Sasuke's eyes fluttered, slowly opening. "Ahh..." He exhaled, looking at the sky above him. 'It's almost noon...' He thought and sat upright, supporting himself with his arms. Glancing to his side, he saw Sakura laying down, passed out. Sighing, he got up and made his way to the center of the training field where the wooden posts were.
Triiing!
The unmistakable sound of a timer echoed through the training field, stopping Sasuke in hia tracks. Sighing he looked up at the sky, clenching his fist. 'I'm still weak...' He thought and walked back to Sakura and shook her shoulders.
Seeing her eyes open in shock, he spoke, not giving her time to come to.
"We're late. It's over." His emotionless voice comes from his lips. He sneered at her. 'Useless...' He thought. 'She did nothing but fall prey to a genjutsu. At least Naruto had tried fighting.'
Standing up, he pats the dust off his clothes and walked to the katana laying on the floor. Picking it up, he sent it back into his inventory and walked off, leaving Sakura behind.
---
"There's no need for you three to go back to the Academy."
Sasuke's eyes widen at Kakashi's words as the three of them sat in front of the wooden pillars, listening to Kakashi speak. Naruto thrashed, having been tied to a pole by Kakashi earlier. "Then?!" Naruto spoke a single word and Kakashi nodded.
"That's right." He said. "All three of you should just quit as ninjas." He spoke, looking into each of their eyes as Sakura and Naruto started yelling, confused.
'What..?' Sasuke clenched his jaw in anger. 'All this? All the years in the Academy? For nothing?!' He punches the ground beneath him, standing up. "You know nothing!" He declared, glaring at Kakashi.
Rushing to him, Sasuke lifted his right arm to the left of his head, as if holding a blade, preparing to swing it at Kakashi, who frowned.
'What's he doing?' Kakashi thought, looking at Sasuke's empty hand swinging through the air.
Just as his empty fist came closer to Kakashi, Sasuke equipped Uchigatana and it materialized in his hand mid swing.
Kakashi quickly raised his arm to defend, his eye opened wide. 'What?!' The feeling of the blade cutting his arm shoots through his mind. 'I didn't feel any chakra used...' Kakashi thought, meeting Sasuke's glare with his own. Using his other hand, he grips the blade and plucks it out of his arm.
"You guys are nothing but punks." Kakashi spoke, kicking Sasuke to the floor. "Why do you think you were divided into teams under a Jonin?"
His words caused Sasuke's eyes to widen. "What..?" He muttered, pushing himself to his feet.
"It's because of teamwork." Kakashi spoke slow, looking at Sasuke before turning to the other two at the poles. "Which you guys severely lack." His words flowed like venom, sounding disgusted.
"But!" Sakura stood up, her arms spread out. "Even if we worked together! There's only two bells!" She raised a concern, not understanding the point of the test.
"That's the whole purpose of the test." Kakashi spoke. "It's to make you guys fight amongst yourselves... The test was to see if you guys could forget about selfishness and fight together for a goal." He spoke and glanced at the frustrated Sasuke at the side.
"Individual strength for a ninja is a must..." Kakashi spoke, turning around to some stone close by. "But teamwork matters most. The strength of three beats the strength of one... You see these names carved?" He asked, patting the top of the stone. "These are the names of ninjas recognized as Heroes of the Village." He explained and Naruto yelled out.
"Hey! I want my name carved in the stone!" He screamed. "I want to be a hero for the Village!"
Kakashi glanced back at Naruto. "These aren't normal heroes... These are heroes who fell in battle..."
His words instantly silenced Naruto.
"One of the names carved here was my friend..." Kakashi revealed and the training field descended into silence. After a few long seconds, Kakashi turns around. "I'll give you guys a second chance after lunch, but it'll be way harder than it was before."
Sasuke slowly made his way to the poles, deep in thought as he picked up his lunchbox.
"But don't give Naruto any lunch." Kakashi suddenly said. "it's punishment because he tried eating alone earlier." His words done, he vanished in a swirl of leaves.
"What?!" Naruto thrashed around. "No way!"
Sasuke ignored him and opened his lunch, absentmindedly taking a bite of the sandwich he packed. 'Does teamwork really matter..?' He thought, glancing at the two next to him. 'I need strength... My own strength... To kill him.' At this thought, Sasuke clenched his fist.
'I've been so caught up in the Lands Between and this bullshit that I haven't improved at all! At least I have a way to grow in the Lands Between...'
Grrrr! Naruto's stomach rumbled, the food next to him torturing the poor boy.
Sasuke sighed, calming himself down. 'Let's just become Genin first...' He lifted his lunchbox closer to Naruto's face, gesturing for the boy to take something. 'Hopefully our Jonin teaches us something...'
"What?" Naruto muttered, looking at Sasuke.
"You need it." Sasuke answered. "You need the strength for the upcoming test with Kakashi." He explained before Sakura also pushed her lunch closer to Naruto.
"Take some of mine as well!" She spoke. "That way Sasuke won't have to lose much of his lunch."
Naruto glanced at his two teammates, his eyes misty. "Hehe." He giggled with a smirk. "Thanks!"
Poof!
Kakashi appeared in front of the three of them, scaring them. "You guys!" He spoke loudly, his voice menacing. "Pass."
His words sent the three newly promoted genin into a spiral.
"What?!" Naruto spoke up, confused. "We passed?!"
"How?!" Sakura yelled, as confused as Naruto.
Kakashi chuckled. "You guys are the first... Other ninjas would just do what I told them to do, but a true ninja must read underneath the underneath." Kakashi's eye closed, as if he was smiling as he crouched down in font of them, lifting a finger.
"Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are scum..." Sasuke listened closely to his words. "But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum!" Kakashi declared, smiling.
"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed. "It's because they shared their food!" He came to a conclusion.
Hearing his words, Sakura facepalmed. "You idiot! You only now realize?!" She knocked him on his head as he chuckled.
"My bad..."
Sasuke looked at his bickering teammates with narrowed eyes. 'Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum eh..?' He thought and closed his eyes, sneering. 'Yeah right.'
---
Kakashi entered the Hokage's office, bowing slightly.
"Ah, Kakashi." Hiruzen smiled at his arrival. "The test's finished?" He asked, having an idea why Kakashi visited.
Nodding, Kakashi confirmed. "Yes, Hokage." Saying this, he placed some papers on the desk for Hiruzen to go through.
Picking it up, Hiruzen skimmed through it before placing it down. "So they passed..." He spoke, smiling before looking into Kakashi's eye, turning serious. "And Sasuke?" He asked simply.
Kakashi nodded, knowing what the Hokage spoke about. "He has a weird ability of materializing a katana without using storage seals or chakra from what I observed." As he spoke, he placed another page on the desk, which Hiruzen picked up, reading it through.
"As I've analyzed, he seems a bit stronger and faster tan he was in the Academy, while also giving off the impression of someone who's gone through a few fights..." Kakashi explained. "He doesn't come off as someone who graduated from the Academy two days ago."
Hiruzen nodded and placed the page down. "Anything else? Like where he went during the night?" He questioned, but Kakashi shook his head.
"No, sir." Kakashi answered. "I want to build some rapport with him so he could reveal it himself."
Hiruzen nodded. "Alright." Picking up his pipe, he spoke a last sentence. "I'm leaving him to you because you asked. Don't let me regret it..."
Kakashi bowed simply and exited the office.
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