Previously:

"And what did you want to overcome?" He asked.

"The useless me that couldn't do anything to protect myself or the people I cared about."

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly for a moment. He smiled.

"I see." He said. "That is a good answer."

"?" April said, furrowing her brow slightly in confusion as he stood up and walked away. "Hey, wait a minute… How am I supposed to get out of this!?" She shouted after him, struggling uselessly against the weight of the earth.

Chapter 8: Kakashi's Final Decision

"Hehehe!" Naruto laughed, grinning slyly, as he sat down to eat the bentos he had spotted while hanging upside down from the tree. "Instead of wasting time trying to get the bell… I can just hide and eat the lunches now. Hehehe, time to eat!!" He said, clapping his hands together.

"Hey." Kakashi said as he loomed over him ominously, perched on top of the stone memorial.

"… That was just a joke…" Naruto said awkwardly with a tense expression on his face, breaking out into a nervous sweat.

"Too late!" Kakashi stated bluntly.

'Damn it… There's that large a difference…?' Sasuke thought, gritting his teeth in frustration. Like April, he was still buried up to his neck.

"!" He and Sakura both gasped in surprise when she ran out of some bushes and their eyes met.

"…" Sakura's eyes widened and she broke out into a nervous sweat. "Awww!!! His severed head!!" She screamed before abruptly fainting.

"Wh… What?" Sasuke said, furrowing his brow in confusion as he sweat-dropped.

Meanwhile, April had managed to make a little progress on her own escape.

"Ung!" She grunted as she finally succeeded in wriggling her hands free enough to make a hand seal. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Two shadow clones appeared in a puff of smoke. "Okay, guys. Dig me out."

"Hey." Sasuke said, trying to get Sakura to wake up after having just finished digging himself out.

'Huh? Sasuke-kun's voice?' She thought, opening her eyes. "!" She gasped when she saw that he was sitting right next to her, alive, whole, and unscathed. "Sasuke-kun!!! You're all right!!!" She cried with relief, glomping him affectionately.

"Stop!! Don't hug me!!" He shouted, getting flustered. "There's not much time until lunch." He stated once he'd freed himself. "I'm going."

"Sasuke-kun, you're still going after the bell?" Sakura asked.

"I already touched it. Next time I'll get it." He stated confidently.

"What!!?" Sakura exclaimed in shock and surprise. No way! "Oh, I see… you're incredible, Sasuke-kun…" She said with a tense smile. 'This is bad, there's no way I can get a bell… at this rate, I'll be separated from Sasuke-kun.' She thought anxiously. "You know, there isn't much time left, so… we don't have to push ourselves too hard… There's always next time…" Sasuke glared at her.

"!" Sakura flinched, gulping nervously.

"There's a man that only I can kill." He said, looking away.

"… Oh…" She said nervously. "Who? Kakashi-sensei?"

"That time… crying…"

"Crying?"

"My…"

"What… do you mean?"

"I am an avenger." Sasuke stated darkly. "I have to become stronger than that man. So I can't just stay around here…"

"!" Sakura gasped as she remembered what Sasuke had said about his ambition.

To kill a certain man.

BRRINNNG~!

The alarm clock went off, signaling that it was noon. Time was up.

"Tch!" Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance as he kicked the ground and started heading back. "Damn!! Wasted too much time."

"…" Sakura watched as he left, not knowing what to say. 'Sasuke-kun…'

Ten minutes later, they were all back at the starting point. Sasuke, Sakura, and April were sitting on the ground, taking a rest, while Naruto was tied to a stump for trying to cheat. Their stomachs let out a combined growl that was embarrassingly loud.

"Oh… You guys look really hungry." Kakashi remarked dryly. "By the way, about the training… Well, there's no need for you guys to go back to the academy."

"!!" They all gasped in surprise.

"Ahh!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

'Huh? All I did was run around and pass out… was that enough?' Sakura thought. 'Love wins!! Cha!!' Inner Sakura cheered, pumping her fist.

