I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 6: Survival Test

The next day…

"Wake up, Naruto, or you won't have time to eat breakfast!" April said, shaking him awake. She had come over to make sure he didn't sleep through his alarm by mistake since they weren't used to waking up this early. Even though it was technically morning, it was still dark out.

"… Huh?" Naruto grumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "What're you talkin' about? Kakashi-sensei said to not to eat 'cause we'd throw up…"

"If I throw up, I throw up." April said carelessly with a shrug. She'd just do it real quick and keep going. She wasn't afraid to look stupid. "I'm not skipping breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day!"

"Suit yourself… I'm getting more sleep…" Naruto said, rolling over. April sweat-dropped. Well, that whatever. If he'd rather sacrifice fuel for sleep, that was his choice. Personally, she was going to have herself some oatmeal and orange juice—something filling to give her energy without weighing too heavily on her stomach.

–∞–

Following the instructions given to them the day before, Naruto, April, Sakura, and Sasuke all arrived at the third training area at 5 A.M. and waited for Kakashi-sensei to arrive and start the test. They waited… and waited… and waited…

"Hey guys, good morning!" Their tardy teacher greeted them with a smile as bright as the sun shining in the blue sky above.

"You're late!!!" Naruto and Sakura shouted angrily at him.

"Um, Sensei," April said, raising her hand, "I realized after it was too late to ask you yesterday, that you didn't mention anything about lunch, so I made some bentos just in case. Is there someplace safe I can leave them while we train?"

"What kind of bentos?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Grilled chicken shish kabobs with rice and some pineapple for dessert." She replied, holding out the bag of stacked bento boxes.

'That sounds a lot better than the ones I brought…' Kakashi thought. "All right, Sensei will take good care of them for you." He said, taking the bag. "Be right back."

"Ah, that sounds so good…" Naruto said, drooling. He was starving. He couldn't wait for lunch! "But fruit isn't much of a dessert, you know…"

"I knew you'd say that, so I put some brownies in yours." April said with a wry smile.

"When did you have time to make all of that?" Sakura asked, a little impressed. 'Cha! I should have thought of that!! She'd better not be trying to win Sasuke's heart through his stomach!!' Inner Sakura said aggressively.

"Last night." April answered nonchalantly.

"Ok, now that that's taken care of…" Kakashi said with some noticeably empty hands. He pulled out an odd-looking clock and set it down on the stump next to him.

'That was fast…!' April thought. She hadn't even realized he was gone! She furrowed her brow slightly. 'As I thought… He let the eraser hit him on purpose!!'

"… Okay, it's set for noon." Kakashi finished, pushing down the button on top of the clock to start the timer. He had only used this test on groups of three up until now, but should work just as well with four.

"?" The others said, wondering what he was up to now.

"Here are two bells." He said, holding two bells on strings up for them to see. "Your task is to take these from me before noon. Those who cannot get a bell by noon… get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll eat right in front of you." He added, pointing to three tall and thick poles off to the side.

'So that's why he told us not to eat…' They all thought, sweat-dropping.

"Dammit!" Naruto cursed as his, Sakura's, and Sasuke's stomachs all growled in unison. 'I should have eaten with April when I had the chance!!'

'I'm so glad I ignored his warning and ate.' April thought, feeling a bit sorry for the others. 'But I kind of regret mentioning the bentos now…' She had a feeling she wasn't going to get them back…

"You only need to get one bell." Kakashi continued. "There are only two, so two of you will definitely be tied to a stump. And the ones who don't take a bell, fail. So at least two of you will be sent back to the academy." He watched as they all tensed and beads of nervous sweat dripped down the sides of their faces. Right off the bat, their chances of passing had already been cut in half. "You can even use your shurikens. You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill." He finished, pulling the bells up into his hand.

"Roger!" April said readily with a little salute.

"What so you mean, 'Roger'!?" Sakura snapped incredulously. How could she agree to something like that so easily!? "That's too dangerous, Sensei!!"

"Yeah, you're so slow, you can't even dodge a chalkboard eraser!" Naruto laughed, sweat-dropping.

"Haven't you guys realized it, yet? He did that on purpose to make us lower our guard." April said calmly, surprising them. "Didn't you notice how he paused for a moment before opening the classroom door yesterday?" Kakashi's eyes widened slightly for a moment.

'So she noticed that, huh?' He thought, impressed. He had only paused for a fraction of a second. She had really sharp eyes.

'What…!?' Sasuke thought, furrowing his brow. Judging from Kakashi's reaction, she had hit the nail on the head. How could she have possibly noticed something that small in an only instant… when he hadn't seen a thing…?

"No way!! You're probably just overthinking things again!" Naruto told her.

"In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest." Kakashi deadpanned in response. "Well, just ignore Mr. Dead Last, and start when I say…"

'Ouch!' April thought sympathetically as vein throbbed on Naruto's forehead and he grit his teeth in anger as Kakashi's words echoed through his mind.

