The sky darkening, a strong warm wind began to blow, paddling though the sea of trees in the Konoha forest. Little could be heard over the whistling of the leaves and the booming thunder that foretold a storm, but even that little…
…was being steadily tracked by a dark young gennin.
Sasuke stopped to listen intently to the surrounding forest. He leaned toward a young sycamore, pressing his hand up to the bark and closing his eyes softly. He listened, scanned for any sound out of the ordinary in the incoming storm. He could distinguish little and thus berated himself for his lack of training in adverse weather.
Concentrating harder, he began to repeat his goal in his mind, hoping it would help him focus.
I will find him. Then I'm going to kill him.
Repeating it to himself, Sasuke found that with the mantra successfully keeping his subconscious thought in check, it was easier to distinguish the sounds around him. The rustling of the nearby brush, the cracking of the branches that strained under the force of the their leafy weights…
…Then! He heard it. The sound of a crack out of place. A single mistake. Naruto had to be nearby. That blonde was good at stealth, but he wasn't perfect.
With a flick of his wrist, he threw a kunai in the direction of the wayward crack and followed quickly after it, vanishing from untrained eyesight with a burst of speed. His own eyes darted back and forth as he ran, watching carefully for the light haired nin.
Finally he sighted the culprit, laying back about a foot from his embedded kunai. Sasuke flipped and planted his feet in a horizontal crouch on a nearby tree, reappearing in normal sight. He looked carefully at the figure lying on the ground in front of him before gravity commanded he drop from his awkward position.
"Sakura…" Sakura was indeed the one lying near the thrown projectile.
"Sasuke!" she cried, leaping up from her position. "You scared me. Did you-"
"Stop," Sasuke interrupted forcefully, "Are you really Sakura?"
"…right, I forgot." The pink haired nin quickly raised her left hand and bit down onto her thumb, drawing a drop of blood which she then drew an X with across her right palm.
Sasuke watched carefully as the girl flinched at the brief pain and studied the mark she made. He then nodded. "A ninja shouldn't be scared so easily."
Sakura shuddered under the boy's unflinching gaze. "I know, I'm sorry…"
"Tch, whatever," he turned so his back was now facing the where Sakura stood. "Have you seen him?"
"Might have…" With inhuman speed, Sakura moved towards Sasuke's unprotected back, bringing her hand up and wrapping it around his neck. She then applied enough pressure to knock the dark haired genius unconscious.
Sasuke smirked for a second before vanishing in a puff of smoke, leaving Sakura holding a strangely shaped stump. "Substitution," she mumbled.
"I found you," the real Sasuke announced from a nearby treetop, where he stood with the moonlight framing his figure. "I found you Naruto…
and now I'm going to kill you."
"Ne, Sasuke…that hurt," Naruto remarked blandly as he sat between a fuming Sasuke and a slightly worried Sakura. Sasuke's face remained impassive, but he continually refused to look in the blonde's direction, earning a worried look from the fidgeting kunoichi. "How was I supposed to know all you thought of to prove your identity was a password?"
"Well, why the hell did you make up such a sadistic sign if you had no idea what we were using? And what kind of game was that, running around in the forest while getting rained on? In the middle of the night!"
"Yeah, Naruto, where did you come up with this idea?"
"It was training, wasn't it?" remarked a confused blonde. "You both said that you needed some time to think about what Kakashi said, didn't this help clear your minds?"
"NO!" his two teammates shouted simultaneously.
"Look Naruto," started Sakura, leaning her forehead on the tips of her fingers and closing her eyes, "training can help to clear your mind, but normally people feel it easier doing something they've already practiced extensively, so that they don't have to think when they train. This allows them to open their minds to other subjects and still work their bodies at the same time."
"Ah, I'm sorry."
"SORRY!" they both cried again. "We were playing that silly game for hours, and we still have yet to decide on who should…you know…"
"Die," Sasuke filled in.
"Yeah, that…"
Naruto stood, drawing the eyes of both his teammates to himself as he strode easily over to the nearest tree, leaping into the boughs and making himself comfortable. "Ja, well you two have fun deciding whom to kill. I think I could use a nap after all that exercise." He then closed his eyes and pulled his forehead protector over them, effectively shutting out all the light from the shining full moon.
