Chapter 4

Kagome walked around the village looking for Kakashi. After spending hours looking and skipping lunch she finally returned home to get something to eat. She had hoped to speak with him about moving through the exams faster than her teammates but she guessed it would have to wait until after the training the next day. During introductions when Naruto had announced his dream to them she felt pride. She couldn't afford to get that close to him or any of them and that thought was proof that she was. Finishing her lunch she pulled out the scroll with her sword sealed within it.

Her sword cut through the air in patterns she'd learned from scrolls and patterns she'd seen Sesshoumaru use in the feudal era. Of course most of her moves would be considered slow and sloppy to the demon lord's own. Kenjutsu was not her best skill, in fact it had to be her weakest. She didn't like the idea but she knew that the only way to change it was to keep practicing and to learn new techniques. She had held back during her time at the Academy as to not draw to much attention, now as a genin she wouldn't show any weakness. The next day's survival training was definitely a test of skill so she would prove to her sensei she had the skills necessary to move up to chunin.

The next morning she stayed home longer than they were supposed to and ate breakfast. She could see Kakashi being late just to torture them. Before she left she added a hip pouch with a few extra kunai and a few sealing scrolls hidden in it. She couldn't afford to hold back in this little exercise. She ran the roof tops avoiding any unnecessary contact with villagers. It was pointless to run, she was late already, but it felt good to run with the wind. When she arrived at the tree line she continued to run within the upper canopy. A small smile found its way to her face. It was one of the best feelings in this world to her, within the trees and moving so fast that not even the birds noticed her, and only then would she allow herself to smile. She slowed down as she reached their assigned training area and then jumped down to land next to her teammates. Sakura jumped out of her skin and glared.

"You're late!" Sakura growled.

"Considering his actions yesterday I had a strong feeling he wouldn't be here for a little while so I stayed home." Kagome said with a cool shrug.

"And what about your gear, did you forget it or do you not have any?" Sakura asked with a sneer.

Kagome looked at her teammates. Each held a rather large bag over their shoulders. "Minimalism," she pated the pouches on her hip and thigh, "ever heard of it? I don't need a lot of gear to accomplish my goals and what I do need I can carry right here."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke smirk at her comment. Naruto made a groaning sound so she turned a looked at him. The poor guy had followed orders and hadn't eaten breakfast when, Kagome felt, he probably ate something really big. She was thankful she hadn't been foolish enough to believe Kakashi's warning but it didn't matter, she could go days without food if she needed. Like with most things, she could handle the pain but once the physical weakness set in she had to do something. Poor Naruto, though, had no self-control in that situation.

Kakashi arrived a while later making some excuse and Sakura and Naruto still screamed at him. "Shall we begin?" He asked setting down an alarm clock. "This clock is set for noon. You have until then to grab one of these bells from me."

"But sensei, there are only three bells and four of us." Sakura said.

"So? One of us won't get one." Kagome said.

"Exactly, and the one that doesn't gets tied to one of those posts over there and won't get lunch. That one will go back to the Academy while the other three go on as ninja. I was you to come at me with ever thing you've…" he was cut off as Naruto ran at him with a kunai posed to kill him. Kakashi grabbed him and twisted the knife so that it was pointed at the back of Naruto's neck. "Now, now, don't be so hasty, I didn't even say 'start' yet."

Kagome's hand twitched. If he made one wrong move she was prepared to protect her teammate. Kakashi let go and met her eyes. For a moment she wondered what he saw there but then he moved on to something else. "Well, you did come at me with the intent to kill. How to put this? I think I'm starting to like you guys." His face grew serious. "Start."

Kagome jumped with the others but moved only a few yards away to some boulders then using her miko powers and genjutsu she hid her presence. Within the brush she could feel Sasuke and Sakura just barely out of line of sight from Kakashi's viewpoint. Naruto, on the other hand, was still in the open in front of their sensei. She gritted her teeth. The idiot was gonna get himself killed before he could become Hokage. She watched silently as the two fought. The end result was almost too stupid for words. Naruto went flying and Kakashi went off to find one of the other two. Naruto got out of the water and found a bell on the ground. It was almost painful how stupid he was.

Sakura and Sasuke are in the woods and Naruto is out for a little while but where is Kagome.

While Naruto was hanging upside down Sasuke attacked. For a moment even she believed the foolish Jounin had gotten himself killed but it was too easy. In a puff of smoke his body disappeared replaced by a log studded with the kunai and shuriken Sasuke had attacked him with. Sasuke was running through the woods Kakashi and Kagome followed. Sakura noticing her crush's absence ran after him blindly. Nearly tripping she noticed Kakashi in front of her position. She relaxed thinking he hadn't noticed her.

"Sakura behind you."

Sakura looked around. Suddenly Kakashi had disappeared and she was alone. "What was that? Where is sensei? What's going on?"

"Sakura…" Sasuke's voice came from somewhere behind her.

She turned sharply and smiled. "Sasuke-kun!"

Her smile faded when she saw the bloody figure of her crush. His body was covered in kunai and shuriken. He was calling for her to help and trying to reach her but all she could do was stand there in horror. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She screamed and fainted.

Maybe I went a bit over board. But really she should have noticed… Kakashi was reading his book when Sasuke approached from behind. "Sakura was easy to overtake."

Genjutsu, huh? An illusionary mind control technique. I'm not surprised she was easily defeated. "I'm different from the others, I won't be so easily defeated."

"Why don't you say that after you get the bell…Sasuke?"

The two turned to face each other. Kakashi kept his book in his hand making the moment extra tense. Sensing his sensei wouldn't make the first move Sasuke made a quick move to his weapons for a quick barrage. Jumping to the side Kakashi made a note of Sasuke's aim. Still, none of them had been able to come up with the point of the test or had come close to doing this on their own. It looked like it would be another year of failures for him.

