I am lying on the ever-so-green grass that is still a bit wet from the morning dew.
Is it weird to be able to enjoy wet grass? It's comfortable though. Especially in the summer days.
Shikamaru says it's gross.
Who cares about a bit of mud when you can feel the coolness on your skin?
The exudate of nature.
Nature's sweat? Or rather pee?
"You're early", Says a girly voice.
"Electricity is gone ....couldn't sleep", I say while bending my neck to see Sakura-san.
She is wearing a black Jersey with black tights lined neviblue and looks like a football player.
'Anbu" written all over her. This girl has some serious influence on life.
I'm in my usual.
"Wanna wait till Naruto comes?", she asks.
"For what?", I ask in return.
"For a team meeting, we have to figure out what Kakashi has in store for us and a plan to deal with it", she says hands on her hips bending to meet my eyes.
Emerald. Green Emerald eyes. I forgot to breathe for a second.
So innocent, yet so deadly it can be. Trying to kill me with suffocation huh? A new form of jujutsu?
"He is going to make us cut off one of us", I say with my eyes closed. Those green eyes are dangerous.
"Hmm?", there sits a confused Sakura beside me.
"It's a survival test. What happens on survival tests?", I ask.
"Might is right, the weak shall perish", Says a dreamy Sakura.
"By Madara Uchiha?", I chuckle.
She nods.
"He will probably give us some test that eliminates 1 or 2 of us while testing for something else under the table", I continue.
"Since it's a trio. If we can't figure out the actual test, we all fail", Says Sakura. She is lying beside me now. Turned towards me. I can smell her. It's night queen. In broad daylight. I love night queen flowers, though they attract snakes.
"But what if the survival test is the real one? Sasuke kun?" She asks.
"I guess one of us will fail", I say with a sigh.
Birds are chirping on the branches. The sun is up and giving radiance in all of its glory.
"Say...Sasuke kun. Who would like to keep in a team with, If you have to choose.....", mutters Sakura.
"Eh...?", that's an unexpected question.
"Sorry.... weird question...", she springs up.
I grabbed her by the wrist.
She raises her eyebrows.
"I .....Will drop out.",
"Huh?", Sakura is confused by the question.
"It has to be all of us. If it's not you and Naruto I'm dropping out", I say firmly.
I let go... Sakura pulls back and folds her arm on her chest.
"I...Will understand if you don't feel that way. But....I'm pretty sure Naruto will say the same thing", I say with a grimace.
"Understand what now?", Naruto has appeared out of thin air.
My soul almost left my body. Naruto is laughing
At me while holding his stomach.
I raised my hand to smack his ass....but didn't put too much force into it.
"Hei man...serious question. What if me or Sakura fail the test? ", I ask.
"Eh... what?? Isn't it like a team test? All of us have to pass", naruto asks.
"Work that pee brain man.... it's a survival test in the middle of the village, he is not gonna make us fight bears or tigers."
Naruto ponders for a second and with a "pat" smacks his fist on his palm. He has figured it out
But then his face fell at the realization.
"One of us might fail huh?" He asks.
"One may be 2 ...., no way to know", I say.
Naruto again fell silent.
"I will pass even if you guys fail, I'm not getting my ass kicked today", Naruto says firmly.
So it has come to this. Sakura is looking towards the ground.
"But....", Naruto continues. Scratching the back of his head he looks away.
"If it's not in the same team with you guys, I might as well try next year,", he says....a bit red in the ears.
Then he regains his grin.
"I'm gonna be Hokage even if I'm late a year", He says while pointing his thumb at himself.
Sakura is still looking at the ground. I smack his back....but lightly this time. He still snarls at me.
2 more hours later.
With a gust of wind and a swirl of leaves, Kakashi Hatake enters the scene.
He dangles the bells in his fingers.
" This is called the bell test. No team has passed in the last 3 or 4 years. You have till noon to take it from me. Those who will have the bell will pass."
There are 2 bells in his hands.
Naruto clicks his tongue.
Sakura is now holding her elbow with her other arm, her face hidden under her locks.
I'm maintaining my poker face.
"You are late, wanna explain that?", I say to break the tension.
Kakashi swirls the bells by the finger and straps them to his hips.
" maa....had to help an old woman around the roads. Can't ignore someone in need", he says with his signature "upturned eye" smile.
