Chapter 7 – Help and ask for help

Summary: She was just a sickly girl back home, living her short life to its fullest. She was supposed to die, but she woke up in an entirely new world as a completely different person in a baby's body

A/N: I will be re-watching the episodes for the next chapters so I might take some time. Not too long though, as evidently, I'm kind of in a hype. Thank you so much for everyone who likes it! Please leave some reviews and give me some criticisms! I also need some ideas on how to proceed so feel free to give some suggestions.

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Sara was already up and about at 3 am.

Kakashi informed them to meet at the training grounds at 5. She thought of sleeping in and waking up at a later time instead because she knew that he would actually come really late. But Sasuke and Naruto would probably show up on time, the cute little minions they were.

So she decided not to leave her teammates in a terrible fate, and joined them in this ungodly hour. Although she actually had a worse fate because she needed to get up 2 hours before their meeting to finish her morning training routine.

After a quick bath and packing of breakfast, she dropped off her bag at the training grounds, did some warm ups and stretches, adjusted her weights to be heavier, then started jogging around Konoha.

She ran past her obstacle course (placed around Konoha in random secluded part of the woods) and did her katas, kicks and punches, focusing first on the still figures on the way, then on the moving figures triggered by her traps, all while continuing to rush forward.

She pushed through the stony path of the forest and hanged to tree branches, swinging herself across branch by branch. After doing that for a kilometer, she came across a clearing and leapt high, pulling out her wooden kunai and throwing it at her targets scattered around. Some targets were even behind a few trees and boulders, so she needed to throw perfect rotating curves.

There were many more obstacles she had to encounter before she successfully circled the whole of Konoha. But after she finished the complete circle, she only had 5 minutes to breath before she had to do it again. Everyday, she circled Konoha 10 times.

Her daily routine went like this. As an orphan, she didn't have a clan to provide her with private training grounds, so she used the surroundings of Konoha instead. It was very difficult because Konoha was insanely large, and circling it already took a lot of energy. Circling it with an obstacle course was extremely draining. Doing it 10 times was torture. Doing it 10 times with weights was downright deadly. Hinata could only finish 5, and she always cheated. She would skip some obstacles and use an alternate route across.

After many years of keeping at it, Sara could say that the pain of doing it never really lessened. Her body just grew to endure the pain more and more as time passed by. But it was worth it for her. In her previous life, she had always been small, soft, and pale. Now, she had hard muscles and no flabs. Her skin was lightly tanned from always being under the sun. She liked her lean figure and healthy body.

After her 10th circle, she finally finished and performed her cool down. She drank 5 bottles of water, and poured the 6th one over herself, cooling her skin with the fresh water. Only then did she walk back towards the training ground in a relaxed pace. She arrived at exactly 5 am.

She nodded to herself, grinning at the accomplishment. It was bad enough that she had to wake up extra early, but she also needed to circle the village 10 times before 5 am so she wouldn't be late. And she was successful in doing that too.

So while Naruto still had sleep in his eyes as he reached out sleepily and said his hello, and Sasuke was decidedly cool and calm, looking less angry than usual (he must be more peaceful in the morning), Sara could only wave a single hand then flop down on the ground with her arms and legs splayed out like a starfish.

Naruto gasped, his eyes snapping fully open. "Sara chan! What's wrong?"

Sara raised a finger, keeping her eyes closed. "Give me a moment. Let me breath for 5 minutes."

Naruto immediately crouched beside her, mouth shut but his eyes obviously worried. Sasuke stood over her head, arms crossed.

Sara sighed. "Why are you guys crowding me? Go away!" She put an arm over her eyes.

"Dobe will just keep walking around restlessly if you won't tell him what's wrong with you." Sasuke chided, his forehead creased.

Naruto scowled at Sasuke. Sara almost thought she heard Naruto mumble …."using me as an excuse..." But her ears were pounding so she wasn't very sure.

"Sara chan," Naruto slowly said. "You're drenched and sweaty. And you look beat up. Did someone fight you? Tell me and I'll beat him up for you!"