'Dead Last… Dead Last… Dead Last…'

"!" April gasped when the hothead suddenly drew a kunai and lunged at Kakashi. "Naru—!?" In a flash, with movements almost too fast for her eyes to follow, with one hand Kakashi grabbed the hand that Naruto was holding the kunai in, and placed the other on top of the boy's head as he spun him around. He now had Naruto restrained so that the boy was facing away from him, and his arm was twisted so that the kunai was pointed at the back of his own neck.

"Slow down. I didn't say to 'start' yet." Kakashi said coolly.

'So fast…!!' April thought as a bead of nervous sweat rolled down the side of her face. She hadn't been able to move at all!

'No way… I couldn't even see…' Sakura thought, stunned.

'So this is a jōnin…' Sasuke thought with the hint of a smirk as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"Well, it seems like you're prepared to come after me with intent to kill. So, you've finally acknowledge me?" Kakashi said, glancing at their serious faces. "Heheh, I think I can finally start liking you guys. Ok, let's get going. Ready…" April furrowed her brow and adjusted her stance slightly, getting ready to make her next move. "Start!!!!" He shouted, releasing Naruto, as everyone immediately scattered.'A basic for a ninja is to conceal your presence and hide.' Kakashi thought, glancing around as he remained out in the open. 'Good, everyone has hidden nicely…' Although he could still sense some of them, at least they knew enough to get out of sight right away. Well, all except one…

"Let's have a match, fair and square!! Come and fight me!!!" Naruto shouted, standing bold as brass only a few feet away.

"…" Kakashi just stared at him.

'Naruto…' April thought as she watched from her hiding place, face-palming.

'That idiot.' Sasuke thought.

"I said, fight me!!!" Naruto shouted again.

"Umm… you're a bit off…" Kakashi told him, sweat-dropping. "Don't you think you're a little weird compared to the rest?"

"What's weird is your hairstyle!!" Naruto retorted.

'Burn…!' April thought as Naruto lunged at Kakashi again. The jōnin stayed where he was and reached into his back pouch.

"!!" Naruto lurched to a halt a immediately jumped back.

"Ninja fighting lesson number one: taijutsu. I'll teach you about that first." Kakashi said.

'Taijutsu is ninja hand-to-hand combat… but he's going to use a weapon?' Naruto thought nervously, furrowing his brow.

'Wait a minute, that's…!' April thought, squinting slightly as Kakashi removed his hand from the pouch along with the item he had been reaching for. 'A book… and a dirty one, at that…' She thought, sweat-dropping and blushing slightly, when she noticed the red circle with a line through it on the back cover that they used to mark anything with 'mature' content. The title was 'Make Out Tactics', so it wasn't that difficult to guess its contents…

"!?" Naruto said, surprised, also blushing slightly when he came to the same realization.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked him. "Come and get me."

"But… Hey, hey!!? Why do you have a book?" Naruto asked.

"Why? Well, because I want to read what happens next." He replied matter-of-factly, already engrossed in its contents. "Don't worry about it. It won't make a difference against you guys."

"!!" A vein throbbed on Naruto's head as he clenched his fist. "I'll beat you to a pulp!!!" He shouted angrily, rolling up his sleeve, as he lunged at the jōnin again. This guy really knew how to piss him off!! "Ahh!!!" Naruto jumped and threw a punch at Kakashi, but he easily caught it without even having to look up. Naruto spun around to deliver a roundhouse kick to his ribs, but Kakashi simply dodged by squatting, still reading his book. "Yaah!!" Naruto yelled as he charged again, only to find himself punching nothing but air. "Huh?" Naruto said, confused. Where did he go?

"A ninja isn't supposed to get caught from behind, idiot." Kakashi deadpanned from right behind him.

"!" April and Sakura gasped when they saw the hand seal the jōnin was making.

'His hand position… is that the seal of the tiger!?' April wondered, alarmed.

'Huh? No way!!' Sakura thought. 'He's going to use that ninjutsu against Naruto?'

'That seal is for fire elements…' Sasuke thought, furrowing his brow. 'That bastard isn't just going to run around?'

"Naruto, get out of there!! You're going to get killed!" Sakura yelled as April jumped out of her hiding place, sprinting over to help.

"Huh?" Naruto said as he whipped his head around.

"Too late." Kakashi said ominously as April lunged at him, thrusting his fingers out with a dangerous gleam in his eye. "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique—A Thousand Years of Pain!!!"

"Gyaaaa!!!" Naruto screamed when he felt a sharp, intense pain shoot through his ass as he was launched into the air by the force of the attack and sent flying.

"Wha…!?" April cried incredulously, so shocked that she tripped and face-faulted, disappearing in a pouf of smoke.