"And I will be taking your lunch boxes, no eating until I say you can", he says while twirling the boxes on his fingers.
Oh....when did he steal those?
####
We reach the clearing of the forest that is training ground 09.
We walk in silence.
Unlike the canon, the situation is already revealed and we know what we have to do.
And it is not simple.
At least not for Sakura.
I am inclined to think that Sakura-san is in a hurry to pass or is under some kind of pressure. Hence, her mood at the revelation.
Welp....so much for being a big sister.
If her intention is what I think it is .... then there is fat chance that we will pass today.
Maybe I'm just not trusting her and letting my thoughts run wild.
I look at Naruto.
He is grinding his teeth angrily and hasn't snapped at Kakashi like I expected him to. Maybe my years of smacking him on the back have made a lasting impression on him to keep cool in dire situations.
I wouldn't call this situation dire though. Disturbing at best.
Kakashi stops in the middle of the open field.
The wind howls and leaves flatter.
"Begin", he says nonchalantly.
R&R in his posture, not a single defence, eyes that don't seem to recognise us even as a person let alone a threat, looking far away.
Yet, you can't find a single opening.
I grimace at the site.
"You're on", I tell Naruto.
"About time", he says.
Naruto staying true to the canon charges forward.
Sakura is absent. She is already hiding.
I grabbed his arm and whispered, " Can't trust Sakura".
Naruto frowns but nods either way.
I want her to be on my team, there is no doubt about that. Hell, who wouldn't? She is talented, top of the class, discreet. But if she stabes us in the back, that's the end of it. I would rather fail than have a traitor in the team.
After all that talk, lunch together, playing Uno together.....I can't even trust her. Is the bond we shared through Uno didn't mean anything?
And from the looks of it, even Naruto thinks that.
I can't imagine what is going through his mind right now.
But the grin doesn't leave his face. That's the one thing that was painfully plastered to his face by the very hands of villagers that his father died to protect.
A smile that looks painful. A persistent response to the disdain of the villagers. Kill 'em with kindness.
He is made a ninja out of the very society.
Naruto spins the kunai on his finger,
"Still I'm gonna help her pass!", he says. And charges ahead.
I sigh.
I wish I could say she felt the same.
With duton, I proceed to hide like a mole.
I imagine myself with the face of a mole.
It helps to concentrate.
That is what the librarian told me. What was his name again? Gundam? Grammar?
With a spyglass made out of bamboo, I look at the ongoing drama. Can't miss this one.
Naruto runs up to him screaming With Kunai let me remind not holding backwards.
Holding Kunai's backhand is the dumbest thing I have ever seen.
If you do that a person can easily block it and then overpower it. It's simple math. You never get enough leverage holding it like that.
Like how Naruto is doing right now.
First, he went for the throat which was swiftly avoided, since if Kakashi grabbed his arm Naruto could pull out another and dual wield.
Naruto backs away quickly, cause It's Kakashi we are talking about if he grabs his wrist, he will either dislocate it or use it to pin him to his back... which I usually do when we spar.
Naruto throws a shriken which Kakshi just catches with his fingers.
At this moment Kakashi is feeling smirky.
But I can see the smirk on Naruto's face.
Yeah....those shurikens are sticky. It's a thing we decided to do when fighting a superior opponent who likes to play with the enemy.
The glue in his hand stuck hard and it definitely had his attention. I move towards the fight underground
Naruto gets in for the second time and this time he swings low. Kakashi isn't really bothered by the ² shuriken, his left hand is more than enough to beat Naruto. But the slight discomfort is what we need.
Kakashi almost grabbed him but he again jumped back at the last second.
But Kakashi is faster.
He dashes at lightning speed and gets behind Naruto.
Attempts to smack him on the head or grab him.
But as if Naruto has eyes on his back rolls forward.
Kakashi raises his eyebrows at the action.
"I see you have good instincts, Iruka must be pushing the kids pretty hard", he states. Looking down on the short kid.
Yeah....Naruto is rather short of the bunch.
Naruto brushes his thumb on his nose.
Opens his mouth to comment but doesn't. Don't let your enemy pull you into a conversation. That's what they do to distract you or rile you up.
I don't know, it seems that Kakashi has kicked Naruto at some point. I couldn't see it.
The only proof is that Naruto is disarmed. His hands are empty. Wrist bruised.
He jumps up to pull out a Brazilian kick.