Sara weakly chuckled. "That bad? I set my weights heavier today." She blew air from her cheeks. "It's just my training regime. Don't worry about it. I'll be fine in a few. I'm circulating my chakra as we speak."

Sasuke's eyes widened a little. He twitched, but he crossed his arms and pursed his lips.

Sara rolled her eyes. "If you want, you guys can come join me tomorrow morning. I'll show you what I do."

Naruto brightened. "Really?! You really will? It's not a secret from us? You'll share it?"

"Why do you think it's a secret?" Sara asked, inclining her head at Naruto.

Naruto looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...you're always really strong you know. So...I thought you'd want to keep your training a secret."

Sara blinked. "I'm not super strong-"

Naruto snorted, playfully shoving her shoulders. "We know you are! Even when you fight us, you're holding back but you still win!"

Sara gaped at him. "How did you even know that I'm holding back?"

She wondered if Naruto was really perceptive after all. Then again, the original Naruto canon was pretty perceptive on small stuff, but he was dense on others. Maybe this was just one of the things he correctly picked up, because he was right.

But Naruto just grinned at her. "Iruka sensei mentions it. He said he couldn't grade you much higher because you weren't giving it your all. But he said you could get really higher grades if you wanted to."

"You gossip about me?!" Sara gasped, picturing Naruto and Iruka talking about their class in Ichiraku.

Naruto shook his head. "No way! Iruka sensei wouldn't talk about that. I just hear him grumble it when he watches you fight."

Sara sighed, slowly sitting up and massaging her neck. "Well, I just train a lot, that's all. So, you'll join me tomorrow morning?"

Naruto gave a thumbs up. "You got it! But...you don't really train so early...right?"

"No." Sara giggled. "It's just because our stupid sensei set such an early time for us." She turned to Sasuke and smiled politely.

"How about you? Will you join us tomorrow morning?"

Sasuke fixed his eyes on her, as if deliberating something. But he nodded.

Sara knew he was the one who really wanted to train with her. He was probably curious what she did since she always beat him. It was fine with her if they tag along, she didn't mind who joined her anyway. She knew that Naruto and Sasuke would get infinitely stronger on their own. But if they wanted to train with her, then why not?

"Oh by the way." She said, pulling bento boxes from her bag. "Do you guys want breakfast?"

Naruto immediately started shaking his head. "But but, Sara chan, sensei said we shouldn't eat or we will throw up!"

Sara laughed. "That depends on what we eat. Our future missions will always be strenuous. You can't honestly say that you will never eat before missions."

She tilted her head, raising a finger. "The key is to consume easily digested carbohydrates, so you don't feel sluggish. We should eat healthy carbohydrates such as whole-grain cereals with low-fat or skim milk, whole-wheat toast, of course without the fatty cream cheese, low-fat or fat-free yogurt, whole-grain pasta, brown rice, fruits and vegetables." She said matter-of-factly.

She opened her bento boxes. "I just have a few simple carbs so we have at least some energy. This shouldn't make us throw up."

Naruto's mouth went "O" as he accepted his bento. "Well...I guess."

Sasuke accepted his without a word, accepting her explanation.

Naruto hesitantly chewed on his, then his eyes brightened. "Damn, this is really good Sara chan! Did you make this?"

Sara smirked. "Nope. Hinata did. I visited her last night after our dinner. You can thank her later if you see her."

"Sure will!" Naruto said, grinning from ear to ear as he dug in his food happily.

Sara decided to stay near Hinata when Naruto comes later on so she could catch her friend after she faints.

After they ate, Sara stood up and did some stretches. She faced Naruto. "Hey Naruto, let's spar."

Naruto's eyes went round. "Me? You want to spar with me?" Sasuke stiffened beside them.

"Yeah. My objective is to cut you. You can attack and defend however you want though." She told him, pulling out a kunai.

Naruto jumped back, gawking. "Eh?! Why is your goal to cut me?!"

