Sumiko
Naruto didn't even wait for Kakashi to give the signal.
"I GOT YOU, CRAZY OLD MAN!!" he screamed, launching himself forward like a missile with no target.
Pfff.How cute.That explains why they always stuck him in the back row.
Kakashi didn't even bother taking his hands out of his pockets. With a single movement, he vanished and reappeared behind Naruto, hanging him upside down from a rope like a freshly caught fish.
"One down," he commented, almost bored.
Naruto flailed like an idiot. Sakura screamed. Sasuke barely blinked.
I took mental notes.
Speed, reflexes, movement technique.It wasn't just that Kakashi was strong.He was analyzing our reactions. Our decisions. How we performed under pressure.
He wasn't looking for talent.He was testing judgment.
"Well then," he said, freeing Naruto from the trap. "Do your best. You've got until noon."
And just like that, he disappeared into the trees.
Sakura ran to hide behind a bush.Naruto, furious, charged at him again, yelling his name like that somehow made him stronger.And Sasuke...
Sasuke vanished without a word.
I didn't move.
I stayed in the middle of the clearing, alone, unafraid of being seen.
Because I'd already figured out something they hadn't.
Kakashi didn't want us to take the bells.
He wanted to see who understood the real test.
So I sat down on the ground, pulled an apple from my backpack, and started eating.Slowly. Calmly.
If Kakashi was watching me from some tree nearby, then let him see this:
I don't play by rules I don't understand.
Five minutes passed. Then ten.
I finished the whole apple.
I heard shouting in the distance—probably Naruto falling into another ridiculous trap—a poof that sounded like a busted clone, and branches cracking. None of it alarmed me.
Not because it wasn't dangerous. But because it was already clear this wasn't meant to be a fair fight.
I'd read between the lines.
I was wiping my fingers on a napkin when I felt it.
I didn't see him. I felt him.The shift in the wind. The sudden presence, right at my back.
"Not planning to move?" asked a calm, raspy voice behind me.
I turned my head slightly, but didn't get up.
"Not sure I need to.Seems to me what you're evaluating has nothing to do with speed or strength."
Silence.
I knew he was watching. Measuring.
"And what do you think I am evaluating?"
"Obedience. Instinct. Priorities." I shrugged. "Also, I have a hunch this test has nothing to do with the bells, and everything to do with how we react to each other."
"Interesting theory." He made the bells jingle softly. "But if you don't try to take one… you can't pass."
I stood up, finally.
"And what if you're the bait?"
That actually seemed to catch him off guard. I didn't see it, but I felt it—that microsecond of pause.
"Explain," he said.
"Let's say you play the idiot, show up late, mock us, and throw us into an impossible test where three genin fight over two spots. Result? Distrust. Rivalry. Zero teamwork."I looked him in the eye, cold."And that, sensei, in a squad… is a recipe for dying fast."
The bells stopped.
"So you don't want one?"
"Oh, I do want one." I smirked. "Just not your way."
And without warning, I vanished.
A leap to the nearest tree. I activated a chakra suppression seal I'd prepared earlier (because in this world, paranoia is just strategy), and slipped into the shadows.
If Kakashi wanted to play... then I'd play.But not alone.
My objective now wasn't to catch him.It was to find Sasuke.
And force him to cooperate.
I moved through branches and leaves without making a sound, just like the ANBU who used to spy on the Haruno house every three weeks had taught me.
Yes, I knew. I always knew.A child who trains with kunai before the age of five tends to notice when she's being watched.
Kakashi wasn't following me. He was probably observing from somewhere high, waiting for me to take the bait of his "test."
Sorry, sensei. My soul's too old for that.
Then I saw him.
Sasuke.
He was crouched on a high branch, completely still. The Sharingan wasn't activated yet, but his eyes were sharp. Calculating. Like an animal either stalking prey... or trusting nothing.
I moved cautiously. Not enough to seem like a threat, but definitely not like a novice. Once at his level, I didn't even blink. I just spoke in a low voice.
"You're wasting time."
He didn't respond. Didn't even look at me.
"We're not going to win if everyone makes their move separately," I continued, settling on a branch across from him. "And you know that. Even if you play the lone wolf, you know it."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, finally looking at me.
"You here to ask for help?"
"Don't be ridiculous." I smiled. "I'm here to tell you that if you keep pretending to be a brooding badass, Kakashi's going to kick your ego so hard, you'll cough it up."
He scoffed, barely.
"So what's your plan? That we work together like this is some friendship lesson?"
"No. We work together because that's the real test."
Silence.
The air smelled like damp leaves and built-up tension.
"Think about it," I said. "He gives us two bells and three genin. Pits us against each other. What if what he really wants to see is who figures out that the only way to win… is not to play by his rules?"
Sasuke didn't say anything.
"Besides," I added, "Naruto's already fallen twice. Sakura's frozen in fear. We're the only two left with functional brains."
That earned a slight twitch of his lips.A smile?Or a mocking grimace?
"And if I betray you the moment he's distracted?" he asked calmly. "Then what?"
"Then I'll know you're not worth more than a bell."
That did unsettle him. Just a little. But I noticed.
"Your choice," I said, standing up straight. "Act like an Uchiha worth respecting, or stay here pretending to be superior while the real test slips right past you."
I turned to leave.
I counted to three.
And on the count of two, I heard him move behind me.
Bingo.