Kakashi dodges it, although he seems a bit amazed. Not a standard taijutsu.
So far Naruto hasn't been using any standard academy moves. So, Kakashi even if not fazed by it, is a bit curious. Which would explain why Naruto is hanging in there. Well, beggars can't be choosers.
I unsealed my support weapons underground and attached them to traps. Hope that they will help me.
But I need a bit more clear shot. Or, maybe I'm just waiting for something else to happen.
In this case, Kakashi again is behind him.
Naruto this time has no idea since he disappeared right in front of him.
Then Kakashi pulls out the ultimate jutsu.
I turn on my sharingan to copy it.
He enhanced his fingers with chakra.
Inserts then directly into Naruto's anus.
For a second there I see a weird cascade of Chakra inside there. Which surprisingly causes Naruto to lunge forward and fall into the river.
Oh....fuck....! There is a major Tanketsu deep in our abdomen. One of the deep tonkatsu that is always in the same place no matter the individual.
If Kakashi, pushes or blocks that Tanketsu point precisely, he can make Naruto completely immobile. If pushed hard enough may even cause crippling conditions.
This should be a Forbidden Jutsu.
Oh wait. ...in the scroll, there was a Sword art that describes pricing deep tanketsu using katana.
It was used to exterminate a Jashin prophet.
Kakashi is no way....this is impossible.
Of course, in his lifetime of gaining the name of Kakashi of the Sharingan, has seen a lot of enemies, I wonder what kind of enemy is required for him to invent such a technique.
Well, my turn.
I spring out of the ground to grab Kakashi by the ankles. Which I miss, didn't expect him to get caught since I absolutely made sure this was the real him. Not the clone that he made after Naruto fell into the river.
As jumped back I also jumped up following him.
I swing my axe and throw it towards him.
He twirls midair and dodges it. I had hoped he would grab it...he he he he !!!!
As we land on the ground, I pull the wire attached to the axe and pull it back.
As he has eyes on his back, he dodges the backward throw too.
"Tch!", I clicked my tongue.
"Maa....your friend there really had some peculiar moves....let's what you got", he says with dead-fish eyes.
I form a stance with my axe.
He brings up his fingers into a rem seal.
And he just brings out the [not the orange book] but the green book that I gifted him.
"Kakashi sensei", I call.
His eyebrows raise ever so slightly.
"Get serious....", I command.
I activate my Sharingan of 1 tomoe.
His eyes widen at the sight.
"If you don't wanna die", I dash forward with all the speed I could master and spin mid-air with the axe.
Metal clashes metal. Sparks fly from my axe and his kunai.
I pull the string on my left thumb.
Another hidden axe from the ground flies towards me, which I catch and swing at him from the opposite direction.
He blocked it.
With the book.
He fucking blocked it with the book.
He twists his kunai-holding hand, which comes on top of my handle. and lunges forward, attempting to cut my knuckles off.
I saw it coming, so I let off both axes.
"Kai!!!" I scream. With a rem seal.
The explosive tag? No....fucking TNT inside the handles ignites with the explosive tags.
The shock wave even pushes me backward.
Birds fly away, the forest shakes like a shy girl.
The dust cleared.
It's a mud wall that is almost crumbling.
It flops down. A harmless Kakashi is in view.
He had enough time to predict what was going on and cast a duty to block it, all while not even activating his Sharingan. Should've put more explosives inside them.
He sighs and flops the dust off his vest.
Proceeds to continue reading the books.
I shake my hand and another axe is summoned.
With a smile, I slowly walk towards him, while spinning the axe.
Change hands, twirl it, spin it while slowly walking towards him.
He is pretending like he is not looking, but he is.
That duton was desperate. I can see that in his jutsu.
Naruto is up. He is out of the river and is right behind him.
I throw the axe at Kakashi, which he dodges again.
But Naruto catches it.
The burning sound of gunpowder and bright sparks flying off of Naruto's axe.
He is doing a Kamikaze attack on Kakashi.
Kakashi's eye bulges.
With a desperate attempt to subdue the attempted Kamikaze attack that might kill his pending student, he lashes forward and grabs the axe dropping the book and kicking Naruto away.
Alas, that axe is a dud. Also, Naruto was a clone.
The real Naruto jumps up with a roundhouse kick.
He receives it.
But no its a clone. Clone of Naruto that was replaced by Kakashi.
When did he? During the explosion? I couldn't see it with my Sharingan.
