one, reaching a hand down to pull him out before immediately taking off towards the main field where Kakashi wasn't even trying to hide his presence.

"We've got at least 10 minutes, let's make the most of them. We attack, we look out for each other, and if you see a chance to get a bell, just go for it." I commented as they both joined me in my run, one on either side.

It didn't take long before we came upon Kakashi, still reading his book, though his expression shifted, seeming more interested once he saw all of us were together, him snapping his book closed with a hum, casually replacing it in his pouch as we all launched ourselves at him. Naruto went in for another punch to the face as I moved to perform a sweeping kick at Kakashi's legs, the jonin avoiding both of our attacks as he flipped, somehow also avoiding the shuriken that Sasuke had aimed at him in the same movement.

The sun was moving higher in the sky and I could tell both boys were getting impatient, Naruto lunging forward to attack again as Sasuke's hands began to move rapidly through various signs before bringing them up to his face.

What is he-? Oh FUC- I quickly reached out to grab Naruto's arm, forcibly pulling him with me, ignoring his yelp as Sasuke did in fact do as I thought and released a fireball that would have hit us along with Kakashi if we had not moved in time. I turned to check to see if Naruto was okay only to be pushed harshly away as he shoved his way in front of me to rejoin the fray.

I stumbled at the unexpected jolt, steadying myself before looking over the fight to see where I could possibly intervene without getting in the other's way, spotting a chance I quickly dashed for the fight, ducking low so I slid until I was near where Kakashi had tied the bells reaching a hand out as if to grab them. It would appear to be a futile move to anyone watching as I was clearly too far away, but that was not what I was aiming for, instead I did what my dad and many others of my family had taught me – I channelled my chakra into my hand, it glowing blue for a moment before flickering to green and sharpening as I flicked my hand, the chakra scalpel extending to slice through the bell's strings. Kakashi's eyes widened one hand reaching to catch the bells before they could drop to my awaiting hand, his other fending off another blow from Sasuke. His eyes met mine briefly as his hand narrowly missed the lower bell, allowing it to fall into my grasp as his hand clenched around the other.

As soon as my fingers finished curling around the metal in my hand the air was pierced by the shrill trilling of the alarm Kakashi had set. The jonin holding up his hands to signal the end of the test "Time's up. The test is over."

I stared at my clenched hand in disbelief, still feeling the bell within, not an illusion or another kind of trick as I'd first thought.

"Well," Kakashi said, breaking out of my stare to follow as he led us over to the stumps "We've got a lot to discuss. First," He pulled a length of rope from seemingly nowhere "Naruto, I've decided that though two of you were unable to retrieve a bell, you were the one who performed the worst overall." Kakashi moved too quickly for me to see, Naruto already being tied to the stump in the next moment.

"Wha-! Why me?!" He complained, struggling against the ropes.

"For starters, you didn't even try to conceal your presence before attacking, and instead announced quite clearly exactly what you were going to do." Kakashi held up a hand when it seemed Naruto was going to argue further "That's the exact opposite of what a ninja should do, Naruto."

Naruto quietened down but continued muttering under his breath, shooting Kakashi a glare. "Moving on," He turned his gaze to Sasuke "as one who fell in the middle of the rankings, I'll give you a chance to tell me why you think you failed as a shinobi."

"I'm more suited to be a shinobi than either of these two." Sasuke scoffed.

Kakashi raised a brow "Those are big words from someone who didn't get a bell."

"She only got a bell because we were distracting you." Sasuke told him, turning to me with an accusing sneer "You only wanted us to fight with you so that we'd do the work while you snatched a bell for yourself."

"Wha-No I didn't-!" I tried to defend myself only to be cut off by Naruto who chimed in from his place on the stump.

"That makes sense! You totally just wanted us to do the fighting, you even admitted earlier that you weren't that strong!"

"That's not-"

Sasuke cut me off this time "Just admit it. You're a loser who tried to use us to make yourself look better-"

"I EXPECTED TO FAIL!" I shouted in frustration, silence meeting my words, my heavy breathing audible in the quiet as I tried to continue more calmly "I expected to fail my test from the beginning. I knew it'd be unlikely that I'd pass my test this time around…" I admitted meeting Kakashi's gaze, where he had been standing just watching us "With how many clan kids there were in our class, how could I expect any different? Those of us with non-clan shinobi or civilian backgrounds always have a lower chance of getting a jonin sensei."

I took a deep breath before finally returning to face the boys "If I had managed to get both of the bells I would've passed them to you. I'm completely willing to return to the academy if I have to."

"How do we know you're not lying?" Naruto squinted at me.

"I suppose you don't," I shrugged "But I don't have any reason to lie. In fact, if I'm going to be honest I may as well tell you that I don't particularly want him" I nodded over at Kakashi "as my sensei either."

Kakashi let out a huff, though it sounded more amused than anything "You should show me a bit of respect."

"I give back the respect I receive." I told him "You didn't even bother to fight me one on one, and you still took barely any notice of me when it was the three of us attacking."