Sara smirked at him. "Relax. I just want to practice on my medical jutsu after. You'll let me try to heal you right? I'll teach you something cool later."

Naruto gasped in excitement. "Really?! Of course I'll help you Sara chan!"

Sasuke frowned at her. "Didn't you just start reading medical books yesterday?"

"I already got a good grasp on my chakra control." It was actually pretty easy for her. "It's just a matter of converting it into healing chakra. I don't have a perfect grasp on it yet. That's why I'm asking Naruto to spar with me. He...heals fast. In case I make a mistake, he'll just recover quickly."

Naruto visibly tensed. But he still smiled weakly at them. "...that's true. I...heal fast."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he trained his eyes on Naruto. Naruto bared his teeth at him.

Sara sighed knowing that they were about to go into a shouting match again. So instead, she crouched into her fighting pose. "Naruto, you ready?"

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"Wise men say

Only fools rush in.

But I can't help

Falling in love with you."

Sara sang in a whisper as she focused her glowing green hands on Naruto's cuts. Naruto was wincing slightly, but otherwise, he swayed his head to her song. Sasuke was leaning against a tree but he was watching her heal Naruto with interest.

Sara wasn't singing just for the heck of it. One night definitely wasn't enough to start converting her chakra into a repair and heal function. She needed to sing to manipulate both the chakra she was using, and Naruto's system to program itself into healing.

When Hinata offhandedly suggested the use of her voice in combat, she started experimenting and toying with the potential of it. She had no idea how to use it so it took her about a year or two to really figure it out. Mostly, she ended up singing and jamming because she just liked singing. But she saw the various possibilities of manipulating sound and soundwaves when she studied about it.

Normally, it could be done by manipulating Yin/Yang and Wind chakra-nature together to create a release allowing one to manipulate sound and soundwaves to their whim. But she was shocked to realize that she was able to release chakra through singing. She always knew that her singing was somewhat impactful, even in her old life. She always assumed that it was because she always sang from the heart. But she never thought that the impact of her singing here might be more than her emotional attachment to the song, but a real intrusion of the senses and manipulation of sound.

Hinata was right. Her song was welcoming to the senses because it's an amazing melody so it was usually accepted so openly by the receivers. Unlike other sound techniques, which usually intrude violently on the senses (making the receiver's head ache and bleed out their ears), her voice was a lullaby, lulling the senses into submission.

She planned on using this as her main artillery when she executed some of her plans to sneakily save lives. It was unexpected, and it was hers. She knew it was another gift from her past life, just like her somehow gifted brain.

This super powered world never failed to amaze her. Somehow, this world always made everything so grandiose. It was just singing to her, but the ninja world made it into a whole new weapon.

But regardless, she only really figured this out during their graduating year so she hadn't developed it yet. For now, she could make a person's system believe an illusion when she sang, kind of like a minor genjutsu. She deduced last night that it could be helpful while she was healing, like a placebo effect. She would make the person's body believe that it was being healed. And somehow, the person's system would work to fix itself. Mind over matter worked more effectively here in the ninja world.

Her hand kept flickering from green to blue, so she knew that she wasn't healing Naruto completely. So she sang to urge his body to do its job. And because it was Naruto with his super healing, his chakra circled around with her melody and healed his cuts cleanly.

Sara sighed in relief, sweat starting to bead on her forehead.

Naruto whistled. "Wow, you really did it Sara chan! The cuts are completely gone! No scar too!"

Sara shook her head. "Nah, that was half you. And I'm really not being modest about it." It was true anyway, she was just able to trick his chakra into doing the job faster. She vowed to study medical jutsu harder.

Sasuke stared at Naruto's vanished cuts and nodded his approval.

Sara rolled her eyes. "I'm serious you guys! I need to practice more."

"Of course you do." Sasuke agreed, looking at Sara with raised brows. "You only had one night of this. It was impressive enough that you pulled it off anyway, even if it was still weak."