Shit, fuck... I blindly relied on it...while fighting someone like Kakashi.
Fuck...he is behind me.
As soon as I turn around I receive a backhand.
And a kick.
Hard on my stomach.
He seems angry. That is understandable. I stumbled on my feet.
Kakashi goes for a spinning kick to finish me off.
But Naruto falls in and blocks the whole brunt of it.
The force causes him to stagger to the side. And as he stumbles, gets caught by a trap and hangs from the tree upside down.
I'm bleeding from my nose.
Which I siphon and spurt it towards Kakashi's eyes.
He swats it away. I swung my axe, which looked like a vain attempt at attack by a stunned enemy since it was widely out of range.
But it reaches him.
The bicycle chain that I made extended and missed his nose by millimeters. How the fuck .....!!! Nothing works on this guy.
Oh....!...I see...He has his Sharingan out.
Oh my....yes....!...I did it...I fucking did it!!!!
He promptly pulls his headband down.
I grine. The blood in my mouth makes my teeth red.
Kakashi has furrowed eyebrows, and a face, of discomfort when meeting someone crazy.
Did I have that kind of impression?
Oh well....!
I'm having difficulty breathing.
The air is stuck in my lungs I think?
But I can't back down.
I take a stance as I shake both my hands and 2 daggers appear from the ground.
I feel my face twitch. My scars are pulling my face.
Am I....?....am I smiling?
With a mad smile, I rush forward.
Kakashi with his kunai .
We do a few exchanges.
Being short of breath, I can't put too much force into it.
Kakashi blocked and parried my attempts effortlessly.
In the end, a kick slips through and throws me back. I could see it. But the force and speed were a few times more than what he was using previously.
Again on the ribs. I cough up blood.
No... I yet... I'm not done yet. I have so much to show. I have...
"You are done", Says Kakashi grimly as if he read my mind.
I quickly get up.
But he was already behind me.
A karate chop to my neck.
I stagger. But not down. I train with 70kg on my neck every fucking day. I have the thickest neck muscles among the kids.
"That ain't enough to put me down Sensei!!!", I scream and turn my flexible back at the man with abnormally sharp turns, which I acquired through years of training and yoga.
And I stare.
I cut his palm. Just a little.
I cut Kakashi Hatake.
My eyes roll and my nose is blue. I can't breathe.
Kakashi with a scoff wiped the little blood that was drown from the cut.
I wish I poisoned it.
Then he lunges for a finishing punch.
A black flash and pink.
Sakura blocks the punch and bursts a smoke bomb.
Picks me up like a Sack of potatoes and runs.
Bolocks! That could've been a perfect moment to grab the bells.
Instead she.....
I flop down on her back.
Lights out.
#######
Sakura pushes her Chakra into my lungs and a slight stab in the side chest with a Senbon.
Standard procedure for traumatic pneumothorax.
Unlike us, Sakura kind of has a Bungi cap, instead of a headband which hides her pink hair.
How the hell did I see pink? Illusion? Hallucinating?
I cough.
Sakura pets my back.
The usual smile on her face.
"Naruto ?", I ask.
She shakes her head.
I sigh.
Not only did we fail the first encounter miserably we lost a teammate.
Kakashi could be said holding Naruto Hostage right now.
I open my mouth to say something.
But she touches my scars on the cheek.
"Rest, darling!", she says.
I flop down like the obedient boy I am.
"I will go get Naruto", then she vanishes.
I had to say something. I owed her that much.
Why is it that I can't?
Is it my ego? When did I start having an ego?
I am a humble shinobi. I am not an asshole.
Yet, I can't come to terms with the fact that my teammate chose to save me instead of looking out for her gain.
Naruto was right to trust her. He always seems to see the good in everyone.
And I..... I'm not like that !!!
I punch the ground.
I spring myself back up and slap my face.
Wake up Sasuke uchiha. This is no time to whine.
I may not be the real one. But I'm still strong.
I push myself on my feet.
Jumping up the tree trunks, I proceed to chase Sakura.
She should be at the site by now.
But I don't see her.
Must be hiding somewhere.
Kakashi is nowhere to be seen.
Only a dangling Naruto and a pile of bento a little far under a tree.
I sense Sakura san's chakra. She is approaching Naruto.
Too bad, Kakashi already has her under a genjutsu.
A striking scream.
