Three- All for One, and One for All
Kakashi fell to the ground as the shuriken embedded in his flesh and we all gasped in shock. He was hit. There was a puff of smoke and a log replaced Kakashi-sensei. Damn it. Now he knew where Sasuke was, and I was next to Sasuke so he might see me as well. The Uchiha quickly started jumping through the trees. Mentally debating on whether to follow Sasuke or not (since I was planning on trying to work together), I jumped after him. I heard a scream ring through the forest; so he found Sakura. I hastily looked to the left and right of me as I jumped through the branches. Two down and two to go. Well, if Naruto didn't get out of the trap, which I thought he would be able to. I heard another scream, probably from Sakura. I shook my head and ducked as I almost ran into a branch.
()()()()
"Shinobi tactics number two; Genjutsu. Sakura fell for it so easily." I looked down from my perch at Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke who were standing in the clearing.
"Genjutsu, huh? Hallucinatory mind techniques. No wonder Sakura fell for it." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"But I'm not like them" He continued and I glared at the back of his head. Naruto wasn't that bad of a shinobi if he would just listen, and… I had nothing to say about Sakura. I was alright too.
"Why don't you say that after you get a bell." Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke looked at one another for a moment, and I put a hand on one of my katanas. I knew that Sasuke wouldn't want my help, but I would jump in once they started fighting. That way he couldn't make me leave. Sasuke flung an array of kunai at Kakashi-sensei,and the jonin dodged them with ease. He missed. I expected better of the great- then one of the kunai cut a rope and more launched themselves at Kakashi-sensei.
Sasuke was then behind Kakashi-sensei, and landed a kick, which our sensei blocked. He punched, but the jonin blocked that too. Now was my chance. I jumped into the clearing, brandishing my two katana. At that moment, Sasuke turned and landed a kick. reaching for the bells. Quickly Kakashi pushed him away and the two landed several feet away from one another.
"It looks like another's arrived." Kakashi-sensei said, and Sasuke turned to look at me.
"You followed me." It wasn't a question.
"I figured we'd have better odds if we worked together. I didn't want to work with Sakura and Naruto was tied up. You seemed like the best bet." I replied, not denying his accusation.
"Che, you'll only slow me down."
"That's what you think." I said, and ran at Kakashi-sensei.
He blocked my katana with a kunai, and for a moment it was a matter of force; who would give in first? My katana or his kunai? I swept my leg and almost knocked his feet out from under him, but he slid away. I heard Sasuke behind me.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" And my eyes grew wide. I knew fire style, and that was not easy. I used Katon jutsus with my blades, and I knew that was a difficult jutsu. Hell, I'd been training since I was seven, and I couldn't do it. Kakashi-sensei seemed to be thinking similarly to me.
"What? Genins aren't supposed to be able to do that… He shouldn't have enough chakra."
Our fight had paused as we both watched Sasuke in surprise. Apparently, he did have enough chakra.
"Shit!" I yelled as I jumped quickly away.
"Watch where you're blowing that! I almost got hit!" I yelled, but Sasuke didn't seem to care. Fire blazed in the area where we were standing, and I patted the bandages on my left arm, which were singed. The jutsu ended, and smoke billowed from the spot. Kakashi-sensei was nowhere to be seen.
"He's gone!" We hastily looked around to find our sensei.
"Where is he? Above? No, behind?"
"Where is he?" I asked no one.
"Beneath!" Came a voice and a hand grabbed Sasuke's leg.
"Doton: Shinjuuzanshu no Jutsu." He announced and my eyes grew wide. Head hunter? Did that mean..
Yes, it did. Kakashi-sensei was crouched next to Sasuke's head, which was sticking out of the ground.
"Shinobi tactics number three; Ninjutsu. Can't move, right?" Sasuke didn't give him an answer, just turned his head with a 'Hn'. Then Kakashi-sensei started walking away.
"Hey! Where are you going?" I yelled, preparing my katana. Kakashi-sensei turned to look at me.
"Oh, I forgot you were there." My eye twitched.
"Where are you going?"
"To catch a food stealer." Was the answer he gave, and then he was gone. Damn it. I had missed my chance. I shook my head at myself and headed over to Sasuke. I crouched down next to him.
"Ano.. I don't know any Doton jutsus, and my Fuuton would probably just cut you to bits. Any ideas?" I asked awkwardly. Sasuke just glared.
All of the sudden, Sakura bursted through the bushes. She paused, looking at Sasuke in shock, and screamed.
"Now it's a severed head!" She yelled, and promptly fainted.
"What the hell?" I muttered, and Sasuke nodded in agreement.
()()()()
Sasuke leaned over and looked at Sakura. How he got out of the jutsu, I didn't know. She blearily opened her eyes.
