Natsumi glared at Kakashi. "Drop us from the program?" She hissed. "We won't ever be able to become ninja then! You said that if we couldn't obtain the bells, then we would be sent back to the Academy."

Sakura nodded.

"Yeah! You can't just change your minds and kick us out. We worked hard to get here! Why would you do that?!"

"Because you don't think like ninja," Kakashi answered. "You think like little kids—like brats." His hands were lazily on his hips. Sasuke grunted in anger and dashed towards Kakashi.

"Sasuke, no!" Sakura shouted as Sasuke aimed a strike at Kakashi. The silver-haired ninja just flips Sasuke over and sits on his back, with his foot on his head and pinning the arm he used to attack him with behind his back.

"You think it's all about you," Kakashi said. Sasuke grunts, struggling to get free.

"Let go of Sasuke! He isn't a bug to be squished around!" Sakura shouted and Natsumi just watched, looking a bit annoyed at Kakashi's comments. The Jonin looked at Sakura and Natsumi.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja," he said. "You think it's a game, huh?" His tone got slightly louder and more lecturing. "Why do you think we've put you on squads? Did you consider that question for a moment?"

"Uh, I don't know what you mean?"

"I mean, you never realized what this exercise is all about. Not even close." Natsumi scoffed.

"What it's about?"

"Yes, that's what determines whether you pass or fail." There was silence as the genin pondered what Kakashi meant. "Tsk. Use your head. Three people on a squad. Why do you think we would do that?" Natsumi sighed.

"How are we supposed to know why you picked three people? It's not like we made the rules," she said, looking to the side defiantly.

"It's so simple! Teamwork!" He said. The three stare at Kakashi, slightly wide eyed. They had to feel stupid now...

"So just... working together? Is that what you mean?" Sakura asked quietly, embarrassed.

"That's what I mean. It is too late now," he said, with an annoyed tone in his voice. "But if all three of you had come at me, you might have been able to take them. Well, anyway, it's over." Sakura stares at the bells.

"Wait a minute. You set it up with three people, but only two bells! If we were to work together and get the bells, only two of us could keep them and that would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up!" She exclaimed.

"Exactly. I purposely pitted you against each other. I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But you, it never even crossed your mind." He looks at Sakura, continuing on with the lecture. "Sakura, you obsessed about Sasuke who was gone, while Natsumi was right in front of you, and you wouldn't lift a finger to help her." Natsumi shrugged, honestly not caring.

'He's right, I guess,' she thought to herself.

Natsumi was walking through the forest, pale. She just had a banter and fight with Kakashi and he used a genjutsu on her. She hated genjutsus. They were one of her big weaknesses as well. As she walked and looked around, suspicious of her surroundings, she listened to the sound of crunching leaves. She was not paying attention enough to the ground because suddenly a rope wrapped around her ankle and pulled her up, making her flip upside down. Natsumi yelped in surprise and tried to get free to no avail.

'Damn! What's wrong with me? I always see something like that coming!' She sighed, now quite annoyed at herself and Kakashi.

She did not know how much time passed, but eventually she saw Sakura pass through, looking distressed.

'She is probably looking for Uchiha,' she figures. "Hey, Sakura. Over here!" She calls, trying to get Sakura's attention. She needed to get out of this rope so she could get the bell... she has already touched it so she fidgeted she would be able to get it next time. Sakura looked her way.

"Natsumi?"

"I need you to—"

"Do you know where Sasuke-kun is? I'm trying to find him," she said, maintaining her distance from Natsumi.

'Is she really just going to stand there?' Natsumi sighs. "No, I don't. Get me—" Sakura already jumped off. Natsumi groans in frustration and then sighs loudly. 'I'd probably do the same thing...'

Natsumi looked at Sakura and the pinkette avoided eye contact with her. She seemed to look guilty.

"Sorry..." Sakura mumbled. Kakashi looks at the blond.

"Natsumi, you do everything on your own." She shrugged slightly, looking away.

'He isn't wrong...' The only times she would ever let someone help her was if it was a crucial moment: like getting Sasuke to help her get out of the tree so she could get the bells.

"And you, Sasuke," Kakashi began, looking down at the Uchiha. "Thought the others were so far beneath you." Kakashi scoffs. "Arrogance" Sasuke looked enraged as he gritted his teeth together. "Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course, you each need your own unique set of skills. But you see, teamwork is the most essential part of it. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad, this can lead to failure and even death. For example..." Kakashi grabbed a kunai and held it at Sasuke's neck. "Sakura, kill Natsumi, or Sasuke dies." Sakura let out a yelp of surprise and quickly stared between Natsumi and Sasuke while the blonde just glared at Kakashi and Sakura. Meanwhile, Sasuke gritted his teeth, no longer struggling to get free as he felt the cold kunai against his pale neck. The panic was quite visible. "See? That's what happens on a mission." Kakashi removed the kunai from Sasuke's neck and the Uchiha and Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

"Whew, that was really scary..." Sakura mumbled. Kakashi spun the kunai with his finger.

"The enemy takes a hostage, and you've got an impossible choice which makes someone end up dead." Kakashi stops spinning the blade and puts it back in his pouch. "On every mission, your life is on the line." He gets off of Sasuke and walks with his back facing the three genin. His tone turned sad and more light. Sasuke got up, still enraged and walked back towards his teammates. "Did you look at this stone, the names engraved in it?" He walks over to the big, light gray boulder. "They are all ninja who are honored as heroes in our village. They are KIAs: Killed in Action," he explained. The three genin nod, looking slightly glum. That certainly created a sad atmosphere. "This is a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends are on here..." A few minutes passed and Kakashi looked back at the genin. "All right, I'm going to give you one more chance." He walks over to them. "But I'm going to make it much harder for you. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength. But Natsumi doesn't get any." The blonde let out a sigh of frustration. It made sense, she supposed, but it was still annoying...