'Does that mean he lied about the possibility of failing to make us go all out in order to measure our abilities or something…?' April wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmph." Sasuke said.

"Then!!! Then!!! All of us…!!!" Naruto asked excitedly, while Sakura jumped up and down for joy, and April let out a sigh of relief. Kakashi smiled.

"That's right, all of you, with the exception of April…" He said, causing the purple-haired girl to flinch in shock. "… Should quit being ninjas." He finished sternly.

"!!!?" They all gasped in shock. Wh… What!!? April glanced between Naruto and the others and their teacher, furrowing her brow with concern.

'What's going on here…!?' She wondered, alarmed by this sudden turn of events.

"Quit being ninjas!!?" Naruto shouted incredulously. "What does that mean!!?Okay!!! Okay!!! We couldn't get the bells, but… why do we have to quit!!?"

"Because all three of you… are just punks who don't deserve to be ninjas." Kakashi stated. Sasuke grit his teeth and lunged at the jōnin.

"Ah!!" Naruto and April gasped.

"Sasuke-kun!!" Sakura exclaimed.

"That's why you're a punk." Kakashi told him. In the blink of an eye, the jōnin had pinned Sasuke to the ground by twisting one arm behind his back and siting on the boy while he held his head down by placing a foot on the back of his head.

"No!! Don't step on Sasuke-kun!!!" Sakura yelled, totally freaking out.

"Are you guys underestimating ninjas? Huh?" Kakashi asked sternly, looking at them. "Why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training?"

"!" April said as her eyes widened slightly in realization. So, that's what this was about…

"Huh? What does that mean?" Sakura asked nervously.

"In other words, you three don't understand the answer to this test." Kakashi told her.

"Answer?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, the answer that helps you pass this test. April was the only one to get it right."

"!!" The others gasped, looking at her in shock. Sasuke grit his teeth.

'No way…!!' He thought furiously. How could she pass when he failed!?

"What!!?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.

"What was it!!?" Sakura asked. April opened her mouth to tell them, but Kakashi stopped her before she could get a word out.

"Don't say it." He told her firmly. "Give them a chance to guess for themselves."

"We're asking because we don't know!!" Sakura exclaimed as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face, frustrated.

"Ah!!! Dammit!! What's the answer, already!!?" Naruto demanded shortly, fed up with the way their teacher kept beating around the bush. Just get to the point!

"It's teamwork." Kakashi answered gravely.

"!" Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura gasped in realization as they remembered how April had tried to get them to work together.

"The four of you working together may have been able to get a bell."

'Hey, wait a second…!!' Sakura thought. "What do you mean by teamwork? There are only two bells!!! Even if we work together and get the bells, two of us would still fail." She pointed out. "What teamwork? That just makes us fight each other."

"Of course!!" Kakashi said. "This test is purposely set up to make you fight amongst yourselves."

"!!" Sakura and April gasped. So it was a set up…!

'I see, so this whole thing was meant to divde us up from the start...' April thought, sweat-dropping. She had feeling there was something fishy going on, but she had thought he was just making it ridiculously hard as a means to enforce that 66% pass/fail rate that he mentioned before...

"Huh!?" Naruto said, glancing between the girls and Kakashi. Wait a minute, if April got the answer right, then why did she look so surprised now?

"The purpose is to see whether you can forget about your own interests… and successfully work together, under these designed circumstances." Kakashi explained. "Yet, you guys… Sakura, instead of Naruto and April, who were right in front of you, you were only thinking about Sasuke, and you didn't even know where he was."

"!!" Sakura gasped in realization.

