Operation Cooperation(2) (RR1)

'Oh yeah, the same old trap,' he recalled, impressed that not once in the anime did the trio question the logic of not eating before fighting.

"I will definitely....pass." Naruto boasted with reluctance while giving an awkward smile to Sakura.

Sakura tried to maintain a smile in front of Sasuke, not wanting to lose her face to him.

'I did not think that they would react like this.'

Unlike in anime, who truly did not believe Kakashi words due to bad first impressions, Sasuke's words made an impact on their mindset.

Not realizing Sasuke's recent change, they both knew his old personality and knew that old Sasuke would not be wary and say those words until it was serious.

Thus, both of their spirits were shaken up.

Thinking of their reaction, Sasuke decides to take advantage of it,"Hey you two, listen to me."

"Why should I?" Naruto said with his signature overconfidence before getting smacked by Sakura.

"Simple, the three of us go back to the Academy and return the protector we earned." pointed to his own protector to Naruto.

Naruto dislikes Sasuke, but not enough to go back to the Academy, so he calms down.

Sasuke grinned seeing them and wished OG Sasuke did the same as well.

"Do you know what exactly the test is about?" Sasuke asked both of them.

While both repeated the same thing Kakashi said, Sasuke shaked his head and corrected: "The test is about three things, collecting intel, making preparation and cooperation."

Both of them were confused, so Sasuke continued:"Do you know who he is other than being a Jōnin and soon to be our sensei?"

Both of them shake their heads.

"Do you know how he fights?"

Both of them shake their heads, while looking down at the ground.

"Do you know his habits?"

Both of them shake their heads, while looking down at the ground with pale faces.

"That is exactly why you guys are going to fail if I was not here." Sasuke insisted, believing the best way to make them listen to him.

They both nod, realizing they both would have lost protector earlier if Sasuke did not warn them, unaware he was just bluffing.

"So listen, first of all, let's first find out who Kakashi is first." Sasuke concluded while pointing at the Academy.

"While I do say that, the Academy teachers may not tell the full truth about him considering it is a test, at least that can give us a general idea to understand who we are fighting against and get a general idea about him."

Sakura nods, while Naruto hesitates to go there again.

Sasuke sneered inwardly, annoyed by the teachers' prejudice against Naruto who did nothing.

Only Iruka was a brother figure to Naruto, after 5th year, when he began to pay attention.

Hence Naruto never had a proper foundation of a shinobi.

However, Sasuke needs to teach him about them, so that he doesn't become the unbearable idiot that he was in the original.

***

"Kakashi Hatake... wait, let me check," Iruka assured in the teacher's room.

Naruto tried to go outside out of boredom, before being dragged by Sakura and getting smack in the head.

Sasuke gave zero shit and waited for Iruka.

"Okay, here is Kakashi Hatake."

"As he is Jōnin, Hokage forbids me to get access to it, so only telling the basics."

Sakura and Naruto anticipated Kakashi's weaknesses before their courage waned, after hearing he had failed 100% Genin teams which were higher than the average 66%, who unlike others, lost their resolve to be Shinobi again.

"Anyway, he is the strongest Jōnin our village has, known for being called 'Copy Ninja' who knows 1000 jutsu."

Then Iruka began to rant about his personality, who was rumored to be an asshole.

He irritates the Hokage and others by being consistently late and giving ridiculous statements during conversations. Additionally, he's known for reading adult novels in front of everyone, including children

Sasuke looked at Sakura who was already thinking of her plan B in her head, while Naruto tried to laugh it off, which Iruka noticed was awkwardly forced.

Sasuke was pleased by this sight, as they finally grasped the difficulty.

After all three left, they came back to the ground they were in earlier.

Seeing Sasuke composed, Sakura could not help but ask:"So, what should we do with Sasuke?"

She did not want to leave him, yet she knew the test was going to be extremely hard.

Seeing the golden opportunity, Sasuke maintained his poker face:"Since we got the intel, we should do the next step of the test, making preparations."

He continued:"First, each of us needs to know what kind of jutsu we each use."

"How is this going to help us?" Naruto questioned, finally making his baby steps for thinking for once.

"Do you know one of the tests tomorrow is called the bell test?"

"The rule is simple, there are two bells, if one of us gets one of them, he will pass."

"Wait, are you saying only two of us can pass the exam!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Not really, it was intentionally done to trick us, making us go against each other and lowering our chance to get the bell."

"It is a standard test done by all sensei."

"So if he has a 100% fail rate, it means if you hadn't said anything, we would certainly have been tricked by him like others and failed together, right?" Sakura said after realizing.

Sasuke nods.

"Though even if I told you, it does not mean anything, since the main reason it was done was to see our cooperation, however if we don't know what each other are good at, we will make a couple of mistake and still fail, hence telling each other jutsu first step we can take."

"Why should I work with you?" Naruto protested, clinging to his remaining pride, which amazed Sakura by his stupidity.

"Tell me, why are genin teams formed in the first place?" Sasuke questions, which causes Naruto to sweat, who falls to recall what Iruka taught him the other day.

"It is to teach teamwork early on so that we learn to cooperate and not to be a burden to everyone."

"If you don't learn it, forget becoming a Hokage. You can't even be Chūnin if you keep that stupid pride." which sounds ironic to Naruto as Sasuke was the most prideful in the class.

"I am not helping you guys because I care, I am helping because I hate people who do not take situations seriously, especially idiots like you, and perverted fangirls like her." he concluded while glaring at Sakura, who froze at his sight.