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

Previously: "Did you look at this stone? The names engraved on it? They are all ninja who are honored as heroes 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.

-Mika-

I felt a few tears threatening to fall but I quickly wiped them away. Sasuke looked at me for a second then turned back to Kekashi. Then Naruto went back to running his mouth.

"That's it! That's it! That's it! Now I know! I decided I'm going to have my name engraved on that stone! I'm not going to live for nothing like a dog! I'm going to be a hero! A hero!" He yelled getting excited.

"They are... a special kind of hero" Kakashi said.

"Huh? What kind of hero's are they? Come on tell us!" Naruto said getting more excited. Every thing was quiet. "Well, well?"

"They are all…K.I.A." Kekashi said.

"Ooo. That sounds really cool!" He said.

Just when I heard him say that, a couple of tears slid down my face. I wiped them away but more tears came out, I bit my lip so I wouldn't cry out loud for them to hear.

"It means Killed In Action, Naruto." Sakura said.

"They all died." I managed to choke out.

"Uh…" Naruto's expression changed from happy to sad when he finally realized it "…oh"

Even Sasuke's expression changed, a bit. I wiped away the rest of my tears and looked back towards Kekashi.

"This is a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends are engraved here as well as Mika's father." He said as Naruto and Sakura looked at me.

I figured that he knew that since him and my father were friends when they were younger. My father always uses to tell me stories about them when he was still alive.

"Alright... I'm going to give you one more chance." Kakashi started "But I'm going to make it much harder in you. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength. BUT Naruto doesn't get any" he said, making Naruto growl. "That's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat all by yourself." he explained. "And if anyone tries to feed him... that person will immediately fail." We all looked at him. "I make the rules YOU follow them, got it?" he stated.

-During Lunch-

We were all eating our lunch while Naruto was still tied to the pole. I glanced at him every now and then. 'Poor boy.' I felt really sorry for him. Akari landed on my hand and started to peck at my food. I mentally sighed 'Well you do need to eat too.' Just then, Naruto's stomach growled loudly. We all turned to him.

"This is no big deal! I could go without eating for days! Weeks! BELIEVE IT! THIS IS NO BIG DEAL!" he said to us sounding confident. Then his stomach growled again "No problem." he said as his hung his head.

"…here." I heard Sasuke say as he held out his lunch to Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto sounded surprised by Sasuke's sudden actions.

"What? No Sasuke you can't do that. You heard what the sensei said." Sakura told him with a bit of panic filling her voice.

"Kakashi's gone and we need to get those bells as a team, if Naruto's hungry he'll be weak and ineffective. That hurts the team and jeopardizes the mission." Sasuke stated in his usual bored tone.

I couldn't help but smile a bit. Then I saw Sakura hold out her lunch to Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened and started to water, he then made a goofy smile as if he was about to cry.

"Sakura." Naruto said softly. Sakura gave him a small smile. "Ok, thanks." he said.

"Don't thank me just hurry up and eat!" she exclaimed.

"But isn't that your lunch?" Naruto asked.

"That's ok. I don't need as much as Sasuke and Mika. Besides, I'm on a diet. Just hurry and eat!" Sakura said.

"Sakura, there's a problem. Naruto's tied up so he can't feed himself; looks like you're gonna need to feed him." I said as Akari chirped in agreement.

"HUH?!" Her eyes widened.

"Hurry up, he could come back any second." Sasuke said.

"Fine. But just this one time only! I'll never do this again! Is that clear?!" She said a bit annoyed.

"Clear as a bell Sakura!" Naruto said as he smiled brightly.

Sakura then feed Naruto a bit of rice. Suddenly a huge cloud of smoke appeared and then the wind whipped up and it nearly blew me away, literally. I squeezed my eyes shut and held on to Akari so she won't be blown away.

"YOU!" an angry Kakashi's voice sounded.

Naruto started to thrash around on the pole while Sakura screamed and Sasuke tried to stay firm in place shielding his eyes. As the wind started to die down a bit to an angry breeze, I was able to straighten up a little but still shaken a bit.

"You broke the rules, so I hope you're ready for the punishment" Kakashi said angrily as he did a few hand signs. A mass of dark thunder clouds gathered in the sky. "Any last words?" he said as he glared at us with his uncovered eye.

Sasuke looked like he was ready for a fight. Sakura had her hands on her head, she shook in fear. I held onto Akari and I have to admit that I was a bit scared. Naruto was shaking a bit too.

"b-but you said…" Naruto started.

"Yes?" Kakashi said.

"You said there were FOUR of us! THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID!" He yelled out. "That's why, they…" Naruto trailed off.

"We are all in this squad, and we are all in this together." Sasuke said.

"That's right! We are all a team." I said straightening up.

"Yeah! We gave our lunch to Naruto because the four of us are one!" Sakura announced.

"YEAH YEAH YEAH! BELIEVE IT! THAT'S RIGHT!" Naruto yelled out.

"The four of you are one?" Kakashi sounded like he was getting angry. "That's your excuse?" He said walking closer to us. We were all silent, waiting for what was going to happen next. "Hm, you pass." he said.

We all stared at him for a moment "Huh?"

"You passed." Kakashi said.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean 'we passed'?" Sakura asked confused.

"You're the first squad to have ever succeeded. All the others did exactly what I said. They fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world those who break the rules are scum... that's true. But those who abandon their friends, are worse than scum." he said.

I saw Sakura sigh with relief. Naruto looked like he was about to cry. Even Sasuke had a small smile on his face. I smiled and lightly hugged Akari, she happily chirped.

"He's a... you know" Naruto started with a bit of tears forming in his eyes and sounding like he was about to cry. "He's kinda cool."

"The exercise is over. Everyone passes! Squad 7 starts its first mission tomorrow!" Kakashi said as he gave us a thumbs up as a good job sign. Everyone, except Sasuke, cheered. "Let's go home." Kakashi said as we started to walk away from the training site, forgetting that we left Naruto still tied to the post.

"Ugh, I knew this would happen, they do this all the time! YOU GUYS FORGOT TO UNTIE MEEE!" he yelled out.

I turned around, took out a kunai, and threw it towards Naruto's post. It hit the ropes that were binding Naruto and set him free.

"Thanks Mika!" he said as he followed us back.

Sorry for the really long wait. I was busy with school. Hopefully I will get the next chapter up soon.

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