I don't know what Kakashi made her see.
But she is curled up on the ground crying and scratching at her throat.
That's a reaction I wasn't expecting her to have.
She is not losing consciousness that's a relief, but her current condition isn't any better.
Kakashi has a rope, he is gonna hog tie her.
Oww.....!!! What do I do? What the fuck do I do?
I can escape with Naruto right now. I can work better with him.
But, if I don't save Sakura now, something within me will die.
Meh! Naruto can handle himself. I'm just gonna focus on an Anbu-trained girl, that just happened to be downed by a genzutsu. Unless she has some kind of Ptsd I would say she is faking it.
Kakashi is contemplating. Why?
Sakura is on the ground hyperventilating violently gasping for air.
Oh, man! She has PTSD.
I rush ahead.
Grabe Sakura and look her in the eye cast the strongest sleep genjutsu I can master.
Sakura falls asleep.
On the other hand, Kakashi is standing there dumbfounded. But he regains himself quickly.
Puts the Icha icha back into his pocket.
I click my tongue. Didn't want to use it like this.Desperate times.
I channeled my chakra into a seal that was on my wrist.
Before Kakashi can approach me, his pouch begins to emit smoke and then bursts into flames.
He quickly throws away his pouch which explodes into dense smelly smoke.
I pick up Sakura and run.
Yeah....I booby-trapped the Icha Icha novel I gave him.
He couldn't figure it out cause, the drawing had bits laced with chakra inks.
When put together it makes an explosive tag.
And the smoke is just the paper laced with Potassium permanganate. When dry it smells like one of those new prints but when burned it will make a bad smell.
Using that smoke screen I leave the scene.
Gotta hide her.
Sakura moans on my back.
A shiver travels down my spine.
I never heard a girl moan before.
Okay, let's tuck her away. Since she won't be getting up soon.
I will put on a genjutsu and hide her under a tree.
Leave a note to rendezvous when she wakes up.
Suddenly the ground beneath me vibrated.
We have been discovered.
A pair of hands comes out and grabs me by the ankle.
Oh!...my god...I have been waiting for this.
I touch my index and thumb. Completing the circuited, that is strapped to 30 cadmium batteries on my chest.
A high-voltage shock is generated at my feet, and the hands touching me are also electrocuted.
"Br rrr re re re rer re re!", my mouth rattles like a wooden doll.
It seems that my circuits were damaged from the kicks that Kakashi gave.
So, I myself am electrocuted.
My hands and feet are numb and about to go lights out again.
In my blurry vision, I see a singed smoking Kakashi rising from the ground, like a zombie. But mostly unharmed. But the look on his face....priceless.
Should've put more voltage.
Fuck.
Lights out.
#####
I wake up on the ground.
Sakura is up and putting a bandage on my burned stomach.
She is in her usual smile. But....rather dark.
She doesn't say anything.
"I know it's annoying, but what about Naruto?", I ask.
"He is caught stealing food. And no it is not annoying Sasuke kun", she says with a wry smile.
"Oh....Good...I guess times up", I say.
"It would seem so", she says. Finishing up the bandage.
The alarm bell on the tree stem rang.
The test came to an end.
#####
We sat cross-legged in front of him.
Naruto is tied to a tree.
"Ideat!", I curse.
"I was hungry, teme!" He curses back.
"If you were should put some rations in your pocket. How many times did I tell ya?", I say with a sigh.
"I can't put Ramen cups in my pocket, you idiot", he screams.
I continue to sigh. This much sighing in one day is gonna shave off my lifespan.
"Well I'm, not gonna fail you ", Says Kakashi.
Here it comes.
Naruto flails in joy.
"We all pass? Huh? Sensei?", he screams. Why do feel like he is always screaming? Because of the shock earlier.
Kakashi leans forward. His burned jacket and a bit of singed hair are visible.
"No... I'm gonna drop you off the program ", he says ominously.
I chuckle. So that's it then?
Suddenly, there is a black and pink flash.
And Sakura is at Kakashi's face with a kunai.
He easily subdues her and puts her on the ground.
An angry, growling pink monster is now on the ground. Emitting blood lust.
Oh my ....she looks scary.
Suddenly her face softened. I guess she saw my face. Fuck me and my face with no control.
Sakura is looking away. Or maybe she saw Naruto? I don't know.
"Why do you think, you guys are trained in the Academy for 6 years? Put in a team, that is selected with so many considerations. Why is that?", he asks.
