"No thanks," you replied, getting up. "You should team up with Sakura instead. I'm not interested."

Without waiting for a reply, you stood up and headed for the tree where Naruto was tied up.

"So how did you get into this predicament?" you asked, watching his futile efforts with mild amusement. His face was contorted with the effort of trying to free himself, but so far all he managed to do was turn his face an alarmingly vivid shade of purple.

"Kakashi-sensei tricked me," he groaned, still struggling to reach the ropes with a kunai gripped so tightly in his hand that his knuckles were turning white.

"Here, let me help." You tugged the knife out of his grasp and slashed the ropes in one, well-aimed blow. Naruto crashed to the ground, falling into a heap on the ground below. He staggered to his feet, winded.

"Sorry," you apologized, helping him to his feet. Naruto flashed you a blinding smile and a thumbs up. You glanced around, looking for any sign of Kakashi.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" you asked.

Naruto shrugged. "When he finished lecturing me, Sasuke hit his body replacement with a bunch of shuriken. He's hiding somewhere."

Your eyes darted to the tightly clustered trees, searching the gaps between trunks and openings in the leafy branches for the silver-haired jounin. Every slight movement caused by the wind caught your attention, causing you to feel more and more paranoid. Kakashi-sensei could be anywhere, and you had to keep your eyes peeled.

"Kya…!" A loud, high-pitched scream pierced the air.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped, his arms flailing. He twisted around, spinning in a circle in an effort to locate where the scream had come from. Affected by his panic, your eyes searched the vicinity for a hint of pink tresses or the conspicuous red fabric of her dress. The lack of success made you realize the need to sense her chakra signature instead.

"Cover me," you told Naruto. He nodded and you closed your eyes, feeling the area around you with your chakra.

"She's not far, but I think she's unconscious," you noted, your eyes snapping open. You pointed into the woods and he nodded again.

"Let's go save her."

You laughed. "Sure thing. But I don't think she needs saving though. Kakashi isn't nearby, from what I can detect. She'll be fine for the moment."

It didn't take long before you and Naruto came across Sakura's unconscious body. She was lying in the middle of a blanket of dark green leaves, and the lighting in the clearing was unnaturally dim. Genjutsu… you thought, dispersing it with a quick seal and burst of chakra. Kneeling, you inspected her tightly shut eyes and flushed face with careful scrutiny. She didn't seem to be injured, from what you could gather. You gave her shoulder an experimental shake, and Naruto prodded her cheek lightly.

"I know!" he declared, after deeming both of your efforts futile. "Maybe she just needs…a kiss!" He began to lean forwards and you slapped his face away.

"That's not going to do anything," you scolded, giving him a firm shove. "Sakura will kill you when she wakes up. She'll come around on her own time."

Naruto looked sceptical. "Are you sure? Because I'm perfectly capable –"

Sakura stirred, her eyelids fluttering.

"Sakura-chan?" he whispered.

"Huh…?"

"Sakura, can you hear us?" you asked, shaking her shoulders again.

"Ah…!" Brilliant green eyes clashed with your own (e/c) ones, and hers suddenly widened in terror.

"Um, Sakura?" Your forehead creased as you gazed at her in concern. She sat up abruptly, gasping for breath.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. "Are you okay?!"

She leapt to her feet, her eyes darting wildly around the clearing as if searching for some unseen threat. Jarred by her defensive stance, you reached into your pouch for a kunai, ready to protect yourself from the would-be assailant.

"[Name], it's not that," she whispered, trembling slightly. "I just…I just…"

"What?" Naruto pressed.

"It's…Sasuke-kun," she whimpered, pressing a hand to her heart. "I…I saw him…his body…covered with kunai…covered in blood…" With that, her knees buckled and she slumped to the floor. Naruto caught her before she landed on the ground, but she shook him off impatiently. "I'm fine," she grumbled, shooting him a threatening look.

"It was Kakashi-sensei," you reassured her, watching her pale face in concern. "He put you under a genjutsu."

Her eyes widened. "But it felt…real. What a relief!"

