I do not own Naruto in any way. So enjoy the story.

"If you can't get them by noon then you go without lunch, you'll be tied to those posts and watch while me while I eat my lunch in front of you" he said to us.

Our stomachs growled. 'Since none of us ate anything for breakfast, this is gonna be harder for us to accomplish.' I thought to my self.

"Hey, there are only three bells but there are four of us." Sakura said holding up three fingers.

"Well that way at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. Oh and that one goes back to the academy" he told us.

'Well I'm not gonna be sent back after all the hard work I've been through to get here.'

"Well then again all 4 of you could flunk out" he taunted. "You can use any weapon, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me then you won't get one of these bells" he said.

Sakura looked freaked out a bit "But Sensei! Those weapons are too dangerous."

Naruto just laughed "Aha especially since you couldn't even dodge that chalkboard eraser!"

"Class clowns are usually the first to go." he said to Naruto.

Naruto was clearly getting angry at this point.

We were getting ready to start but Naruto charged at Kakashi about to attack him. We gasped. Kakashi was right behind Naruto in a split second while holding his hand with the kunai to his neck. He was so fast.

"I like how you did that Naruto. I think I'm starting to like this group now." he said.

He let go of Naruto and we started.

We were all in our own hiding place, waiting for the moment to strike. I was in a tree about five feet away from the tree Sasuke was hiding in and Sakura was hiding in the bushes. But Naruto, he was standing right in the middle of the clearing facing Kakashi.

-Sakura-

'Naruto is such an idiot.' I thought to my self.

"You and me right now! Fair and square! Let's go!" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi-sensei looked at him with a look of utter disbelief.

"Fool" I faintly heard Sasuke say.

"You know… compared to the others… you're a little… weird." Kakashi said.

"OH YEAH? THE ONLY THING HERE WEIRD IS YOUR HAIRCUT!" Naruto said and charged at him.

-Mika-

I saw Naruto run at Kakashi with a full intent of getting that bell. But just when he was going to attack I saw him pull back a bit.

"Shinobi battle technique part 1. Taijutsu the physical part." his hand went into his weapon pack.

'What is he doing? Taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat, so why is he pulling out a weapon?' I thought to my self.

Then he pulled out… a book? I sweat dropped.

"What the?" Naruto said with a confused look on his face.

"Well what are you waiting for? Make your move." Kakashi told him.

"But- I mean- Why are you reading that book?" Naruto asked.

"To see what happens in the story of course." he said not even looking at Naruto. "Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks it doesn't matter if I'm reading or whatever." Kakashi said.

Naruto recklessly charged at him "I'M GONNA PUNCH YOU!"

When he threw a punch at him, Kakashi easily caught his hand. When he tried to kick him, he just dogged it. Then suddenly Kakashi vanished and Naruto punched the air.

"Huh?" he asked looking at the empty space in confusion.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time" Kakashi's voice said, when he suddenly appeared behind Naruto in a crouched position with the hand sign for the tiger pointing at Naruto's back side.

'That sign is for a fire jutsu. That's dangerous, he could kill Naruto!' I thought to my self.

"NARUTO GET OUT OF THERE! HE'S GONNA DESTROY YOU!" Sakura yelled out.

"Too late" Kakashi said before he yelled "LEAF VILLAGE SECERT FINGER JUITSU!"

I was expecting the worst. But Kakashi just jabbed Naruto in his back side.

"A THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" he yelled out as Naruto launched into the air.

I nearly fell out of my tree out of shock and disbelief.

-Sakura-

"That wasn't a hand sign at all. He just poked him."

-Sasuke-

"Those two…are total idiots."

-Mika-

Naruto plunged into the water and Kakashi kept reading his book.

Suddenly two shuriken popped out of the water where Naruto had recently plummeted into. They wet flying towards Kakashi. He caught the weapons which were now spinning in his fingers.

"Akari. I need you to ask Sasuke and Sakura something." I said to my little bird.

-Sasuke-

Akari flew over to me

"Sasuke, Mika wants to know if you would want to work with her to get the bells." the tiny bird spoke.

"Sorry, but I rather work by my self." I answered.

