"Sure, sure, I'll work with you," you agreed pleasantly. You figured it would unwise to say no, seeing as Sasuke was giving you an evil glare.

"What? What are you talking about, [Name]?" Sakura asked shrilly.

You glanced at her, worried that she would snap. Seeing her and Ino's friendship falling apart with your own eyes demonstrated just how territorial Sakura was regarding Sasuke. You didn't want to get on her bad side considering you've just been put on the same team.

"I…um, it's nothing," you lied, earning an amused look from Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun…?" Sakura asked.

"It's nothing," he agreed, his voice stiff and dripping with resentment. "Leave me alone, Sakura. I plan on getting one of those bells."

"Oh, that's really great," she said cheerfully, but you could see the doubt behind her façade. Sasuke didn't seem to care what she thought, because he stood up abruptly. It was clear from the look he was giving you that he wanted you to take a detour, to avoid more questions from Sakura. You got to your feet and headed off in the opposite direction, leaving her by herself. Sasuke caught up to you a minute later, his face set into a permanent-looking scowl that triggered your anxiety reflex.

"What?" you demanded, unnerved. It was uncharacteristic of him to show such an outward display of negative emotion and you wondered what had happened to make him act like this.

"Nothing," he spat, pressing ahead without a backwards glance. "Let's go get those bells."

You raised an eyebrow quizzically but decided not to push it. "So…what's the plan?"

"You, shadow clones. Me, Fire Release. It's obvious Kakashi is going to use clones and kawarimi, so during the attack, scout the area for the real one."

"If you just needed someone with the shadow clone ability, Sasuke, why didn't you just ask Naruto?" you pointed out.

Sasuke stopped walking and gave you dark glare. "I don't have much of a choice. He's tied up to the memorial stone right now for trying to eat lunch early."

Oh. You continued to make your way through the undergrowth in silence aside from the occasional rustling of leaves. In the distance, you could hear faint shouting and guessed that it was probably Naruto. Sasuke suddenly paused again and you stumbled over a tree root and fell to the ground.

"Watch where you're going," he said crossly, without turning around. "We're here. I can see Kakashi, so keep it down will you?"

"Got it."

-:-

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes at Sasuke's overly theatrical entry. For someone who valued the element of surprise, he sure didn't make the effort to keep quiet himself. Forming the clone seal, you darted to the left and proceeded to carry out your part of the attack formation.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," you muttered under your breath, producing several shadow clones in your wake. You dispatched them towards what Sasuke claimed was a fake Kakashi and staggered against a tree, exhausted. In your peripheral vision, you glimpsed Sasuke incinerating the other Kakashi into a pile of ashes.

"It's obvious Kakashi is going to use clones and kawarimi, so during the attack, scout the area for the real one."

Drat. You had almost forgotten. Closing your eyes, you allowed yourself to relax, searching the vicinity for Kakashi's chakra presence. You sensed a flicker of life, a faint chakra signature…

"Behind me…!" you gasped, alarmed. Discarding the original plan, you tumbled unceremoniously out of the bushes and out of range in case Kakashi decided to perform a jutsu on you. More specifically, One Thousand Years of Death.

"[Name]!" Sasuke turned when he heard your movements, the stream of phoenix flower flames issuing from his mouth sputtering and dimming before extinguishing completely.

"Sorry," you gasped, your eyes streaming from the clouds of thick smoke caused by Sasuke's jutsu. "Kakashi-sensei…snuck up behind me."

"Change of plans," Sasuke replied immediately, his dark eyes moving over the spot you pointed to. "Do you still have enough chakra for multiple shadow clones?"

You shook your head, not wanting to completely deplete your energy levels just yet. "I can probably manage a couple, but my chakra reserves are pretty drained."

He cursed under his breath, his eyes darting to the bushes again. "We'll stick to cornering him with weapons then."

"You should enlist Naruto's help," you suggested again, straightening up. "He has much more chakra than I do. He can probably pull off lots of shadow clones."

Sasuke glowered at you. "No time. Weapons, got it?"

"Fine," you sighed, opening your hip pouch and pulling out a handful of kunai. "You ready?"

"Hn."

Your eyes closed briefly, distributing your senses evenly throughout your surroundings to detect any trace of Kakashi nearby. "I can't sense him," you informed Sasuke.

"You baka, he's right there." He pointed into the dense cluster of trees, smirking slightly.

You blinked. "Oh, oops! I must've missed him somehow."