"Sasuke...kun?" She asked, then leaped and hugged him with yells of 'You're okay!'
"It's almost noon; I'm going." Sasuke replied, and I walked over to him.
"Sasuke-kun, you're still going after the bell?" Sakura asked, not even looking at me.
"Uh, yeah. We are." I replied, making sure to include the 'we'. I was here too. It seemed she finally noticed me.
"You! Leave my Sasuke-kun alone! He doesn't need you to bother him! He has to focus!" She yelled at me, and my eye twitched.
"Evidently, he needs some help. Do you really think a genin will be able to take on a jonin and win? No."
"I don't want your help. And you didn't help me anyways." He replied, looking at me.
"Well if you hadn't nearly roasted me with that Katon it would've gone differently."I grumbled.
"Anyways, I was almost able to get it last time. This time I'll win." He replied to Sakura's earlier question.
"Um.. since we have little time, why don't we give up and do better next time." She suggested, and my eye twitched again.
"Why don't we just try again this time? We have enough time, especially if we work together. Not that I wanted to work with you in the first place." I replied.
"I wasn't asking you, old lady."
"Oi! My hair is natural grey! And it's a flattering color! Hush, Pinky!" This turned into a glaring contest. Sasuke seemed to somewhat agree with me (the earlier statement, not the one about my hair (which did NOT look like an old woman's)) as he glared at Sakura.
"I'm an avenger. I have to become stronger than him." He said, and I looked at Sasuke in confusion.
"I don't have time to fumble around here." Who was he talking about? Who did he want to kill? The bell interrupted my thoughts.
"Damn it. We wasted our time talking." I pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance as I spoke. Sasuke walked away in the direction of the bell, and we all walked to our doom.
()()()()
We all sat around the logs, with Naruto tied up around one of the middle logs. Why he was tied up, I didn't know. All of the sudden, our stomachs growled in sync.
"Your stomachs are grumbling, huh? About the results of your training; none of you need to return to the Academy." Said Kakashi-sensei, who stood above us. We all exhaled in relief. Thank god.
"Huh? But all I did was faint. Is that okay?" Sakura said to herself. Sasuke hn'd.
"Well that's a relief." I said, a smile on my face. Naruto was childishly kicking his legs up and down.
"Does that mean us four.." Kakashi-sensei smiled; at least, I thought it was smiling. His eyes closed happily and his mask moved.
"Yeah, you four...Should quit being ninjas!" He said, and the smile fell. Wait. What did he say?
"We couldn't get a bell, but why did you have to say we should quit?!" Naruto yelled, and I agreed.
"Yeah, Sensei! What the hell?!" I yelled in surprise and anger.
"It's because you four are just kids who don't even deserve to be ninjas." Sasuke ran at him and we gasped. Quickly, Kakashi sensei forced Sasuke under him and held him down.
"See? You all are just kids."
"Don't step on Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, eyes filled with rage.
"Do you guys think being a ninja is easy? Why do you think we're training in groups?" Kakashi-sensei asked us.
"What do you mean?"
"In other words, you four don't understand the meaning of this test."
"Teamwork. It's teamwork, right? There's no way we could beat you on our own. That's why I followed Sasuke." I answered him.
"Yes. Teamwork. That's why you're split into groups. If all of you came at me at once, you might've gotten a bell."
"Wait.. Why are you emphasising teamwork when there's only three bells? It'll just start conflict." Sakura asked.
"Exactly. This test is designed to pit you against one another. In this situation, we look for people who prioritise teamwork before themselves. That was the purpose, but you all were pathetic." He started.
"Sakura! You cared only about Sasuke than Naruto or Akemi, even though Naruto was right in front of you and you didn't know where Sasuke was."
"Naruto! All you did was work on your own."
"Akemi! You had the idea, but you chose to work with Sasuke since you didn't like Sakura and Naruto was tied up."
"And you," He looked down at Sasuke.
"You thought everyone else would only burden you and did everything yourself. You didn't even care that Akemi was also in the range of your Katon jutsu." I bit my lip in anger; the bastard had singed my bandages and burnt my glove. Kakashi-sensei continued his scolding.
"Missions are done in groups. It's true that shinobi need individual skills, but teamwork is the most important. An individual act that disrupts teamwork will result in danger or death of comrades. For example:" Kakashi-sensei brandished a kunai and held it to Sasuke's throat.
"Sakura! If you don't kill Naruto, I'll kill Sasuke!" I grabbed a hand to one of my katana; I didn't think Sakura was going to kill Naruto, but if she tried, I'd fight her off.
"That's what happens." Kakashi-sensei said, and took the kunai away from Sasuke's throat.