"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan! Do you want to team up with us? Do you want to?" Naruto was bouncing on the balls of his feet as if he couldn't stand still. She gave him an icy glare which he seemed to have missed. "Do you want to?"

"Come on, we'd all do better if we all worked together," you wheedled, grinning slightly. She still looked hesitant.

"But if we all get a bell…" she muttered. "Then there won't be one left for Sasuke-kun…"

"You're way too optimistic," you joked. "We probably won't be able to get all three of Kakashi-sensei's bells."

Sakura still didn't look convinced. You could tell that she was still worried about Sasuke, and you sighed in exasperation.

"Look, Sakura. How about this, if we manage to retrieve all three of the bells, I'll give mine to Sasuke. How does that sound?"

She gaped at you for a long time. You weren't sure if you meant it or not, but it didn't matter. If it came down to it, you would keep your word.

"Oh, okay," she said finally, looking immensely relieved.

"Awesome!" Naruto crowed. "Let's go find Kakashi-sensei and kick his butt!"

You raised an eyebrow at him. "Literally or figuratively?"

"Both," he replied, eliciting a giggle from you and a scowl from Sakura.

"There's no time to waste, you two," she chided. "If we're ever going to get one of those bells, we can't stand around and chat all day."

"Yeah, Sakura-chan is right. Let's go," Naruto said, straightening up. "Got a plan, [Name]-chan?"

"Of course!" you lied, thinking fast. Sasuke was out there fighting Kakashi-sensei right now, you could hear it. If he was distracted right now, then it could be the perfect time to strike…

"Naruto, Sakura, let's go this way."

They nodded in synchronization. They trailed behind as you followed the noises coming from the distance. Hearing a strangled yelp, Sakura began to quicken her pace, looking frantic.

"They say the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down," you heard Kakashi say. Sakura let out an intake of breath and the three of you paused at the edge of the clearing. You peered through a small opening in the leaves and saw him. Signalling to the other two, you prepared to ambush your sensei.

He didn't expect all three of you to come at him at once, that was for sure. But he was very well prepared, despite this disadvantage. As you sprung out of your hiding spot, flanked by the others, Kakashi snapped his book shut and caught the first three incoming kunai with ease.

"He's fast!" you gasped, whipping out a second kunai. "Sakura – get behind Kakashi-sensei while I try to divert his attention to me."

She nodded determinedly, clinging tightly to her kunai. Suddenly, her face drained of colour and she swayed.

"S-sasuke…kun…" she whispered hoarsely. The knife in her hand clattered to the ground.

You stifled a poorly suppressed groan of impatience. "What is it, Sakura?"

She pointed a shaking finger at a dark shape behind Kakashi's back. Your eyes followed where she was looking. Sasuke's apparently decapitated head was sticking out of the ground a few metres away from your sensei. From the upturned dirt around his neck, you figured that it was just an Earth Release jutsu.

"Nothing to worry about," you assured her. "It's not so bad, you can dig him out later."

There was no reply. Concerned, you turned to look at her only to see that Sakura had fainted again. You slapped a hand to your forehead.

"Ack, Naruto…take over for her, will you?"

He gave you a small salute. "Hai, [Name]-chan!"

You grinned at him, then turned your attention to Kakashi. "Hey, sensei!"

He frowned as you positioned yourself, ready to strike. You threw your kunai directly at his chest, expecting him to dodge it. You rummaged through your pouch again, searching for a smoke bomb. In your peripheral vision, you could see that Naruto had almost succeeded in sneaking behind Kakashi's back. You tried to keep your gaze averted from his movements to avoid arousing your sensei's suspicions. Then you allowed the smoke bomb to detonate, and the purple-hued fog enveloped you and Kakashi, successfully obscuring his vision.

"Hi-yah!" Naruto yelled loudly, immediately resulting in the loss of the element of surprise. You couldn't see very well in the cloud of obstructive smoke, but when it cleared, you saw that Kakashi had Naruto pinned to the ground, his arms twisted unnaturally behind his back.