"And I paid for that." He said, gesturing to my hand "After all, you're the only one who got a bell."

"Oh please." I threw the bell at his face, Kakashi casually holding a hand up to catch it with no effort before it could hit him "You let me get that bell." Naruto startled at my words, Sasuke's brow also furrowing at my statement.

He raised a brow "Oh? What makes you think that?"

I leaned back, closing my eyes as I answered "I may have succeeded in cutting the bells loose, but, you could have easily caught them both. Instead, you pretended you could only catch the one, letting me catch the other, being the only one of the three of us that was in a good position to do so. The thing that gave you away was the fact you met my eyes before you grabbed it." I opened my eyes to peer over at him "You saw how close I was and just decided to let me have it, either because you wanted to see what I'd do, or more likely you wanted to see how they-" I pointed at Naruto and Sasuke "would react."

"That's an interesting theory." He admitted "It's wrong, but still a good one."

What? I squinted at him Is he just talking out of his ass or-

Naruto cut in looking confused "Then…you didn't let her get the bell?"

"I did and I didn't." Was his completely helpful answer.

"Wha? Did or didn't you!" Thank you, Naruto, for voicing my thoughts.

"We'll get to that later." He dismissed. "What I'd like to get back to is my original question, Sasuke, why do you think you failed this test with Naruto? You best acknowledge your faults because the only one who passed was Atsuko, and for good reason." He moved his gaze to from Sasuke to Naruto and back again "Because from what I've seen today, neither of you has what it takes."

Sasuke didn't take that very well as it as him this time, not Naruto, who charged at the jonin in rage, Kakashi easily subduing him, twisting his arm behind his back to pin him to the floor before practically sitting on top of him to keep him there, really drilling in their difference in skill level.

"Are you trying to make fun of shinobi with your behaviour?" Kakashi asked him, Sasuke wincing as he pulled his arm tighter when he stubbornly remained silent "Well, are you? Did you ever stop to wonder for one minute…why you were divided into teams? Obviously not, so you missed the entire point of this exercise, even with your teammate straight up telling you!"

Naruto furrowed his brows as he thought before hesitantly answering "…Teamwork?"

"Exactly." He confirmed, looking up at Naruto with a nod "How well you worked together determined whether or not you succeeded."

"But…there were only two bells!" Naruto argued.

Sasuke grunting out "…You pitted us against each other."

"Of course, I did. This test was designed to cause dissension in your ranks…the task was set up to reveal which of you would set aside your individual interests," He met my eyes "and propose to work together for the good of all."

"Naruto tried to do singlehandedly what should have been the work of three." He listed first "Sasuke had already decided that you two would just get in his way and that he was better off on his own." Was second "and when the one member of your group who wanted you to work together actually got you to…she was the only one fighting while taking into account the two of you!" He actually seemed angry now.

"Sasuke! You sent a fireball at me uncaring of the fact that your teammates could also have been injured by it – the only reason of which they didn't was that Atsuko recognised the signs and pulled Naruto out of the way with her when I dodged!" He scolded staring the Uchiha down.

"Heh. Stupid teme." Naruto muttered with a smirk, only for it to drop as Kakashi turned sharp eyes on him.

"And how did you thank Atsuko for protecting you Naruto? You shoved her out of the way with absolutely no regard for your teammate's safety." He shot him down with a glare "You are meant to be a team, learn to act like one! Yes, it's necessary for ninja to have individual skills, but what is even more important is teamwork!"

"Atsuko, I 'let' you get that bell because you were the only one of the three of you to even think about working together with the others. Do you want to know why I didn't fight you after putting you into that genjutsu?" I nodded, a bit hesitant now he was calling us all out. "It's because I recognised which traps you set, quite good for a recent academy graduate, though could still do with some improvement."

"What traps?" Sasuke decided to speak up from his place still being held on the ground.

"Atsuko here, trapped the entire clearing I found her in." He informed the boys, them both looking at me with expressions I couldn't quite read "What I found interesting though, is that not only were all the traps lined with tags, but the tags weren't all explosives like you'd expect, most were ones that would just cause a lot of light and noise – very showy." He drew his eyes back to me "In other words, your plan was never to fight me one-on-one to begin with. You wanted me to set off your traps, with the intention of slowing me down and generating enough noise to draw the other two in…your plan was to have the three of you work together from the start."

I crossed my arms defensively, neither confirming or denying.

"Now, my question for you Atsuko is this – why didn't you just ask them? You had the time, after all, the three of you had almost a full five hours since meeting up this morning to come up with a plan." I could almost see the smirk he was hiding under his mask "If you thought far enough in advance to bring them food, why not even try to convince them to work together from the beginning?"

I mumbled under my breath, a bit put out that he had been watching us this morning, Kakashi remarking loudly to make a point "What was that?"

"I said," I avoided the boy's eyes as I spoke "that they had to fail first."

"What?" Both of my teammates asked offended, which I expected.

Kakashi let out a hum, asking in a completely unsurprised tone "And why did you think that?"