Her lips twitched, glancing at Sasuke. "It might be more helpful for me if you let me heal you instead. Naruto has boosts you see." Naruto flinched at that, but she ignored it, hoping Naruto will realize that it didn't matter to her. "So if you would be so kind." She held out her hand to Sasuke.

She was only half joking of course. Sasuke wouldn't compromise himself like that. Not for someone else. But Sasuke stared long and hard at Naruto, who shrunk and looked away, before he looked back at Sara and nodded firmly.

Sara gasped as Sasuke knelt down next to her and cleanly cut his own palm. He held it out to her impassively.

"Mmmmm..." Hesitantly, she carefully held his hand and concentrated her chakra on her hand, focusing so she could convert it into healing. As she placed her glowing hand on Sasuke, he winced, but then he visibly forced himself to endure it.

Sara bit her lip. If it hurt, then she still didn't successfully convert her chakra. The conversion should also change the chakra's destructive force into a soothing one, making healing a generally painless process. She just hadn't mastered it yet, no matter her control. So she opened her mouth and started singing again.

"Like a river flows

Surely to the sea..."

Sasuke looked at her curiously as she sang. But she focused on manipulating his chakra. It took longer because it didn't have regenerative qualities like Naruto's. But she also laid it thicker by attempting to lull his senses into numbness, so he wouldn't feel pain anymore. She could see Sasuke relax after she did. Eventually, his system cooperated enough with her to really heal the cut.

After the cut finally vanished, she let out a huge breath she didn't know she was holding, and swiped at her sweaty forehead.

"Well. That took a lot out of me. It wouldn't be helpful unless I improve that."

Sasuke merely nodded. "No, it wouldn't." But he was looking at his completely healed palm with interest.

Sara blew from her cheeks, and put out a sealing paper. She carefully drew a chakra storage seal and attached it to her arm, the paper vanishing after she did. The healing really did take a lot out of her and she needed to circulate more chakra for the day. The seals she attached to her body always camouflaged with her skin after she attached it. It was a quality she added so she didn't look stupid with papers covering her body.

Sasuke eyed the vanished seal before speaking to her. "You said you would teach Naruto something...cool?"

Ahhh so this is the price of allowing me to try and heal him. Sara thought, amused.

"Something useful." Sara answered with a nod. "I'll show it to you too if you come with us tomorrow...if we pass."

Sasuke didn't answer. He turned away and went back to the tree he was leaning on earlier.

Shrugging, Sara pulled out some of her medical texts and pored over them again.

Only a few minutes had passed when Kakashi finally arrived.

Have we been waiting that long already? Sara thought in surprise. She didn't know that they already spent a long time sparring and healing. Kakashi was obviously late. The sun was already high up. But they didn't even notice it.

"Hi fellows. Good morning." Kakashi greeted cheerily.

"Sensei, good morning." Sara answered pleasantly, standing on her feet and beaming at her sensei.

Kakashi paused, eyeing the three of them. Well, the three of them look awake. Kakashi assessed, wondering why no one even complained on his lateness again. His students must be more patient than he thought.

With a sigh, he sluggishly walked to a tree stump and placed a timer on top of it. He made a show of setting it.

"Alarm set at 12 PM" He announced. Then he produced 2 bells from his pocket. Sara's eyes twinkled as she gazed at it. It was the famous bell test! Of course she knew that already, but it was still giddying to see in person. She bought 2 bells on a cosplay event before on her past life. Yep, she was a total fangirl.

Kakashi shook the bells, making tinkling sounds. Sara shivered with excitement.

"Today's topic is to get one of these bells from me." Kakashi made it tinkle again, probably taunting them. "Whoever can't will have no lunch."

Naruto gaped at him. Kakashi snickered at his expression. "I'm going to tie you there and eat lunch in front of you."

The three of them exchanged looks. Sara saw relief in the boys' eyes, probably grateful of their breakfast earlier as their sadistic sensei added this twist to their test.

Sara dutifully raised her hand. "There are only 2 bells sensei." She pointed out.