"Naruto!! You were just running around by yourself." Kakashi added, causing Naruto frown and flinch a bit guiltily. "Sasuke!! You just assumed the others would get in your way and tried to do everything yourself." Sasuke furrowed his brow and grit his teeth in frustration. "The only one of you who even thought to make an effort to work together was April, and you all turned her down. She was even prepared to give up her claim to a bell if it meant at least two of you could pass. And yet, all you three did was ignore her and treat her like a nuisance. Missions are done in groups. Of course, superior individual ability is important to a ninja. But what's even more important is 'teamwork'." He lectured them seriously. "Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger, and even get you killed. For example…" He added, reaching into his back pouch and quickly withdrawing a kunai, holding it Sasuke's throat. "Sakura!!! Kill Naruto!!! Or Sasuke dies!!!"

"!!" They all gasped in alarm. He looked dead serious.

"What!!?" Naruto yelled, glancing between Sasuke and Sakura in a panic as April furrowed her brow and shifted into a position to lunge at Kakashi.

"You see? After getting someone taken hostage, you will be faced with a difficult decision, and someone will die. " Kakashi said calmly as he put the kunai away and stood up. "In every mission, you put your life on the line."

"Oh, you surprised me…!" Sakura said, almost falling to her knees as they all relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"…" Sasuke sat up and furrowed his brow as he wiped the dirt off of his face.

"Look at this." Kakashi said as he walked over to the stone memorial that was only a few feet away. "The numerous names carved into this stone… These are ninjas who are recognized as heroes of this village." Naruto perked up upon hearing that.

"That, that, that, that!!! I've decided to get my name carved on that stone, too!!!" Naruto said excitedly. "Hero!!! Hero!!! That's what I'll become!!!"

"But… They aren't just normal heroes…" Kakashi said, glancing at him out the corner of his eye.

"Oh, yeah!!? Then, what kind are they!!?" Naruto asked. Kakashi was silent. "What!!? What!!?"

"They are all heroes who died while on duty."

"!!!" Naruto gasped as all their eyes widened in realization, and he instantly deflated, looking down. No way… All those names were…

"This is a memorial." Kakashi explained. "My best friend's name is also carved here…"

"…" April hugged her knees. 'I see… no wonder…' She thought, furrowing her brow. No wonder he was being so strict with them. He knew what it felt like to…

"As of right now, April is the only who's earned the right to pass. As for you three…" Kakashi said as he glanced back at them with a stern expression on his face. "I'll give the rest of you one more chance. But since you've already failed once, this time, you absolutely have to take the bells from me in order to pass, and after lunch, I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch, but don't give any to Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto said, furrowing his brow.

"Why only Naruto?" April asked.

"It's punishment for trying to eat by himself." Kakashi stated bluntly.

'Naruto…' April thought unimpressed, sweat-dropping.

"If anyone gives him any food, they will fail immediately. I am the rules here!! Got it?" He finished coldly. "Come with me, April. We'll get started on your paperwork."

"But…" She said a little hesitantly, glancing worriedly at Naruto.

"If you give them the answer, then I won't pass any of them." Kakashi whispered in her ear as a warning. He already knew she had what it took to be a ninja. He wanted to see what the others would do without her there to hold their hands.

"Go ahead, I'll be totally fine!!" Naruto said, putting on a brave face.

"Okay." She said, clenching her fists at her side. "But you guys definitely have to pass, all right? After all, you're going to be Hokage someday, right, Naruto?"

"Right!!!" Naruto said determinedly, regaining some of his former spunk. With that, Kakashi grabbed April and disappeared with her.

"Heh!! I don't need any food." Naruto boasted. "I'm fine!!" The growling of his empty stomach echoed across the clearing. "…" Naruto sweat-dropped, while Sakura and Sasuke started eating the bentos Kakashi had bought without him. The sight and smell of food only made his stomach grow louder, but Naruto never once asked them for anything or tired to get them to compromise their own chances of passing. Sasuke stopped eating and glanced up at him.

"Here." He said, shocking the others, when he held his bento out for Naruto.

"!!!" Naruto and Sakura gasped.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun, Sensei just said…" Sakura said nervously, nearly choking.