"Because I…I thought they wouldn't even think of working together unless they had proof that they couldn't do it on their own first." I admitted.

"And you were right." He told me, tone softer, which caused me to look up at him in surprise. "What you understand that the boys don't seem to," He turned his gaze on Naruto as Sasuke was still pinned "Is that 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."

"If you two would like an example…" He pulled out a kunai, twirling it casually around a finger before pulling Sasuke's head up to hold it against his throat "Atsuko, kill Naruto or Sasuke dies."

"What?!" Naruto yelped, turning to look at me with caution. I held back the urge to roll my eyes as Kakashi withdrew his weapon, letting the Uchiha drop to the floor with a grunt as he stood.

"My point is that the day could come when one of you may be taken hostage, and you're forced to make such a choice. When you are on a mission your lives will always be on the line." He flicked his gaze from Naruto to Sasuke who was picking himself up "Make sure you're not the reason why."

Kakashi made his way over to stand in front of what I knew was a memorial stone…unfortunately one of many monuments that were spread throughout our village. "Look at all the names carved into this stone…Heroes of our village…true shinobi."

"That's it! I just made up my mind! That's where I want my name to go!" Naruto called out in excitement causing me to cringe at his misunderstanding "I'm not gonna throw my life away, I want to be a hero like them!"

"…The ones listed here aren't just any heroes." Kakashi murmured not taking his eyes off the stone.

"Really? What kind of heroes are they?" He continued prodding when the jonin didn't immediately reply "Come on, tell me!"

"The dead kind. They died in the line of duty." Naruto's face slowly dropped as he comprehended Kakashi's words "This is a memorial. My best friend's name is engraved here."

He sighed, turning away from the stone to look back at us "I'm giving you one last chance. One that will be far more difficult than 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, if you feed him, you fail the test. My word is law. Do you understand?" Kakashi stared the boys down making sure they understood this was serious.

"Atsuko with me, I'd like a word." Was the last thing he said before I felt his hand clasp my shoulder, pulling me away with him as he shunshin'd.

"…Did you actually want a word or are you just testing them and didn't want me to get in the way?" I asked quietly. He patted my head in answer, remaining silent as we watched the two from a distance.

"Hey, this'll be a breeze. I can go without lunch…no problem." Naruto's stomach contradicted his words as it let out a loud rumble that could be heard clearly even from where we were watching.

Sasuke looked down at his bento before holding it out with a sigh to where Naruto was tied "Here. We'll all need our strength if we're going to work together to get those bells. You're no good to me if you're just going to be a liability."

Naruto looked at him in confusion for a moment before his face lit up "Thanks."

Kakashi disappeared from my side, a storm of leaves and dust appearing in front of the boys as I slowly made my way over hearing Naruto's exclamation "What the heck?!" only for it to turn into a yelp, Sasuke also flinching back as our sensei appeared through the cloud.

"You…!" He practically growled the word as he dramatically made his appearance through the dust before doing a 180, cheering the next word with a smile "Pass!"

"Huh?" Naruto stared at him, mouth gaping open in confusion, him turning his confused expression on me as I came to stand next to him, patting him on the shoulder.

"You three have just taken a giant step forward. Up until now, all the previous teams I'd tested did was listen unquestioningly to everything I say…like mindless little drones." He told us, shaking his head "A true shinobi seeks for the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

There it is. I didn't even bother to try to hide the smile that made its way onto my face. Kakashi's famous phrase.

"This exercise is now concluded. You all pass!" He announced "That's all for today, team seven. Your duties will commence tomorrow!"

"I…I did it! I did it! I'm a ninja!" Naruto cheered, wiggling in joy as best he could while still being tied up.

"That's great Naruto, well done." I told him, cutting the ropes that still bound him to the stump "One thing, sensei." I called Kakashi's attention before he could leave. "I have something to request."

"Hmm? And what would that be?" He asked with an eye smile.

I replied with a smile of my own as Naruto and Sasuke also turning to look at me in question. I put on my sweetest voice as I answered "Team re-assignment."


And that's the second chapter down! Hopefully you'll like my version of the test with Atsuko 😊

I thought I'd also tell you all that I'm referencing the manga as I write the chapters (like literally have the physical volumes open next to me to get canon dialogue from) and so if you're an anime watcher some things might differ!

Reading them back I've also noticed quite a few things that are worded differently – such as Kakashi's famous phrase, I recognised the one in the English translation of the manga as not being the one most commonly known so looked it up to make sure I had the right one for this chapter as it's honestly iconic.

Just so y'all know I have no pre-planned way for how this story is gonna go I just shoved my OC in there and was like "Show me what you'd do" and honestly the way things are turning out I'm liking so far – not to toot my own horn or anything lol but like I didn't even know how Kakashi and Atsuko would react with each other until this chapter, and I like how it ended up.

Also, I hope you're all ok with my characterisations! Sasuke was always standoffish, but I think Naruto would also be quite untrusting, he doesn't know Atsuko and has never really interacted with her properly before – he tried to get along with Sakura because he had a crush on her after all.