"It's no use just using head on attacks."

Sasuke smirked and tossed a kunai. When the knife didn't even come close Kakashi narrowed his eyes. A trap? More weapons impale themselves in a tree behind where Kakashi had been standing but he had already moved away. Sasuke reappeared behind his teacher and aimed a kick at his face. The kick was caught before it could do damage. Next came a punch also aimed at Kakashi's face but again it was too slow for him to miss it. Twisting himself in the hopes of finally landing a hit, Sasuke pulled his other leg back and aimed a second kick at his teacher's head. Now Kakashi had both his legs and his hands were free. Just as he made his move for the bells Kakashi dropped him and skidded back.

Nice try, Sasuke. Kagome thought with a smirk.

Her teammate landed on his feet prepared to strike. Somewhere in the woods Sakura woke up after her little fainting episode. With dread she remembered Sasuke calling for her to help him as he was on the verge of death and all she done to help him. She got to her feet and ran to find her crush. Naruto was still hanging upside down from the tree. He noticed a large polished stone and the lunch boxes in front of it. With a kitsune like smile he had a plan.

"Well, I'll admit it, you are different from the others."

As Sasuke began to do a series of hand signs Kagome flashed back to their first day at the academy when she'd seen the Uchiha and his father practicing the very jutsu he was attempting and Sasuke had failed. This time however he succeeded in producing a large ball of fire. From where she was hidden in the trees she could see the fear in Kakashi's eyes, real shock he hadn't displayed through their whole fight. Something told Kagome that the fire jutsu was beyond the skill of a normal genin. The fire dissipated revealing a crater but no Kakashi. Sasuke panicked knowing that Kakashi had escaped.

"Underneath you," Kakashi's arm burst from the ground and grabbed Sasuke by the ankle. "Earth style: Headhunter jutsu."

She watched as Sasuke was pulled down into the earth until only his head could be seen. I guess it's my turn. There has to be away to defeat him. I don't think I'll be able to do it myself though, Naruto and Sakura would probably be able to distract him and lure him into a trap made by Sasuke while I got the bells. Yeah, it might just work. Smirking she created a clone and sent it off. They didn't have much time. Kakashi sensed his final pupil's presence resurface and ran to catch her.

Kagome jumped beside Sasuke and began to pull him out. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"I have a plan." She said once she'd gotten him out. "I need you to go find Sakura, I'll get Naruto. We meet back here, got it?"

He nodded and they ran in opposite directions. Kagome could sense Naruto at the starting point near the logs so she headed in that direction. Somehow the idiot had found a way to get himself tied to a post early. She rolled her eyes and checked for Kakashi before she moved out to get her teammate. Naruto didn't notice her until the ropes began to loosen. He turned around to say something but Kagome covered his mouth and signaled him to be silent and follow her. The four met back up in the clearing.

"Alright let's hear this plan of yours, Higurashi." Sasuke said when she arrived.

"Here's how this will work…." Kagome said with a small smile.

"Hehehe, alright, let's do it!" Naruto yelled.

Kagome and Sasuke nodded to each other as they all ran to get into position. The group had ten minutes left before they all failed, if she did this right she could guarantee three of them would move on while only one was held back. She tensed, her hands becoming fists at her side. Sasuke, who was several meters in front of her also hidden in the branches of a tree, gave her the signal letting her know Kakashi had met up with the other two.

"Shadow Clone jutsu," Naruto said as he began to move after his sensei. Every time he got close he would make a grab at the three bells. Finally Kakashi used a weak fire jutsu to get rid of the clones which got him to Sakura.

Sakura snuck behind Kakashi and stole his book. This had been her idea. When they had been trying to plan their attack Sakura was the only one they could not plan around. She did not have a great deal of strength, she knew only basic jutsu, and, as had already been demonstrated, no skill with genjutsu. But Sakura had come up with plan to steal his book to draw him to Sasuke. Once they were within range Sakura dropped the book and ran. Sasuke jumped down and began to actually fight their sensei.

Kagome tensed and prepare for her part. Once Kakashi was thoroughly distracted she jumped down hidden still by her mix of jutsus and came up behind him. She cut the bells of and jumped back. The other two came into the area just as she reappeared to give Sasuke the signal to stop.

"Time is up, you fail." Kakashi said out of breath from the surprise attack.

"You might want to check on that, sensei." Kagome said with a victorious smirk. "On for you," she dropped one in Sakura's hand, "one for you," Naruto, who jumped and cheered, "and one for you." Sasuke smiled and then stopped.

"What about you?" he asked.

Kagome shrugged. "I'll be fine. Unlike Naruto I can survive another year at the Academy."

"So you let Naruto out, huh?" Kakashi asked.

"Yep."

"That was his punishment for eating lunch early, maybe both of you should be tied to the post while the others eat."

"I'll be fine, I'm not that hungry." She smirked. "I ate breakfast. So, your verdict?"

Kakashi's eye turned into a 'u' and he smiled. "You all passed, even you Kagome, because you worked together. Who figured it out?"

The other three looked at each other. "It was Kagome's idea." Naruto said.

"I just learned from the others that going after you alone was pointless."

He smiled lightly. "Good job. Now tomorrow we start our real duties we'll meet here and head to get our first mission. Until then you guys are dismissed."

Kagome smiled and stretched as she prepared to leave. Maybe she could stay in a team for a little while longer. The others had gathered their things and were getting ready to leave when Naruto asked them to go get ramen with him. She was about to leave when Naruto caught her. "You wanna come too, Kagome?" She couldn't say no to his wide smile so she nodded and followed along.