Natsumi was back in the middle of the training grounds and sat down on a stone platform. She stared at the lunch boxes in front of her and listened to her stomach growling.

"A few bites can't hurt..." she mumbled to herself. She grabbed one of the lunchboxes and the pair of chopsticks that came with it. She opened the lunchbox and began taking several bites before she heard Kakashi's voice and saw his shadow looking over her. She quickly turned her head around to see him staring down at her with her arms crossed.

"Eating lunch, are we?" Natsumi paled slightly and in just a few swift moments Kakashi was tying her against the pull. She struggled against the rope but she of course could not set herself free.

"Let go of me," she demanded and Kakashi backed up.

"No can do. You disobeyed the rules and consequences must be met," he said and jumped off to most likely find one of the other genins

Natsumi huffed slightly in annoyance, but besides that, she was acting quite arrogant about it.

"It's your punishment for breaking the rules," he said, walking up to her. She rolled her eyes.

"I know!" Kakashi stares sternly at the other two.

"And if anyone tries to feed her, that person will immediately fail," he threatens. Sasuke let out a quiet huff, seeming to be annoyed and Sakura hesitantly nods, obediently. Kakashi stares at Sasuke, still sternly. "I make the rules. You follow them. Got it?" Sasuke finally nods and Kakashi does his usual eye smile. "Good! Enjoy your lunch." After saying that he jumps off somewhere and Sasuke and Sakura begin to eat.

Some time passed by and Natsumi's stomach growled. She looked off to the side, embarrassed. Sasuke and Sakura look at her.

"It's fine. I can go without food for days—weeks." She has been starved before—she can do it again. Her stomach growled again. Sasuke stared at her for a minute before handing his own lunch towards her.

"Here..." he said.

"Huh?" Natsumi stared at him.

"No, Sasuke, you can't do that!" Sakura said. "You heard what the Sensei said."

"Kakashi is gone," Sasuke countered back. "We need to get those bells as a team. If Natsumi is hungry she'll be weak and ineffective which will jeopardize the mission," he said and Natsumi glared at him.

"You're acting like I—"

"Dobe," Sasuke called and Natsumi glared at him, not liking his new name for her. Then again, who would?

"Teme, you—" Natsumi was cut off by Sasuke shoving a bite of food into her mouth with his chopsticks.

"Eat," he suggests—no, demands.

"But—"

"Here, Natsumi." Sakura held up her lunch towards Natsumi. "Think of it... as an apology for earlier," she said and smiled slightly at the blonde, seeming genuinely sincere. After a moment of hesitation, Natsumi nodded.

"Thanks..."

Sasuke and Sakura nodded. Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but then in a massive puff of smoke, Kakashi appeared, looking quite angry. Sakura leans back in slight fear.

"You!" Kakashi began and Sasuke leaned back as well, trying to evade the gusts of wind. "You broke the rules. I hope you're ready for the punishment." Kakashi began doing several hand signs and dark storm clouds began to appear above them, and only the crackles of lightning were their source of light. The ground began to shake. "Any last words?" The Jonin asked. Natsumi stares Kakashi in the eye.

"You said that there are three of us. That's why Sakura and Sasuke..." she trailed off.

"We're all in this squad, and we're all in it together," Sasuke said. Sakura stands up now, finding her courage.

"Yeah, that's right! We gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one!" Kakashi walks closer to them.

"'The three of us are one,' that's your excuse?" He leans forward, trying to intimidate them, but they say nothing and glare at him. He smiles. "You pass," he casually said and stood straight again. The three genin blink in surprise, confused. "You pass," he repeated.

"What do you mean? How did we pass?" Sakura asked with furrowed brows. The sky began to clear again, and the sun began to shine on them again.

"You're the first squad that ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said and fell into every single trap. They couldn't think for themselves. 'A ninja must see through deception.' In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are scum, which is true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." There was a brief pause and Kakashi untied the rope, setting Natsumi free. "The exercise is over. Everyone passes! Squad Seven starts its first mission tomorrow!" Kakashi gave a thumbs up at the three of them. Sakura grinned.

"Yes!" Sasuke and Natsumi just nodded. Sasuke and Sakura stood up.

"But, before we leave, let's take a picture!" Kakashi said, getting in between two trees and pulling out a camera, setting it in a cranny on a tree trunk. "Everyone huddle together!" They did and walked over to Kakashi. "Natsumi, get on my left. Sasuke, get on my right. Sakura, you'll stand in the middle, crouching slightly." The three nod and did that. Kakashi put his hands on both Sasuke and Natsumi's head. She flinched.

"What are you doing?" she hissed slightly. She could feel him lightly raise his hand up.

"Just recreating a picture," was all he said and pressed a button on the camera. Sasuke and Natsumi caught each other's glares.

Click

"Look what you did, Teme. You ruined it," Natsumi said.

"No, I didn't, Dobe. You did," Sasuke said, scoffing.

"Teme."

"Dobe."

"Teme."

"Dobe." As the squad began to walk home, this was the only topic of conversation they had. Maybe the two genin will be friends one day...

AN:

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