Pass or fail survival test

My alarm clock woke me up at 8:00, I was drowsy but it wasn't too big of a problem.

My feet walked me through my routine, I was up all night creating a new seal. I had made a prototype a week prior but I figured it would come in handy during our 'survival exercise'.

It was a series of seals I put on my Kunai, they were hidden under the handle wrappings. Kakashi wouldn't be suspicious if a 'fragile little civilian girl' missed her target. All I needed was three Kunai, the triangle was one of the strongest shapes.

The only time I would need to use 6 sealed Kunai would be for an extremely strong foe, such as someone on par with a Jinchuriki or Tailed beast itself.

I tugged on my hair, the long pink strands ended near my wrists, I kept my hair long for 2 reasons. The first reason being that long hair would add to my 'fragile little civilian girl' act, The second reason being that I could whip people with it like Jiraiya.

I however had a fail-safe, It took an extremely long time and a lot of concentration. The seal would activate if someone other than me pulled or held onto my ponytail. If an enemy pulled my hair it would poison them with the same strength as botulinum toxin. However it had no cure as it was made from my seals work, technically a poison from out of this world.

I finished off my outfit with the kunai pouch which I strapped to my right thigh. The feeling of the metal against my leg comforted me in a certain way.

Pulling out the meal I made the night prior I left the house munching happily on my breakfast.

It was only 8:30 and I was sure Kakashi and the others would be waiting for me. I couldn't help but smile, how the tables have turned.

—----------

"Hey Sakura-Chan, what took you so long huh?!" Naruto jumped up and down, Kakashi next to him narrowed his eyes.

"Maa Sakura, It is inappropriate for a Shinobi to be late. If you will not take this seriously I suggest you go back to the academy" I was appalled, How could a man like Kakashi speak in such a way to me?

"HEY, YOU WERE-"

"Well well well, look who's talking Kakashi, If you are going to spew such shit, I suggest you follow them yourself ne?'" I grinned maliciously at him, Kakashi pasted that fake eye crinkle smile on his face.

"Maa, I guess you got me there Sakura" Kakashi scratched the back of his head.

The man headed to a clock that rested on a nearby stump, He pressed the button at the top which started the timer.

"Okay, It's set for 12:00, Today's assignment is to take these bells away from me by noon" Kakashi pulled out a pair of bells connected by a string. He held them up for us to see, the bells chiming as they bounced off each other.

"Those who can't do it won't get lunch, They'll be tied to that.." The man pointed at the stump with the clock on it.

"And I'll eat my lunch before your very eyes" He finished, the gleam in his eyes told me that he was rather amused.

Naruto groaned and gripped his stomach as a loud growl escaped from him, Sasuke had a pained look on his face. I smiled, I had eaten my breakfast despite the suggestion from Kakashi.

"Humm.... There are only two bells, and since you said it's a secondary test to weed out the weak I am guessing one of us would go back to the academy, But due to the fact that teams must consist of three people or more in some cases... This is a test of our teamwork. However you never considered that anyone would ever figure this out, Isn't that right Kakashi-Sensei?" I was risking a lot by saying this, but a part of me wanted to prove my worth to the team, to show I'm not the dead weight.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, I barely caught his expression as that fake smile was pasted on his face again.

"Maa you catch on quick Sakura-Chan" Kakashi's words were a hidden message.

You catch on too quick for a civilian

"Yes, I am a paper ninja Kakashi-Sensei, That's what Iruka-Sensei told me"

Don't underestimate me

Kakashi nodded then exhaled, he seemed to be thinking of a new plan of action.

"Very well, We will continue with the same plan, this time, whoever does not get a bell will not be included in any missions for a month" This was no empty threat, However it was still a test of teamwork...

"Come at me with the intent to kill.. Otherwise you'll never get your hands on these." He continued.

"But you weren't even able to dodge that chalkboard eraser!" Naruto laughs with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Those in society, Those who don't have many abilities tend to complain more." Kakashi referred to Naruto, I couldn't help but giggle at the look on Naruto's face.

"We are going to start when I say 'Ready, Start'." Kakashi explained, When Naruto finally realised that Kakashi was referring to him, He sprung up with Kunai in hand to attack. Kakashi stepped his attack and grabbed his head and hand, Twisting his arm until the Kunai was now pointed at the back of Naruto's head.

It was oddly quiet, even the sound of Sasuke taking a step back was muffled, The emo's eyes widened, His guard was up.

My feet rooted to the ground I was standing upon, I left myself open for any attacks, Kakashi never said start.

"I never said start... but you came at me with the full intention of killing me... How do I say this.... I'm actually starting to like you guys" Kakashi said with an eye crinkle smile.

He let go of Naruto and pushed him towards us.

"Get ready.."

Naruto and Sasuke tensed up, either to hide or run head on into a fight, I however could do the Shunshin, better known as the 'body flicker', It was a simple D-rank jutsu that would switch myself with an object. If you were able to swap yourself with a living being it would

considered a C-rank as not many people could do it. To swap yourself with a living being would require chakra control in the 80 percentile or more.

"Start" I disappeared in a swirl of dirt. I wonder why it has never been done before in the TV series. When Kakashi disappeared in swirls of leaves it kinda gave away where he was going. However there is dirt everywhere and a spot in the corner of the training grounds was the perfect spot. I suppressed my chakra and stayed hidden in my little corner. It was like a simple game of hide and seek. I heard the screech of Naruto signalling that the 'Supreme Secret Konoha Technique, A thousand years of death' had landed its mark. I slapped my hand on my mouth, almost finding it impossible to not laugh. It was my turn to appear and attack Kakashi, I didn't want to shunshin and waste my chakra early on, while I did have more than what I needed I still didn't want to risk it.