Then the tiny bird flew away.

-Sakura-

I saw Akari fly towards me unnoticed by Kakashi sensei.

"Mika wants to know if you would want to work with her to get the bells." the bird said to me.

'AHH! SINCE WHEN CAN BIRDS TALK?' I thought to my self.

"I'd rather work with Sasuke." I said.

She chirped and flew away.

-Mika-

Akari came back to me and shook her tiny head.

"I see." I said.

Then I turned back to Naruto and my stomach growled.

'So hungry, damn it.' I looked back towards the fight and gasped at what I saw.

"Wow. Naruto knows how to perform the shadow clone jutsu! Not many people could pull that off so successfully like that." What happened next was a complete surprise to me "He got Kakashi from behind, Alright Naruto."

But just when Naruto was about to punch Kakashi, Kakashi disappeared and Naruto punched… Naruto. I sweat dropped. Then all the Naruto's started fighting. I sweat dropped more. Then he undid the jutsu. I realized that Kakashi used the replacement jutsu and replaced him self with one of the Naruto clones. Then I noticed something shinny. It was a bell.

"Hey a bell!" Naruto said as he ran to get it.

"Naruto don't-" to late, Naruto was hanging upside down by his feet daggling from a rope attached to a tree.

"HEY LET ME DOWN! WHAT IS THIS?" Naruto yelled bouncing from side to side.

"Think before you use a jutsu, or else the enemy can use it against you oh and if the bait is obvious then don't go" Kakashi said as he started to lecture Naruto.

I saw Sasuke start pulling out shuriken. He was going to strike him. Just then he threw the shuriken at sensei. Then I gasped.

"AHH. KAKASHI SENSEI WAS HIT WITH SHURIKEN. SASUKE, YOU WENT TOO FAR THIS TIME!" Naruto yelled.

"Sasuke just got sensei with shuriken. I can't believe he did that. This has gone too far this time." I said to my self.

But to my relief, Kakashi turned into a log. When I look back toward Sasuke, he was already starting to run away.

"Akari, follow them and keep me informed." I said to my bird friend as she chirped in agreement.

I hopped from tree to tree towards Naruto. He got him self free but he set off another trap.

"AGH I FELL FOR IT AGAIIIN!" Naruto screamed out.

"Hey Naruto." I said from my perch on his tree.

"Huh? Oh, Mika!" He said in surprise.

"Need a bit of help?" I asked even if the answer was obvious.

"Uh Heh Yeah."

"Ok. Watch your step on your way down this time." I said as I cut him loose.

"Thanks Mika. Now to go get that bell." he said as ran away.

"Be careful." I yelled out to him. "I wonder if he knows that's the wrong way." I said to my self.

Just then I heard a shriek and I knew that that was Sakura. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Akari's energy. Akari has bin with me since I was born and we had a strong connection with each other since then, she also has the ability to understand human speech. Then an image appeared in my mind, I was watching Sakura through Akari's eyes. My clan has a strong connection with nature and animals; we can communicate with animals and understand the feelings of the forests like if there is something wrong and, some times, what is wrong with it. Sakura fell into Kakashi's trap; he used the illusion jutsu to make her see things. She looked around and turned to a tree where he saw Sasuke with kunai sticking out of his body.

"Sakura, help me." he said weakly.

Sakura was starting to tear up. I got a bit startled when I saw him too but I knew better.

"AHHHHHH!" she screamed then fell flat to the ground.

I sweat dropped and opened my eyes.

"Sakura, we studied this back at the academy." I said to no one in particular as I shook my head.

I ran off into the direction that Sasuke and Sakura went and saw a red flame.

"Sasuke used his fire ball jutsu." I knew it since Sasuke taught me how to do it too.

When I got into the clearing, I saw Sasuke's head sticking out of the ground and Kakashi crouched down in front of him.

'Now's my chance.'

I pulled out two shuriken and threw them at him then quickly made my way to the other side of the clearing and threw two more at him and did it again on the other two sides. But when I looked at him, he caught all eight of my shuriken. I got on the tree behind them and made a few of my own hand signs.