"Don't worry." Sasuke said. "I don't sense him near here. After lunch, we'll work together and get the bells. Without food, he'll just be in the way, and that will only hurt us."

'Sasuke-kun…' Sakura thought. "…" She stared down at her own bento for a moment.

"!!" Naruto said, surprised when she suddenly thrust it out, offering it up to him.

'Sakura-chan…' Naruto thought, blushing slightly. "Heh." He smiled gratefully at his teammates. "Hehe, thanks."

Unbeknownst to the three of them, the paperwork thing was a lie. April and Kakashi were still nearby, and they had witnessed the whole thing.

WHOOOSH!!

"What's this!?" Sakura cried in alarm when a huge cloud of smoke suddenly appeared before them with a huge gust of wind.

"You guys…!!!" Kakashi roared as he burst forth from the smoke, charing straight at them.

"!" Sasuke gasped.

"Aww!!" Naruto yelled.

"Kyaa!!" Sakura cried.

"Pass~" Kakashi said pleasantly with a friendly smile, stopping short just in front of them.

"Yay~!!" April cheered, stepping out from behind him, to shower her teammates in confetti as she set off a party popper. "You made it!!"

"… Huh?" Sakura said as the three twelve-year-olds stared at them, dumbfounded.

"Uh?" Naruto said, feeling thoroughly confused.

"…" Sasuke said, sweat-dropping. Why was there a party popper…?

"Pass!? But why?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"You guys are the first." Kakashi said. "Everyone else would just do whatever I told them. They were all morons."

"Huh?" Sakura said, sweat-dropping.

"?" Naruto said, still confused.

"A ninja must be able to think beyond the normal." Kakashi explained. "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are called trash… But you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades… are lower than trash." He said, looking up at the sky.

"Haha!" Sakura laughed, feeling happy and relieved that they had all made it.

'That's so cool…' April thought with a slight hint of blush glowing on her cheeks as she and Naruto stared up at their new teacher in awe.

"He… He's kind of cool…" Naruto said.

"Che." Sasuke said, looking away. He wasn't about to let the others know how worried he had really been…

"That ends the training. All of you pass!!" Kakashi said, giving them a thumbs up. "Ok!!! Starting tomorrow, Team 7 will begin its duties!!"

"Isn't that great, Naruto!?" April asked excitedly, placing a hand on the younger boy's shoulder as she teared up a little bit. She had been really worried for him back there.

"Yeah!!!" Naruto cheered, also tearing up a little bit because he was so happy. "I did it!! I did it!! I became a ninja!! Ninja!! Ninja!!"

"Let's go." Kakashi said.

"By the way, where did you get that party popper?" Sakura asked April as they gathered up their stuff and started to leave.

"Oh, that? I brought it with me." April replied with a smile. "What can I say? I'm an optimist."

"Hey!!! Aren't you forgetting something!!?" Naruto shouted at them as he tried to wriggle free, still tied to the stump. "Damn it!!! I knew this would happen!! Untie me!!"

SHING. SLASH.

"Wha—!!?" Naruto cried out surprise when a kunai suddenly flew past the stump, slicing through the rope as grazed the side, cutting him free. "Ouch!" Unfortunately, it took him by surprise, so he ended up falling into a face plant.

"Hurry up, Naruto!!" Sakura shouted unsympathetically.

"Can you bring back my kunai while you're at it!?" April called. She didn't feel like going back to get it herself. She was kind of tired after making those shadow clones earlier.

"Eh!? So it was you!!?" Naruto exclaimed incredulously. "A little warning would've been nice!!"

"Hurry up, or we'll leave you behind." Kakashi said. He was hungry, too. The sooner they finished this, the sooner they could relax and eat those bentos April made.

"Hey!!! What happened to taking care of your comrades!!?" Naruto shouted indignantly as he grabbed his pack and April's kunai and hurried to catch up with them.