"After someone getting taken hostage, you will be faced with a difficult decision, and someone will die. In every mission, you will put your life on the line." He stepped off of Sasuke and walked over to the memorial stone.
"Look at this.. The numerous names carved into this stone. All of these people are praised as heroes in the village." I looked down. My dad and aunt were on that stone. My dad, I never really knew; he died before I was born. But my aunt… Her face flashed through my mind and I clenched my jaw.
"I like that! I've decided that I want my name to be carved on that stone!" Naruto announced, and I glared at him. He was my friend but he was pissing me off right now.
"A hero! A hero! I'm not going to die a useless death!" He continued.
"Ah, but you see, these were not normal heroes."
"Oh, what kind of heroes were they, dattebayo?" There was a long pause.
"They were all KIA." Kakashi-sensei said in a flat voice.
"KIA?"
"It means those who were killed in action." I told him, and his grin fell. The silence was tense. I saw Sasuke clench his jaw and frown, and I was sure I had a similar expression. My head was downcast, my grey hair matching my mood and covering my face. I clenched my fists.
"This is a cenotaph. The names of my friends are carved here as well." There was a pause.
"I'll give you one more chance." We all looked up, momentarily surprised.
"However, the battle for the bell will be much harsher after lunch. Eat lunch only if you are up to the challenge. But, don't let Naruto eat. This is his punishment for cheating and trying to eat lunch early. If anyone feeds him, that person will immediately fail." So that was what he meant earlier by food stealer.
"I'm the law here. Got it?"
()()()()
We were eating lunch, and I felt another punch of guilt as I took a bite. I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed a piece with my chopsticks and stuck it in front of Naruto's face.
"Take some." I mumbled with a blush on my face, looking away. Sasuke quickly followed suit, sticking his bento in front of Naruto.
"Hey, Sasuke-kun… But Sensei just said.." Said Sakura, looking at Sasuke.
"Don't worry. I don't sense him nearby." Sasuke replied and I blushed; I had forgotten to check for Sensei.
"We four are going to get the bells together then?" I asked Sasuke, who nodded.
"It's only going to be trouble if he's hungry." Naruto took the bite of food off my chopsticks. Sakura seemed to debate for a moment, but eventually stuck her bento in front of Naruto, who blushed.
"Sakura-chan… Arigato."
"You don't need to thank me. Just eat, hurry."
"But um…"
"I'm on a diet; I eat less than Sasuke-kun… So don't worry about it." I smiled; maybe she wasn't as bad as I thought.
"But I can't eat it. You'll have to feed me like Akemi did." Sakura blanched at this, eye going wide in shock and rage.
"We don't have time. Just do it." Sasuke said, looking around. Sakura glared at Naruto. I take that back.
"I'm only going to do this once. Understand?" I grabbed another bit of rice with my chopsticks and fed Naruto.
"God, if it's such a big deal, I'll do it. I don't mind. I have a six year old cousin who takes bites of my food all the time." I scoffed, and grabbed another piece. Sakura glared at me.
"I already said I would do it." She said, and gave Naruto a bite of her food. Then there was a huge poof, and smoke clouded my view.
"You four!" Yelled Kakashi. My eyes grew wide in shock. I pointed my chopsticks at Sakura.
"I blame you for this." I said as calmly as I could.
"But.. But.. Sensei, you said.. That's why they were..-"
"We're a four man team, right?"Sasuke said, surprising us all with his sudden want for teamwork.
"Y-Yeah! We're all together!" I yelled.
"We four are one!" Sakura agreed, apparently letting go of my earlier comment.
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! That's right!" Naruto yelled.
"You're all together.. You are one.." Kakashi-sensei said, and I felt my heart plummet to my gut. I put both hands on my katana.
"You pass!" He yelled with a smile on his face.
"Wait… What?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"You pass."
"What.. Why?" Sakura asked.
"You four were the first. People I had previously were idiots who only listened to what I said. 'Shinobi need to think beyond the normal.' In the world of Shinobi, those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Kakashi-sensei explained.
A huge grin was on my face. I looked over to the others and noticed that they were ecstatic too. Naruto looked on the verge of tears, Sakura had a big smile, and I even noticed a small smile on Sasuke.
"He's kind of.. cool…" Naruto said, looking like he was about to cry. Yeah, I thought. He is.
"We did it! We're Shinobi!" I yelled, a huge smile on my face.
"Let's go home." Kakashi-sensei said, walking away. We followed him, ignoring the yells of Naruto with smiles of amusement.
Translations
Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Fire style: great fireball jutsu
Ano: Um; i.e. 'Ano... Satsuki-san... would you like to go on a date with me this Friday?'
Doton: Earth style
Fuuton: wind style
Doton: Shinjuuzanshu no Jutsu: Earth style: Headhunter jutsu