Kakashi eye smiled. "Since there's only 2, at least one will have to be tied to the log. That person will fail since he failed to complete the mission. The person will go back to the academy. It might be just one, or all three. You can use your shuriken. You won't be able to get this unless you have the will to kill me."

"Eh eh?! But that's too dangerous!" Naruto shouted, pointing at Kakashi.

Kakashi turned to him. "In society, those who don't have many abilities tend to complain more. Just ignore the guy with the lowest score. We're going to start after I say Ready start."

Naruto's face morphed into anger. But before he could pounce on Kakashi, Sara piped up. "Or he could just be more considerate because he wanted to have a good measure of what he needed to do."

Naruto paused, blinking at Sara. But a determined look flashed on his face. "Y-Yeah! That's right! That's what I was thinking!" He declared, crossing his arms.

Sasuke scoffed. "Sure. Of course that's what you're thinking, Dobe." His sarcasm was thick.

Naruto scowled at him. "You just wish you thought of it first, Teme."

"You didn't even think of it. Sara did."

Sara put a hand on Naruto and Sasuke's shoulder, pushing them away from each other. "Sensei, didn't you say we were starting?"

Kakashi's eyes gleamed. Sara knew that he thought for sure they would fail because of their awful team cohesion. She sighed, knowing that he might be right.

"We're going to start. Ready, start."

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Sara kept herself casually hidden on a tree branch. She could hide more effectively, but it really wasn't the point of the test so she didn't bother. She was practiced at stealing books from the library after all. She knew how to confuse her chakra with a few seals and redirect where it's located. But as it was, she sat calmly above, pretending to hide.

She watched the confrontation between Kakashi and Naruto. Naruto really was headstrong, he just bulldozed Kakashi, truly believing that he could kick the Jounin's ass. She giggled after Kakashi threw Naruto into the river with the thousand years of pain. Naruto's plan after was pretty brilliant, ambushing Kakashi with his clones from the river and holding Kakashi down from behind. She didn't think he actually looked stupid even after Kakashi replaced himself with a log. It was still a pretty active plan after all. But seeing his clones fight one another was still a sight to see.

Soon, Naruto triggered the trap after he tried to pick up what he assumed to be a fallen bell. He hung upside down with a rope tied on his ankle. Sasuke made his move, throwing several shuriken on Kakashi. But Kakashi only replaced himself with the logs. Thinking that he gave away his position, Sasuke turned tail and ran to hide again.

Sara, on the other hand, dropped down and walked towards Naruto.

"Hi, Naruto." She greeted, walking towards him with a smile.

Naruto looked at her upside down, grinning despite his position. Adorable baby Naruto. Sara thought, smiling wider.

"Hiya Sara chan!"

"Want a hand?"

Naruto paused, but he nodded as his arms helplessly flailed above him. Sara chuckled, jumping up and cleanly cutting the rope that held his ankle.

"Thanks Sara chan! You're awesome!"

Sara shrugged. She tilted her head. "So, want to tag team into getting the bells?"

Naruto blinked up at her, but he only smiled and shook his head. "I'll be fine Sara chan! I can totally take a bell myself!"

He thought I don't think that he's capable enough to get one himself. Sara frowned. "Maybe we can get Sasuke into cornering-"

"That teme can go back to the academy for all I care." Naruto cut her off, a stubborn scowl on his face. "Don't worry about me Sara chan! I'll get one bell, then you can get the other."

With that, he waved one arm and hurriedly sped off, trying to sense Kakashi.

Sara sighed. She could try harder to convince him. But he had to want it himself. She wondered why he was adamant on getting a bell independently. She was sure that if she was Sakura, Naruto would have teamed up with her. Maybe having this "idol" label on her made him feel like proving himself. Sara clicked her tongue, annoyed at the said label. She wanted to be invisible, not a hailed queen of their class. On the brighter side, Sasuke seemed morbidly curious of her. It made it easier to cajole him into hanging out with her and Naruto.

She leaned against a tree as she sensed Kakashi approaching her.