"Vine bind jutsu" I said quietly as vines shot out of the ground and wrapped them selves around Kakashi

"What?" he said a bit surprised.

Then I jumped out of my tree towards him and aiming to get two of those bells. He broke free from the vines but I managed to touch the bells before he moved away. I put my hands on the ground, pushed off, back flipped, and landed on my feet.

"Not bad Mika, but you still didn't get a bell." Kakashi said.

"I realized that." I said as I charged at him.

I tried to kick him, but he caught my ankle. Then I threw a punch at him and just as I expected, he caught it. I smirked and flipped my self over him and landed a kick on his back causing him to let go of me. When I landed on the ground, I did more of my own hand signs.

"Light style, illumination jutsu!" I said.

Then a flash of blinding light appeared out of nowhere. I closed my eyes and charged toward the sound of the bells. I got a hold of the string to one of the bells but again he got away before I could take it.

"A light style jutsu. No one but the people who come from the village hidden in the light could do those." Kakashi said.

"That's right. My mother and her sister came from both the hidden light and darkness villages. I was originally born here but I learned their jutsu's when I went to visit those villages." I said proudly.

"Well I know a few of those too." he said as he disappeared.

"Hey! Oh."

"Aren't you gonna go after him?" Sasuke asked.

"I'll help you out first." I said crouching down.

Just then Sakura came running out into the clearing but stopped where she was and stared at us. She looked like she was about to pass out for a moment but snapped back and looked at us again.

"Sakura?" me and Sasuke said.

"AHHH! MIKA IS WITH SASUKE AND HE'S JUST A HEAD WITHOUT A BODY AND HE'S STILL TALKING!" She screamed and started freaking out for a minute then passed out.

"And that's my partner…" Sasuke said annoyed.

"…HAHAHAHA! OH MY GOSH HER FACE WAS PRICELESS! HAHAHAHA!" I started cracking up. "Ok, let's get you out of there now shall we." I said calming down.

I quickly dug him out like a dog would dig a hole. Then we went to check on Sakura.

"Hey, Mika." Sasuke said to me.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Your fighting skills were really good as well as those jutsu's you did." He said to me.

"Well I do learn how to fight like that because of you and thanks." I said with a smile.

"And thanks for getting me out."

"Oh, no problem."

Sakura woke up and immediately hugged Sasuke.

"Hey let go of me!" Sasuke said trying to push her off.

"Sakura, c'mon we still we need to get those bells." I said.

"You're still trying to get one of those bells?" she asked as she also stood up.

"We were both able to touch the bells and next time we will get it." Sauske said standing up.

"You did. That is really great, I can't believe you did that, you really are amazing" she told him, she forced her self to smile. "Uh... it's almost lunch and there isn't really much time left, maybe we should give up and then try again next year" she suggested.

Sasuke looked back at her with a really dark expression. Sakura and I flinched.

"Sasuke isn't the kind of person to just give up like that, Sakura." I said also standing up.

"I'm the only one who can destroy that person" he started as a breeze blew in.

Me and Sakura looked at each other.

'I'll bet he's talking about Itachi' I thought.

"What?... who?... You mean sensei?" she asked surprised.

"That day... I was crying" he replied, as the wind blew a bit harder.

"When were you crying?" she asked.

I looked a Sasuke with a worried expression. I knew full well about what he's talking about. The poor boy had bin through so much in his childhood. I cant even fully relate to what happened to him. He was his brother after all.

"It was my..."

"What?... what happened to you?" Sakura interrupted.

"I am an avenger, that means I must be stronger than my prey... I need this training there's no time for setbacks." he finished his bangs covering his eyes as his head looked down to the ground.

"Oh" Sakura quietly said her eyes widening in surprise and realization.

Then I herd the alarm go off.

"Damn." I said in annoyance.

"I wasted too much time." Sasuke said angrily clenching his fists.

We started walking back. Sakura and I followed a few feet behind Sasuke, he was angry and I don't want to get in the way when he's angry. When we got back, we saw Naruto tied to a post. I sighed and sat on the right side of him.

"I told you to be careful Naruto." I said to him.

He just sighed. Our stomachs growled.