Sasuke twitched. "That's it, I know who I'm voting for."
"Sasuke, that's terrible! Isn't it a little callous to Naruto…?"
"Who said I was talking about Naruto?"
Sakura's eyes widened as she drew her hand over her mouth to stifle a sharp intake of breath. Sasuke was totally serious in tone. But he wouldn't do that to her…
Would he?
Time moved slowly by as the three teammates drifted farther apart from each other, each seeking a private thinking hole. Sakura found herself lying under a rather thorny bush, positioned on her back, just low enough to comfortably avoid any undue pricking.
As she lay there, her brilliant pink hair covered the ground underneath her, spread as if imitating a small rug. Her emerald eyes were staring, glazed over, at the fragments of sky that could be seen through the bush.
Morning was coming, as the cool colors of the sunrise washed over the sky. The night shower had ended some time ago, leaving the ground soggy, but not uncomfortable, and the trees glistening with brilliant rainbows of colors.
The color and beauty of the situation, however, was lost to the girl as her mind was occupied in a struggle against itself, a struggle of desire versus decency and honesty.
How could he do this? She thought, inwardly fuming. Is Kakashi-sensei really going to leave one of us out to dry? Do we really have to…kill one of our own? It goes against shinobi standards, against what we've been told, and against logic! It makes no sense.
But even so, we were given orders, and our sensei seemed sincere. If one of us has to die, of course I would pick Naruto! He is nice and all, but I couldn't kill Sasuke…
…but even Naruto, I don't think I could kill him either. Not in cold blood, not when he's stated how much he really wanted to be a shinobi, for whatever reason. I couldn't kill a dream like that…
But if I can't choose one or the other, then what do I do? Sakura began to shake silently. We need to; we have to loose a member. I have to choose one. The perfect boy, whom I've loved for years, or the boy whose dream it was to be a ninja, who seemingly devotes every waking minute to it…
The pink haired kunoichi closed her eyes while her thoughts struggled, a single tear running down the side of her face as she fought herself.
Dear god, she thought desperately, what do I do?
As dreaded as it was, noon came seemingly faster than any of the gennin would have liked. As the sun reached its highest point in the sky, the young students of Kakashi gathered together around the center of their training area, a small clearing consisting of three wooden posts wedged firmly in the ground, all side by side in a straight line.
All approached at the same time, walking as slowly as they could to the final place of decision, each approaching from a different direction, forming a slowly dilating triangle around the center post. Shadows at their feet were almost nonexistent in the noon sky.
They all continued to move slowly towards the center, until, as if by an unseen signal, they each stopped a good three meters away from the post. Then they waited, without speaking, for the arrival of their sensei.
For once, they didn't have to wait. A smokescreen rose from the ground in a small cloud, covering the upper portion of the center pole from view. When it dissipated, the silver haired Kakashi stood atop it in a slouched posture, his uncovered eye closed, facing no student in particular. His back, however, was displayed broadly to the disimpassioned Sakura.
Her face was pale and her eyes unfocused as she stared blankly at the ground in front of her.
Naruto stood with his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes closed, as if ready to accept punishment.
Sasuke stood with his face held high and arms at his sides. As a shinobi, he was not willing to do anything with regret.
All was silent as the three students stood by their teacher, awaiting his acknowledgement. The seconds ticked by, before Kakashi finally spoke.
"I see you are all alive. I thought I had instructed that there be one less face to greet me at this time today." He spoke calmly, his voice steady but with a hint of disapproval hidden within. "I'm willing to overlook it, however, as long as one of you is gone in the next five minutes. Otherwise…" With that he left the statement hanging.
The three gennin faced each other, tensing for a fight. They each stared at the others, waiting for whatever signal there was for their fight.
Sasuke was the first to back down. "I refuse, to kill either one of you in cold blood would be exactly what he would have wanted me to do. I would be taking one more step to becoming like the person I hate."
Naruto followed, relaxing from his stance. "I too, was unable to choose. To kill either of you would be against what I believe is right. It doesn't feel right to me…"
"Kakashi," Naruto continued, "I know that you ordered us to exterminate on of our own, but if I were to leave the village, to become a homeless nin, would that suffice? Would that-"
"Stop it, both of you."