"Sara." He said behind her. Sara threw him a glance and smiled. "Hello, sensei."

Kakashi blinked at her. She's not even surprised. She must be chakra sensitive. It's a little advanced but that's a good thing.

Kakashi opened his arms. "Are you going to try now?"

Naruto already had his try. So did Sasuke when he threw his shuriken. But Sara just sat around. He was a little disappointed because he honestly expected something tricky from the mysterious top student.

Sara shook her head. "No."

Kakashi lazily inclined his head. "Ahh you do want to go back to the Academy then?"

The corner of Sara's lips twitched. "Of course not. It's just no use really."

"Giving up that early?" Kakashi asked, doing the hand formation for the genjutsu he planned to put her in.

Sara shrugged. "It's no use because I'm on my own."

Kakashi almost paused at that. Ah she figured out what the test is. Of course, nothing less for the brightest student of their batch. That's why she was offering Naruto help.

He casted the genjutsu. "Lesson 2, Genjutsu." He said. But Sara just turned around and brushed off the genjutsu as if it was just some insect, and she hopped away.

That wasn't an ordinary genjutsu too. Sara must have extremely good control of her own chakra to brush it off without it even entering her senses. Kakashi was mildly impressed. As it was, she was already hidden again. With a sigh, Kakashi walked back to where he knew Sasuke would be.

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Sara crouched down in front of Sasuke, his head the only part of his body visible because the rest of him was buried under ground.

"Need a hand?" She asked. Sasuke sighed but grunted his assent, looking away in embarrassment. She carefully dug him out, pulling out Sasuke's weight to get him above ground again.

Sasuke's brows furrowed and he turned away from her, unable to meet her gaze.

Sara sighed. "Want to tag team to get the bell?"

Sasuke threw her a cold look. "No."

Sara looked down dejectedly, inwardly exasperated at her proud teammates.

"It's just..." Sasuke continued, surprising Sara. She looked up, seeing his jaw clench. "It's not that I don't want.." He took a deep breath. "I can do it on my own." He finally said, glancing at her as if assessing her expression.

But she just stared at him, wondering what he was trying to say. Sasuke clicked his tongue and walked away, shaking his head.

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The bell soon rang.

Sara returned to the log to find Naruto tied down. He must have tried to steal the lunches like in canon. Sasuke arrived too and he had a glower on his face. He must be pissed that he didn't get a bell.

Kakashi came too, looking like he couldn't care less that noone got the bells. Naruto and Sasuke scowled at him.

"Your stomachs are growling eh?" Despite the secret breakfast she gave the two, they still spent some time wasting energy on chasing Kakashi under the heat of the sun, so the boys definitely looked famished.

"By the way, about the results of this training. None of you need to return to the Ninja Academy." He announced.

Naruto gasped, his eyes tearing up. Sasuke didn't react outwardly but he looked pleased with himself. Sara had a book open on her lap, and she threw glances at it while she stared at Kakashi.

Naruto beamed. "Does that mean that we three..."

Kakashi smiled. "Yeah, you three..." He paused dramatically. Sara rolled her eyes. "...should quit being ninjas!"

There was a beat of silence. Then suddenly, Naruto started flailing his feet and screaming. "Quit being ninjas? What do you mean? We couldn't get a bell. But why do you have to say we should quit?"

Kakashi shrugged uncaringly. "Because you three are just kids who don't even deserve to be ninjas. "

That was the end of Sasuke's patience too. He lunged at Kakashi in pure fury. But of course, that was just silly. One moment, Sasuke was running towards him. The next moment, Kakashi was sitting on Sasuke, twisting Sasuke's arm and stepping on his head. Sasuke twitched under him in anger.

Kakashi solemnly glared at them. "Do you guys think that being a ninja is easy? Why do you think we're training by breaking up into groups?" He exhaled heavily. "In other words, you three don't understand the answer to this test."

Naruto furiously struggled on his binds. "The answer?"

