The Words She Regrets

Sasuke reached at training ground zero at sharp 6:00 to find Naruto and Sakura sitting under a tree.

The girl looked very anxious. Naruto, however, was sleeping under the tree.

"Oi, Kakashi here yet"

Naruto snapped out of his sleep hearing Sasuke's footsteps. The blonde stood up and stretched out.

"No... It's already time and he's still not here"

They waited for 2 hours straight before Kakashi arrived. The white-haired man made some excuse like "I was lost in the path of life".

"So... Let's begin the test"

Kakashi pulled out an alarm clock and placed it on a boulder. He then again pulled two bells from his pocket.

"If you can snatch the bell away from me, you pass. The one who fails will have to go back to the Academy... You have time till sunset"

"W-What!? We just graduated! Why do we have to go back to the Academy!"

Kakashi glared at the Pink-Haired girl, which caused her to flinch.

"And there is only two bells"

"Yeah... So only two of you can pass"

Sakura's face became dreaded after hearing Kakashi's reply. She knew she was the weakest and her physical condition was worse, she was on a diet for... Sasuke.

"Well, let's begin"

Kakashi eye smiled as he took out a book from his pocket. He crouched on the ground to read it.

"Naruto., you take the right, I'll go left... Sakura, support from behind"

Sakura nodded hesitantly, she really wasn't confident as Naruto was on her team.

"Shadow clone Jutsu"

Naruto whispered as he performed a hand sign. More than twenty clones popped out. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and began to rush toward Kakashi.

5-6 Naruto's were behind Sasuke to give him support. Naruto charged into Kakashi, the veteran Ninja dodged and parried every attack of Naruto.

Shurikens and Kunais with explosive tags were thrown from afar by Sakura. When Sasuke saw that he was in range, he performed a series of hand signs.

'The sharingan!? And a fully matured one at that... There's no doubt he's Itachi's brother'

Kakashi's eyes widened from seeing Sasuke perfrom hand signs.

'There is no way he's going to perfor-'

A small tornado-like structure covered Sasuke's right knee, lightning flickered throughout his body.

Sasuke stomped his right leg on the ground, forming a small crater from the impact... Then there it was, the tornado like structure on his right knee traveled at breakneck speed to hit the ground.

Performing a double-impact on the ground along with lightning enhancing his speed and precision, in addition, the Sharingan helped him to see through speed like that.

When Sasuke was about to grab the bells, he could see that Kakashi was going to move his hips.

He used double impact on his elbow as a thruster to boost the speed of his grab. Sasuke was barely able to get the bell in time.

Sasuke blitzed past Kakashi. The White-Haired man's eyes slightly widened from witnessing what happened.

ʼWhat was that?'

That was the first time Kakashi saw someone use Ninjutsu like that.

Taking the opportunity, Naruto threw one of his clones toward Kakashi. The veteran Ninja narrowed his eyes as he popped the clone out of existence with a backhand slap.

"Kakashi Sensei, you see the bells anywhere?"

Kakashi's gaze automatically landed on the right side of his waist. The bells were gone!?

Naruto stopped his advance and the clones all disappeared. The blonde stood next to Sasuke who had two bells hanging on the finger.

The bells lit on fire and it melted away. Sakura also came from her hidden position. Kakashi just stared at the trio, dumbfounded.

He never thought they could pass let alone take the bells... But now, the Uchiha boy just snatched it.

Though he didn't even give his 50%, he wished he did.

'This kid'

"We pass, right?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah"

Kakashi answered Sasuke's question. The Uchiha smirked before sitting down at the ground.

"Now what?"

Naruto asked, swinging his arms in the air. The veteran Ninja cleared his throat before speaking.

"Hmm... We'll first do some D- Rank mis-"

"We passed the bell test, accomplishing it speaks the volume of our capabilities... Also, the bell we took was from the Copy Ninja himself, Kakashi Hatake"

Kakashi frowned, this Sasuke kid was really confident... Too confident.

'That confidence will shatter down if he experience what it is like to be a Shinobi by himself'

"Fine... We'll start with C-Rank missions then. I warn you, death can come anytime... That's the life of a Shinobi"

"W-What do you mean!?"

Sakura asked. She knew it, but still.

"What I mean is... If you are not determined enough to put your life on the line. Go back"

Kakashi stated coldly, it was for the kid's own sake. If he could prevent an unfortunate death of a citizen, then he would.

The girl already proved to be really fragile, her becoming a Shinobi would only lead to her potential death.

Sakura stayed silent, she wasn't sure what to say... Kakashi noticed this and decided to add a cherry on top.

"You might be also forced to take peoples lives"

Sakura's eyes widened. How can she end someones life!? Killing someone has never even crossed her mind even once.

"W-we have to kill!? But that's not right!"

"Look here girl, we are Shinobi, we do what we must"

Kakashi would sacrifice a hundred strangers life for one village citizen. His heart was rock-hard from his past experiences.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who lead her to become a shinobi in the first place. For the first time in her life, she asked herself: 'Does Sasuke even like me?'

Even after getting rejected, even though she knew he already was in love with someone, she couldn't back down.

"I'm not going back"

She mustered all her courage to whisper those words. Kakashi sighed.

"Well, I've told what I want... Now I can't forcefully send you back or anything"

Kakashi went on explaining the basic rules of the Shinobi lives. The way missions work and some other basic stuff.

"Well, that's all for today. We'll start doing missions from tomorrow. Good luck and goodbye! My precious students"

Kakashi body flickered, leaving the trio alone. Sasuke went to train with Lee and Naruto also went toward where he trained.

Sakura stood alone, she was confused.

"Why did I say that?"

The words that came out of her mouth were the polar opposite of what she was going to say.

***

"Why do I feel like I forgot something?"

Kakashi asked himself. What he forgot was to tell the dialogue and the small speech he wrote down about friends and teamwork.

The trio had passed from the moment they worked together, thus, they passed from the beginning.