"Uh oh... stomachs growling huh?" Kakashi said "That's to bad... oh and about this exercise... well I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy" Kakashi told us.

"Huh?" I said in surprise.

Sakura and Naruto started to cheer. But I knew something was up.

"So we all…" Naruto was cut off by Kakashi.

"Yes... all four of you... Are being dropped from the program permanently!" he said.

All the cheering stopped. He cant be serious, can he even do that? I was getting frustrated; after all of our hard work we did to get here, and he's just gonna drop us. Sasuke was also getting really angry now too.

"Drop us from the program? That means we can never become ninja! You said if we didn't get the bells than we would just be sent back to the academy! YOU CAN'T JUST CHANGE YOUR MIND AND KICK US OUT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Naruto yelled as he thrashed around angrily

"Because you don't think like ninja, you think like little kids... like brats" Kakashi said as he put his hands on his hips.

I heard Sasuke growl beside me. Then Sasuke jumped up and ran at Kakashi. When he got close enough, he was pined down by Kakashi.

"Sasuke!" Me and Sakura said in unison.

"You think it's all about you." Kakashi said.

"LET GO OF SASUKE! YOU CAN'T STEP ON HIM LIKE SOME KIND OF BUG!" Sakura yelled angrily.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja; you think it's a game huh?" Kakashi questioned.

Sakura gasped.

"Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?" he asked us.

"I... uh... I don't know what you mean!" Sakura said confused.

"I mean... you never realized what this exercise is really about! Not even close!" Kakashi said.

"But that's..." Sakura started "I mean... I wanted to ask you about that from the beginning" she said.

"Use your head! Four people on a squad why do you think we would do that?" he asked her.

"GAHHH! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHY YOU PUT THREE OR FOUR PEOPLE? WE DIDN'T MAKE THE RULES!" Naruto yelled clearly annoyed and frustrated.

"Oh. Kakashi sensei, are you talking about team work?" I asked.

"Well, at least one person on this team is actually thinking. That is exactly what I am talking about Mika." he said looking at me.

The others all looked shocked. The answer was so simple but none of them knew it.

"Just working together? Is that what you mean?" Sakura asked.

That's what I mean..." Kakashi confirmed. "But it's to late now, but if all four of you joined together and came at me you might have been able to take them" he said "but it's over now."

"Wait a minute...You set it up for four people but only 3 bells. If we worked together and got the bells only three of us could keep them and that would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up." Sakura said.

"Exactly... I purposely put you against each other" Kakashi said.

"Huh?" Sakura and Naruto said a tad bit confused.

"I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the squad ahead of yourself! A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork but you... it never even crossed your minds." he explained.

"Sakura! You obsessed about Sasuke who was gone! While Naruto and Mika were right in front of you! You wouldn't even lift a finger to help Naruto! Mika even had her little bird to ask you to help her but you were blinded with jealously and you refused to work with her." he said as Sakura let out a sigh of guilt.

"Naruto! You do everything on your own. Everything." he said as Naruto hung his head in guilt.

"And YOU Sasuke. You thought the others were so far beneath you they were worthless. Arrogance." Kakashi told him as he put more pressure on Sasuke. "Ninja missions are carried out in squads! Of course you need individual skills but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves before the squad this can lead to failure and death. For example, SAKURA!" he called pulling out a Kunai and holding it to Sasuke's throat. "Kill Naruto NOW or Sasuke dies" he told her in a harsh voice.

I gasped.

Naruto looked back and forth to Sasuke and Sakura with a freaked out look on his face.

"That's what happens on a mission" he said putting his kunai away and getting off of Sasuke.

We all sighed in relief.

"Oh boy that was scary." she said.

"The enemy takes a hostage and YOU'VE got an impossible choice and some one ends up dead. On every mission your life is on the line." he said.

He walked towards the large stone in the middle of the clearing. I got up and ran over and helped Sasuke.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Just fine." he said.

"Did you look at this stone? The names engraved on it? They are all ninja who are honored as hero's in this village" Kakashi said.

My expression saddened. I knew full well about what that stone was. My father's name was on it too.

Well, I'm gonna stop right here for now. hopefully I will be done with the next chapter by the end of the week.

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