"It's so simple, yet your kids don't understand it, in a battlefield, your enemies will use your lack of knowledge against you and will cost you everything, and by everything is an understatement".
He looks at me. With angry eyes he says," Sasuke Uchiha. In the first hours of battle, you teamed up with Naruto while not even considering what Sakura might be capable of. Or maybe you did consider it. Just expected that it will be used against you and Naruto? Is that it?", he says angrily.
Oh my, I didn't think,...now that you think about it, it was kinda obvious.
"How Ironic is it that she endangered herself twice to save you!", he says.
As he lets go of her.
Sakura stands up. Her eyes are not visible.
Naruto is glaring at me. Yeah...I know.
Kakashi throws the bento at us.
"Eat and regain strength. Then come at me for one last time", he says.
"And Naruto doesn't get any food. He betrayed you guys by trying to steal them. If you even think about helping a traitor, that will be instant disqualification, you can't trust him", he says.
I see a depressed Sakura and a glaring Naruto.
I open my bento and put them on the ground.
I get up and do a full dojaga in front of Sakura.
She is confused.
But not flinched or moved. She just stands there unmoving.
"I sincerely apologize for my behaviour Sakura san. For not trusting you", I say with the most humble voice I could master.
She is still silent, hands tightened in a fist.
Is she going to punch me?
Naruto is bowing his head.
"I thought we could get those for you ourselves, Sakura chan!", Naruto tries to explain.
"But...I guess it turned into something like not trusting you. Sorry Sakura-chan", he says.
I raise my head.
"If we want to get those bells, we need to work as a team, who can completely trust each other, please Sakura Chan. One last chance!", I beg.
Sakura gets in front of me on her knees.
She pulls me up and touches my scars. Her usual smile back.
She gets back up and looks down at the ground while holding her elbow.
"I too didn't think that you guys could get those bells. So, I kind of thought of watching you to assess what Kakashi has in mind for us. I ...used you.", she says while holding down her shaky voice.
Naruto is gaping in his mouth.
"But you came and saved me. Also went out for Naruto", he says.
"I didn't go for Naruto...I went to get the bells on my own", she has a shaky voice.
"Still you came to save me. That time was the perfect moment to get those bells, yet you chose to save me, Sakura-san", I firmly say.
She is silent.
I get on my feet.
"Come on Sakura-san. We can still do this", I say.
But she doesn't respond.
Suddenly Naruto perks up.
"Sakura chan!", he calls.
Sakura doesn't budge.
"Can you trust us, now that you know we are strong?", he says.
His tone has changed. Not the Naruto I know.
"One last time, Sakura Chan. We will never break your trust. Ever. Even if it is something we can't win., we will stick together, even if we fail we will fail together. If we die we will die together. How does that sound Sakura Chan?", Naruto says firmly.
I look in awe at Naruto. Where is this dude coming from? Who is this guy? How does he change into a rizzed-up dude all of a sudden?
"You promise?", She asks with a shaky voice.
"We promise", I and Naruto both say in unison.
I'm gonna ride it.
For now.
She raises her face, tears creating an ocean, threatening to spill at any moment.
"What did she do to deserve this" is written all over it.
I am the asshole. Even though I thought I wouldn't be one, I am one anyway. Why? Is this a Conon event?
She approaches Naruto with a smile,
She blinks and a tear slips through.
She pets Naruto's head.
"Sunshine, Sasuke Kun is supposed to say things to me like that. I will fall for you instead, Naruto", she is crying.
"Oh! Sorry, I'm supposed to be the little bro huh?", Naruto says with a grin.
Sakura has wide eyes.
"You sneaky little.....!"
She pinches Naruto's nose. But not angry.
A loud stomach growl could be heard.
"Oh! Are you really hungry? Naruto chan?", she asks with concern.
"Oh no no...you guys can eat, gonna need it", he says.
"It's okay Naruto, Kakashi's not here", she says.
Sakura opens her bento and proceed to feed Naruto from it.
Naruto like an obedient brat munches on the food.
Sakura wipes his mouth with her sleeve and continues feeding him.
Look at the brat not a care in the world, tied to a post-eating omurice like it's the most normal thing to do.
So, what happened is...
Sakura didn't trust us to hold our ground with Kakashi to team up with us and proceeded to get those bells for us. On her own.