"Geez, are your brains empty? You don't understand why you're all in a group?" Kakashi growled.

"So what about three people in a group?" Naruto insisted, confusion on his face.

Sara sighed, turning the page of her book. "Teamwork."

Naruto's mouth dropped open as he stared at Sara. "S-Sara chan?"

"Cooperate with each other. The test was designed to put us against each other, that's why there are only two bells." Sara answered. Realization dawned on her teammates' faces, probably remembering the insistent hand she kept on offering. Naruto looked shocked while Sasuke gritted his teeth.

She wondered if team 7 would put through the test this time. In canon, they did. But she might have caused some changes. She hoped not. As much as she wanted to escape team 7, failing would delay the two. And that might be a drastic change she didn't want to cause.

Kakashi threw her a knowing look. But he nodded in agreement. "In this situation, we select those who prioritize teamwork before themselves. That was the purpose, but all of you were pathetic. "

"Naruto! All you did was work on your own. You dove head on without a thought, not bothering to consider what your teammates could help you with." Naruto flinched, knowing Kakashi was right.

"Sasuke, you assumed that those two were only going to burden you and did everything yourself. You are aggressive and inconsiderate." Sasuke's jaw set, and he glared at the ground hatefully.

"Sara..." Kakashi paused. "You knew the answer to the test. Why didn't you try harder to make your teammates do teamwork?"

Sara frowned. "But that would destroy the essence of the test. If I told them, then they would do teamwork because it was the answer to the test, not because they actually wanted to help each other."

Kakashi's brows raised at that. That was very wise.

"A test within a test then? That would risk your team failing though."

Sara shrugged. "I'd rather go back to the Academy and find people who would genuinely have my back. I don't want to fight on the field thinking that I could only force my teammates to work with me if a rule says so."

Kakashi smiled at her. "Well you might have a chance to find better people to work with then."

Naruto's lips trembled and he looked down dejectedly. Sasuke buried his face on the ground. They both knew that Sara had actually offered to help. It was idiotic to reject it. They knew Sara was the most skilled out of them, but they wanted to prove that they could do it on their own.

Kakashi then launched to his speech about missions and teams, and explained the cenotaph, the rock with the names of the dead heroes on it. Sara half listened and half continued reading.

Finally, Kakashi sighed. He considered the three of them. "I'll give you one more chance." He said. "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." Naruto winced, his stomach growling loudly in response. "This is punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat lunch early! If anyone feeds him, the person will immediately fail. I'm the rule here, got it?"

He gave them one last glare before he poof-ed away.

Sara and Sasuke opened their bentos.

Sara slowly ate hers, staring into the distance. This was it, she hoped they would pass the test. She considered intruding if the two still stubbornly refused to cooperate with each other. But she wasn't sure she should.

Naruto's fists were clenched tightly. "I'm okay, even if I don't eat." He shouted passionately. But his stomach kept growling. Sara wondered why he was so hungry, especially since she gave him breakfast earlier. His metabolism must be really fast.

"Okay..." He mumbled, depressed.

Sara looked up to find Sasuke looking at Naruto, a considerate expression flashing on his face as he stared at the hungry boy.

Sara swallowed quietly, fervently wishing that he would do it. His stare seemed to take a long time, but finally, he slowly lifted his bento towards Naruto. Sara felt like shouting in joy.

"Here." He said in a quiet voice. He met Sara's eyes and she gave him a bright smile. For a moment, it seemed like he smiled back. But Sara blinked and he was already looking at Naruto again.

"Don't worry, I don't sense him nearby. We three are going to get the bells together. It's only going to be trouble if you're hungry." He continued, as Naruto stared at him with a frightened expression.

Sara beamed as she also lifted her bento to him. "He's right. Here Naruto, I'll feed you."

Naruto's lips trembled, looking between her and Sasuke. He mumbled his gratitude and started eating with them. Sara and Sasuke both shared their food with him. It was funny to see Sasuke also feed Naruto.

Exactly after they eat the last bites of their bento, Kakashi suddenly appeared with a crash of thunder and a fume of smoke.