"You shouldn't advertise your presence like that, you baka. If I were an enemy shinobi, you'd be dead by now." He held the point of his kunai knife to Naruto's throat to prove his point. The alarm went off, and Kakashi casually slipped the kunai back into his pocket. As Naruto was in no immediate danger anymore, you turned to the currently unconscious pink-haired kunoichi.

"Sakura…Sakura! Wake up!" you pleaded, trying to shake her awake. She didn't stir, and her head flopped lifelessly from side to side. "Sakura!"

"She'll come around on her own time," Naruto said. You hadn't noticed him approach. He was peering over your shoulder, a look of concern in his blue eyes.

"How come I've got the feeling I've heard that one before?" you muttered as Sakura's eyes fluttered open.

Read Chapter 23, then return to this page.

"Sakura-chan! [Name]-chan!" Naruto cried, delighted. She tried to sit up, but he pushed her back down. "You're in no condition to move around," he scolded her firmly. You tried to sit up, but he pushed you down with his other hand. "And you're in no condition to move around either."

"I'm perfectly fine," you insisted, struggling to your feet.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Naruto, be reasonable will you? I just fainted, no big deal."

"No big deal?" Kakashi called over, sounding amused. "I suppose you three don't realize what predicament you're in?"

"What predicament?" you asked.

"We didn't get the bells," Naruto said solemnly.

You paled. "So…we fail? Kakashi-sensei, are you going to fail us?"

-:-

As it turned out, Sasuke inexplicably ended up tied to the log. And he was sulking.

"You don't seem to understand the point of this mission, Sasuke."

Kakashi's question was left unanswered, so he continued. "I seem to be under the impression that the others caught on. But you – you insisted on working alone, believing that the others would burden you. That is not the way of a true shinobi!"

Sasuke remained silent, fuming. In his head, he had already plotted out a dozen ways to kill his sensei. If only he would loosen the ropes…

"Don't you understand why you're in a group of four?"

Once he was free, he would wipe that arrogant smirk off of Kakashi's face. He would make him pay. He would –

"Are you listening?!"

Sasuke glanced up from his murderous brooding. "Hn…?"

"Teamwork!" Kakashi nearly yelled, startling you and Sakura. He had been so focused on Naruto's antics that he didn't realize just how annoying the Uchiha was until now. "If you had figured it out earlier, then I might have passed you."

Sasuke stiffened, giving Kakashi an icy glare. "You wouldn't dare."

Kakashi realized that he was probably right. For a twelve-year-old kid, Sasuke's killer intent was remarkably intimidating. "Then prove yourself," he stated, matching Sasuke's glare with one of his own.

"W-what do you mean?" Sasuke spluttered, at a loss for words for once.

"Prove to me that you're willing to work as a team with the others. Prove to me that you deserve to pass."

Kakashi waited. Sasuke muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

"What, Sasuke?" he asked, feigning insufferable patience. "I can't hear you. Speak up."

"I already tried teamwork," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "But she said she didn't want to work with me."

"Who?" Kakashi asked in a mildly curious tone, even though he already knew.

"[Name]," he replied stiffly, glancing at you with aversion.

"So?"

"You said…"

Kakashi sighed, knowing he would never get a proper response from him. He was much too proud. This would just have to do for now. "Fine. You pass."

There was no sigh of relief, no flicker of emotion crossed the young Uchiha's eyes. He merely gave the ropes binding his body a pointed glare.

"I suppose you want me to untie you?"

There was no answer.

"I can sense your aura of killer intent, so I would suggest you tone it down a bit before I let you go anywhere."

"Hn."

Kakashi sighed and walked over to the log, severing the ropes in a single swipe with his kunai. Sasuke straightened up and walked away, his head held high.

"We're starting our first mission tomorrow!" he called after the retreating Uchiha. Sasuke offered no response to indicate that he had heard. Kakashi turned back to the rest of the team who were still paralyzed with shock. He scratched his mask sheepishly. "So…all four of you pass, this time. As you heard, we'll be going on our first mission tomorrow. And…don't be late!"

Which one of the following applies to you, to a greater degree?

Missions shmissions, you’d much rather be spending your time elsewhere. You'll complete them if necessary, but it doesn't mean you like it. Go to Chapter 77.