'I-it was just a super powerful kanchō…?' April thought, sweat-dropping, as she watched safely from her new hiding place.

'What the…? That wasn't ninjutsu…' Sakura thought as she blushed slightly out of embarrassment, a little chagrined.

'They're both idiots…' Sasuke thought, sweat-dropping, as Naruto landed in the pond with a huge splash.

'Oh, so she sent a clone out in an attempt to save Naruto and distract me while she moved after revealing her hiding spot... Not bad.' Kakashi thought. There was a hint of blush on his cheeks as he turned to the next page in his book. It was starting to get really 'interesting'…

'His strength is so unfair. What are we supposed to do?' Sakura wondered, starting to feel anxious.

'None of us stand a chance against him on our own.' April thought. 'Our only hope is to…'

SPLASH! FWIP!

"!!" Sakura gasped when two shuriken suddenly came flying up out of the pond, headed straight for Kakashi.

"Hahaha!" He laughed at one of the lines in his book as he caught both shurikens using only two fingers.

'No way…' April thought, sweat-dropping, as she watched the shurikens spin on his fingers. He did something that complicated without even looking… and he made it look easy!

"…" Sasuke said, furrowing his brow.

'He's reading and laughing… He's just playing with Naruto.' Sakura thought, starting to lose hope.

Still under water, Naruto silently cursed and clenched his fists.

'I can't… fail here!' He thought, forming the hand seal for the shadow clone jutsu.

Naruto coughed as he climbed out of the pond, soaking wet.

"Hey, what's wrong? If you don't get a bell by noon, you won't get lunch." Kakashi reminded him.

"I know that!!!" Naruto shouted, panting.

"You sure are weak for some one who's going to surpass the Hokage." Kakashi commented as Naruto's stomach growled.

"Damn, Damn!! I can still fight on empty stomach!!!" Naruto yelled defiantly.

'I should have made him eat with me…' April thought. He looked like he could barely move.

"…" Sasuke blushed a little out of embarrassment when his stomach also growled.

'I'm on a diet and didn't eat last night either… I'm starving!!' Sakura thought, slumping onto the ground as her stomach growled.

"I was just a little careless, that's all!!!" Naruto shouted as Kakashi turned and started to walk away. He now knew exactly where Sakura and Sasuke were, thanks to their stomachs.

"Ever hear that carelessness can be your worst enemy?" Kakashi remarked, still reading his book.

"…" Naruto was trembling with irritation and frustration. 'Damn!! I'm so hungry, my body… But I must get a bell! I'm going to make him… acknowledge me!!'

SPLASH!!

'I'm must become a ninja!!!' He thought determinedly as his shadow clones suddenly jumped up out of the water.

"Hn?" Kakashi said, glancing back.

"Hah!! My specialty, shadow clone jutsu!!! You better not get careless, there's more than one of me, now!!!" Naruto declared boldly with a grin.

'All right!! That's using your head, Naruto!' April thought with a smirk. It looked like he was starting to get the hang of this!

'1, 2, 3… 8? What is that jutsu?' Sasuke wondered, furrowing his brow.

'What? They aren't illusions, but all real?' Sakura thought, surprised.

"Hn?" Kakashi pivoted back to face the advancing Naruto and his clones. "Not just clones, but shadow clones?" 'This must be the forbidden skill he used to defeat Mizuki.' He thought. "With your ability, about a minute is probably your limit with this. No matter how many you line up, you're still Naruto. You can't beat me with that jutsu." He told him. "!"

JINGLE~

"What!!? Behind me!?" He exclaimed in surprise when one of the Narutos grabbed him from behind. Naruto smirked. The other three stared in awe.

"Weren't Ninjas not supposed to get caught from behind? Right, Kakashi-sensei!?" Naruto leered as he and the rest of his clones came charging at them. "Using the shadow clone jutsu, I sent a clone out of the water… to sneak around behind you!!" He explained as his clones grabbed the jōnin's legs to hold him in place while he leaped into the air, preparing to strike. "My ass is still hurting!! Here comes the revenge!!"

'Naruto's pretty good!' Sakura thought, impressed.

'Hmph. Nice plan.' Sasuke thought with the hint of a smirk. Maybe he wasn't such a loser, after all.

'But will it be enough…?' April wondered, clenching her fists as she watched.

"I'm going to punch you!!" Naruto declared confidently as he took a swing at Kakashi-sensei. 'Yahoo!!!' He thought with a grin as his punch connected. Unfortunately, the one he hit wasn't Kakashi-sensei at all… It was one of his clones. "!!?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise when he realized what had just happened. 'Huh!!?' Why was he looking himself when Kakashi had been trapped there only seconds ago!? 'Who'd I punch?'

'The one Naruto punched… was Naruto!?' Sakura thought, stunned.

'Ah, so it ended up failing, after all…' April thought, sweat-dropping. 'This is going to be even harder than I thought…'