Sara wanted to roll her eyes at the theatrics. But she kept a blank face.

Naruto screamed in surprise and terror.

"You three broke the rule. Are you prepared for punishment?" Kakashi hissed. Dark clouds started to form above them. Sara stared at them in fascination. She wondered whether it'd be easier to learn the jutsu, or if she could make a seal to have the same effect.

"Any last words?"

Naruto's eyes were bulging. "But but! You said..! That's why these two..."

Sasuke crouched, preparing to strike. "That's right. We are a three man team!"

Naruto shivered but his eyes gleamed. "Yeah yeah yeah! That's right!"

Sara raised her arms and happily cheered. "Yay Team 7!"

Naruto and Sasuke both looked at their happy teammate. Then suddenly, they both straightened up, a smile under their determined faces. They looked ready to fight.

Kakashi smirked in amusement. It was obvious that they both look up to the lone kunoichi of their team. Iruka told Kakashi that Sara expressed her distaste for the team the moment he announced it. Kakashi knew that this was really the reason why they adamantly refused her help earlier. Sara was the strongest and the brightest in class. Maybe they wanted to show that they were competent too. It was probably thrilling to be teamed up with the mysterious popular girl, but it must have been a downer to hear that she didn't want them.

Kakashi was first worried that they might hold it against the girl. But it didn't seem like that. They wanted her recognition, just like everyone else in class, as Iruka mentioned.

It greatly dejected the boys when she casually mentioned wanting to find better teammates who would have her back. He watched their crestfallen faces as she rubbed it on their faces that she offered help, and they were simple idiots not to accept it.

Children. Kakashi thought, amused. Then again, Sara had this charm. She was completely unaware of it though, that's why people around her end up wanting to be friends with her, rather than jealously fighting her. If anything, people were actually jealous of Hinata because she got to hang around Sara so much. But Hinata was such a sweet girl that it was hard to hate her too. So people left them alone in the end, watching curiously from a distance.

Kakashi shook his head, crouching over the little kids. He took a deep breath and smiled widely, which stunned them.

"You pass!"

Sasuke and Naruto froze in place, warily eyeing their weird sensei. Sara just smiled contentedly, opening a book on her lap again.

Kakashi chuckled. "You pass." He repeated. "You three are the first. People I had previously were blockheads who just listened to what I said."

He cleared his throat and stared at a distance. "Ninjas need to think beyond the normal. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum. But those who don't take care of their friends are even worse than scum."

Naruto sniffed, tearing up again as he stared at his seemingly shining sensei. "He's...He's kind of cool."

Sara nodded enthusiastically at the side. "Kakashi sensei is the best!"

Kakashi shook his head, patting the girl's head, much to the girl's delight.

She's such a jolly girl. "The training ends here. Everyone passes. The 7th group will start doing missions starting tomorrow."

Sighing, he looked long at each member of his new team. Naruto, the determined idiot. Sasuke, the vengeful jerk. And Sara, the oblivious happy girl. Well, it could have been worse. Kakashi thought, resigned. But he smiled, knowing that this team had a great potential.

And with that, he poof-ed away again.

Sara dutifully cut Naruto's ropes and beamed at him.

Naruto rubbed the ropes' dents on his arms. "So so so! Wanna have dinner Sara chan?"

Sara apologetically shook her head. "Aw not this time Naruto. I'm off to bug Hinata." She paused. "Next time though, will you join the two of us?"

Naruto's eyes brightened, nodding eagerly. "Yes! That would be great!"

Sara grinned mischievously, already planning to pack ice and cloth because Hinata was sure to faint a lot again. Sara slugged her backpack on her shoulder. "Anyway, we're going to meet tomorrow for the training session, remember? Let's just have breakfast instead."

She turned to Sasuke, who was already walking away.

"You're coming tommorrow too right? I still have to show you the useful technique I promised."

Sasuke didn't even look back. But he said "Hn." She assumed it meant yes.