Naruto teamed up with me to get the bells for Sakura-san.
And I Didn't trust Sakura and proceeded to cut her off as a traitor indefinitely. Wanting the bells for myself and Naruto.
I'm the villain here.
I wanna cry.
I just wanna gonna home and cry for a bit.
I'm gonna go to my mom's grave and dig another hole beside her and sleep there.
In the cold, silent grave.
I will drop off the program. Yeah....I don't wanna be a ninja anymore.
A pointy thing pinches at me. A chopstick is in my face.
"Eat up , Sasuke kun", sakura san says.
I obediently eat the folded omelet. My eyes are stinging.
I hide my face with my arm. Hiccups threatened to come.
"Ehh...Sasuke kun!? Wha? Naruto....is he crying?", she asks in astonishment.
"Yeah....he is like that. The guy cries a lot, just leave him be, he will come around", Says a smug Naruto.
"Hei...I haven't cried in like 3 months, now! Fothhh!!! , I scream. A vain attempt at regaining my honor, that was stupid.
But the guilt and despair just keep on attacking my throat and hiccups seem to just jump outta my mouth.
I hide my face in my arms. Trying to calm down.
"Hei hei...Sasuke kun...hei...look at me....its okey. We are gonna get the bells together. I promise", Says with an amused voice.
The hiccups don't stop and her voice is not helping
She pulls my hands apart. Damn, she is strong.
And looks at me.
Her green emerald eyes stare right at me.
She cups my face in her hands.
"I forgive you", she says.
Okay.... okay...
I calmed down.
Then she feeds me a fried sausage.
It's delicious.
In the end, I take up my bento and start eating on my own.
"Sakura-san", I call while eating, still sniffing.
"Hmm?"
"You are a good person", I say.
"Ara....arigato", she says.
"But I'm not. I'm an asshole", I say while eating.
"No you're not", she says.
"No, he is an asshole", Naruto adds.
"But I will change, Sakura-san. I will become strong. So strong that no one will mess with you or me or Naruto. Nobody will make us this miserable", I say while eating.
Sakura looks at me.
She finished eating herself and is now looking at me while cupping her face on her knees.
"You are cute just as you are Sasuke Kun", she says with a chuckle.
I look at her ....one last hiccup escapes my throat.
"Okey....I won't drop out", I calmed state.
"You were thinking of dropping out?!!!!!!", both of them scream.
Heck, I was thinking of digging a grave for myself.
Let's not say that.
With a gust of wind and a whirl of leaves,
Kakashi Hatake enters the scene.
Like a grimace reaper entered the premises the sky darkens and it gets cold.
"You broke the rules, I hope you are ready for punishment ", he says grimly.
Sakura comes before me with her kunai drawn.
Her chakra flared a crazy amount of killing intent.
So, is Kakashi's by the way.
"But we are one squad, we have to have each other's back", Naruto blurts.
"Yeah....we are in this together ", I say.
Sakura just growls at Kakashi like he is the worst and most vile pest on the planet.
"You won't touch my boys!", is all she says. It's like an open threat to end his life with no goals.
Kakashi is taken aback by Sakura's words.
But still manages to stay grim.
"So, you are a team and you acknowledged it now? After all this time?", he asks.
"Yeah.....", I say.
His frown turns upside down.
"Then you all pass", he says with a smile that is palpable even through his mask.
Naruto is dumbfounded,
Sakura grips her kunai tighter, not trusting his words.
I maintain a wry smile.
The skies are clear.
The wind settles.
"It was a test to remind you that, among teams, no matter how talented or coordinated you are, trust must be maintained. You never abandon a teammate, even if it's for their good ."
He looks a the clearing sky and says," Those before you did exactly as I said and failed", he stated.
Sakura still isn't calm.
"Those who broke the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum, remember it as the first thing I taught you as your jounin sensei", he says with a smile.
Sakura calms down. Naruto is happy, I am relieved, and everyone is happy.
I take my bag and look for another brown package.
And give it to Kakashi.
"Sorry about the last one!", I say.
"Ma ma.... it's water under the bridge. By the way, that was a nice strategy. Could've won if you used it correctly", he says while checking the book.
"like many others you used", he says.
"Don't worry, it's not rigged", I say with a chuckle.
Kakashi looks at a picture and laughs like an old man.
Naruto looks away.
Sakura faceplams.
Way to kill the mood.