"Doesn't matter." Sasuke shrugged and slipped you a coil of wire strings. You took them in your fingers, unravelling the wires while tying them securely to your kunai knives.

"He'll use a body replacement," you warned him, tossing the kunai at the dark shape half-hidden within the trees. You gave a sharp yank, trapping Kakashi against the tree trunk with your wire strings. A moment later, he turned into a log. "Told you."

"Doesn't matter," Sasuke repeated, pivoting suddenly to launch a flurry of shuriken into the forest beyond the range of your vision.

"Impressive." You heard Kakashi's voice and you whirled around. "But not enough to defeat me."

Your sensei was standing parallel to the ground with his feet attached to the trunk of a tree – evidently employing the use of chakra control. He was still reading, you observed in amazement. He was also wearing Sasuke's shuriken on each of the fingers on his right hand, spinning them in an alternating pattern of clockwise and counter clockwise. Show off, you thought.

Unfazed by his failed attempt, Sasuke merely took a deep breath and weaved his fingers expertly through a sequence of hand seals. Puffing out his chest, he released forth a torrent of superheated chakra into a sphere of swirling flames. You shielded your face from the blistering heat created by Sasuke's fireball, trying not to gag as acrid smoke filled your lungs.

"W-what the heck?" you choked, as a heaving cough racked your body. "What was that for?"

Sasuke scowled in evident annoyance. "Nothing's been working."

"But you went too far!"

His scowl deepened. You guessed he was regretting asking you to work with him. "[Name], I'm not even going to be able to singe Kakashi's ridiculous hair, so relax, okay?"

"What was that about singeing my hair?"

You both turned to see Kakashi balancing on a tree branch, his flak jacket and the tip of his hair badly scorched and smoking slightly. You clapped a hand to your mouth, horrified by what you saw.

"Kakashi-sensei!" you yelped, your voice muffled slightly. "Are you okay?"

He responded by turning into a smouldering, half-burnt log. You stared at it for a long time, mortified.

"See?" Sasuke said, giving a low chuckle, surprising both you and himself.

"That wasn't funny!" you called disapprovingly, your (e/c) eyes searching the surrounding area for Kakashi's presence. You heard a quiet laugh coming from somewhere in the forest, and you knew that your sensei had heard you.

"Now what?" Sasuke's question echoed your own feelings. You shrugged your shoulders and closed your eyes, trying to gather your thoughts into an improvised plan. You pulled a kunai from your pouch, gouging a deep gash into the ground absentmindedly.

The alarm rang.

"Argh," you grumbled in frustration, driving the kunai deep into the ground.

"Damn it," Sasuke muttered, clenching his fists.

"Let's go back," you suggested, through gritted teeth. Sasuke gave a curt nod and followed your lead as you headed back to the main clearing where the logs and the memorial stone where located. You shivered as a gust of wind buffeted you body, whipping your hair into your eyes. You could almost hear Kakashi's laugh dancing in the breeze and you glowered at the floor in irritation.

-:-

It turned out, Sakura reluctantly ended up working with Naruto after she realized that Sasuke didn't want her to work with him.

"I was desperate!" Sakura had claimed frantically, but Naruto would hear none of it. He was ecstatic.

"The teamwork aspect was the most important part of this mission. That was what you were being tested on." Kakashi's eye curved, indicating that there was an unseen smile underneath his mask. "So…you all pass."

Naruto punched the air, beside himself with joy.

"So you're not going to tie any of us to the log?" Sakura asked, eying one with apprehension.

Kakashi shook his head. "You were supposed to look underneath the underneath. It doesn't matter if you get a bell or not, it's the teamwork element that determines whether you pass or fail."

Read Chapter 23, then return to this page.

"[Name]-chan, you okay?"

Naruto seemed to have read the answer in your eyes, because he didn't wait for you to reply. "I'm a ninja now, believe it!" he crowed, diving into his bento box with rampant enthusiasm. Kakashi held up one finger to stop him. "What is it now, sensei?" he whined, tugging the chopsticks towards him.

"You tried to eat early," he reminded him. "So you're going to have to endure your punishment. You can't eat until everyone else has finished."

"Come on guys, hurry up!" Naruto pleaded, gazing at you and the rest of his team beseechingly.

"I'm sure going to have fun with this," Sasuke said, a pleased smirk on his face. He made his point by eating agonizingly slowly for the rest of the afternoon.

Go to Chapter 73.