Both Naruto and Sasuke turned a curious eye to Sakura, wondering what she had meant by that.
"Stop acting like a hero, Naruto. You can't do everything alone." Sakura's eyes were hidden from the duo as she spoke. "We all know how much being a ninja means to you, and how much you want to stay here. Sasuke can't die or quit either. I wouldn't let him. I love him.
As much as I hate to say it, I don't think I could be half the nin you two will grow to be. I don't have the determination or the will. I don't have the strength or the skill. I've just got my smarts." She giggled for a second as she visualized what she meant by gently knocking herself against the head.
"I'm nothing compared to you two though. So I've made my decision…
I nominate myself."
Both boys were shocked, clearly showing it by their faces. Mouths wide they tried to object. But Sakura wouldn't have any of it.
"Please you two," she pleaded them, "for once let me make the right decision."
They both stared for a moment longer before Naruto nodded, followed soon by Sasuke. Then in unison they both declared,
"We agree to the nomination."
A gentle clapping was heard after their announcement. All three turned to look at their sensei, whose single showing eye was closed in merriment.
"Well, what do you know? You three passed."
Three.
Two.
One…
"WHAAAT!"
"It was a test, and you three passed, thanks to Sakura. The idea was for at least one person to sacrifice themselves for the team. Kind of a…make it or break it test."
"B-but! You seemed so sincere when you announced it! YOU EVEN CRIED!"
"Ah, the miracle of eye drops. They really do make a performance believable, don't they?"
"Oh, that's a good one," mumbled Naruto as he jotted down the idea in a small booklet. "Remember to add tear drops to disguise kit…"
"DON'T TAKE NOTES!"
"Sorry."
Sakura stood by herself, still shocked by the afternoon's events. She really had been prepared to die for those two, just like that…
It scared her, knowing that she could have died by her own choice.
She sat by herself, thinking as her long hair floated lazily in the breeze. She stared into nothingness as she thought, jumping as the sound of a ninja smokescreen filled her ears.
Whirling around, she found the image of her sensei standing nonchalantly behind her.
"Yo."
She stared at him, without comprehension. He smiled at her confusion and voiced what he came to say.
"Good job Sakura. I'm proud of your choice."
With that, he vanished again, leaving behind a small sticky not attached to her forehead.
Sakura sat for a moment more, thinking about what he had said. He was proud or her decision? To what, basically kill herself? No, it had to be something else.
…But whatever, the note on her forehead was begging to be read. She slowly peeled it off and read it.
Congrats! You all got your first C class mission. Meet me at the Hokage tower tomorrow morning to get the mission.
P.S. Could you let your teammates know too? Thanks!
Sakura stared. As well as the post script there was a small drawing of a chibi-Kakashi doing a dance. And it looked so cute…
Sakura smiled to herself before standing, wondering how she was to get the information to the others.
"Sakura."
Well, she thought, that was easier than expected.
The pink haired girl spun around to find both her teammates looking at her with disapproval in their eyes. She was surprised to see that emotion there.
"Don't do that again." Sasuke was the first to speak. Right to the point.
"Agreed, please don't think so lowly of yourself." Naruto… "We all have our strengths and weaknesses. You just have to learn how to use them."
"You mean…you guys care?"
Now it was the others turn to look surprised. Then Naruto smiled. "Of course we do. Why else would I stick around?"
With that they all turned to leave again, almost instinctively going to eat. After all, it had been almost a whole day since the last time. As they were leaving the clearing, Sakura remembered to fill them in on the information from the sticky tab their sensei had left behind.
Unknown to them, however, the sensei himself watched from the foliage above, a covered grin adorning his face as he chucked to himself.
"Well, what do you know, throw these kids into a lake, and they not only swim, they sail."
With that, there was a swirl of leaves and the clearing became empty for the first time that day.
From the Desk of Tyr'll
I guess I can apologize for my procrastination in getting this done, but I was having a hard time coming up with a plausible ending. And I still think I didn't really get it right… I am just so looking forward to writing about the weed country mission, though.
All my own design too. Lots of Ocs to be introduced and plenty of strange plots. The next chapter should be the first chapter I truly move away from any known events in the Narutoverse.
I'm so excited, but still…don't get your hopes too high up for a quick update. I always mean to but something comes up.
Like sleep…