A large swirl of leaves appeared around me. A foreign chakra signature entered my system.

'Genjutsu'

I scoffed and held up a half tiger sign 'kai'. As if a D-rank jutsu was enough, if Kakashi had read my file he would've known that I was rather intelligent.

I continued to the open part of the training field, I tripped on something on the way there.

A loud groan was heard as I pushed myself off the ground.

"What the hell" I rubbed my forehead, there was a red mark that was sure to go away in a couple of minutes. I stood up and looked around, where did the groan come from?

It sounded as if it came from the ground...?

I blinked.

Sasugay blinked.

There was a few seconds of silence before I broke it with my loud laughter, at this point I was rolling on the ground laughing. If I could hold back my laughter for the 'Thousand years of death' I could let it all out over this.

Sasuke looked angry- No he was pissed, I guess being beaten wasn't on his agenda. I searched my pockets for a very nifty item. My portable camera, I had spent a lot of money on this invention, Camera's are just starting to come out now in colour. I snapped a photo of Sasuke in the ground and smirked.

"If I'm going to help you out of there you're going to join me, I am going to get Naruto as well." I stood there with my hands on my hips. I wasn't going to argue with him, it was a take it or leave it offer.

Sasuke seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding slowly, the scowl on his face only grew.

The only way I could get Sasuke out of the ground was to either use an earth jutsu or try chakra enhanced strength. Tsunade level enhanced strength, I didn't know how to do either but I didn't really have an option. I concentrated my chakra into my leg left, feeling the warmth engulf my leg. I stomped on the ground, finally releasing the chakra when my foot hit

the earth. A small tremor caused me to lose my footing and fall over as a crack the length of my arm split the earth apart, it was enough room for Sasuke to stick both his arms out. I grabbed his right arm and pulled him out.

"Hn" Sasuke looked at me with an incredulous look on his face, I couldn't help but smirk.

"Do you have my money?" I questioned him. He knew that I won fair and square.

Sasuke scowl dropped as he searched his pockets, He pulled out a couple lone shuriken but no money.

"That's going to be 200% interest heheh" I couldn't wait to get my hands on that money, considering that things in Konoha was relatively cheap that 20,000 would go a long way.

I mean everything I have on me including my weapons, sealing paper, medical supplies and even the clothes on my back only cost around 600 ryo, I guess that ryo was worth more than Japanese yen.

Sasuke's body tensed and he made a hasty escape. Was he backing out on our deal?

I heard a loud yell from Naruto, I guess he got caught in the trap after thinking that Kakashi would just leave the bells on the ground.

I ran towards Naruto's yelling, his voice like a beacon in the silent grounds, something felt off....

I dodged to the side as a Kunai came flying at me, It seems like a pretty weak throw.

Reaching into my shuriken pouch I threw two of my shuriken, I jumped and twisted my body to avoid the shuriken Kakashi threw in retaliation.

"Huh, I never expected this...." Kakashi trailed off.

Turning around to face him, He carefully tucked his Icha-Icha book into one of his pouches.

I sent a sweet smile his way before I threw one of the three Kunai. He deflected it with a shuriken. The Kunai hit its mark on the ground, right in front of him.

I pasted a shocked look onto my face, I wanted him to think I wholly believed I could beat him with mere knives.

I grabbed the second Kunai and threw it while dodging a Shuriken, Everytime I threw a knife I moved to the side of him, I had to make sure they landed in a triangle.

Finally the last Kunai embedded itself in the ground.

"You can't beat me with just Kunai and Shuriken, Sakura-Chan" The man spoke. He seemed rather bored. He reached into his pocket to grab his Icha-Icha.

It was his mistake however, I raised my hands in a half ram sign and flared my chakra slightly, I couldn't help the smug smirk when the force field boxed him in.

Kakashi's eyes widened, He sure wasn't expecting my little seal.

I never tested my seal on a person before, usually just bugs or small animals, I was pretty sure it was a common seal. It has been done before, I guess I underestimated my sealing skills...

"Sakura-Chan, where did you learn this technique?" He questioned and he sounded rather suspicious. 'Shoot, did I show too much of my abilities?"

I reached up to scratch the nape of my neck, I had to be careful of what I said, Otherwise I might be considered a prodigy..

"Ehm, well you see-" The timer interrupted me, It was 12:00, it went by way too quickly, just what type of Genjutsu did Kakashi put me under?

I released the seal and collected my Kunai, the seals underneath seemed to have burned off, along with the wrappings.

'Huh'

—-------

Naruto was tied to the stump while Sasugay and I were handed pre-made bento's. It seemed too much for me to eat. I had already eaten a hearty breakfast and maybe a snack on the way to the training grounds.

"Oh, by the way about this exercise.... I've decided I won't take any of you off the mission roster!"

"All right, that means all three of us pass?!" Naruto looked relieved, a big goofy grin splayed out on his face. Naruto was a very exuberant and charismatic person, his fire would never diminish even after what Kakashi would say.

"That's right all three of you are being dropped from the program permanently" Kakashi finished.

Naruto's smile immediately vanished from his face while Sasuke looked beyond pissed.

"HEY YOU CAN'T JUST DROP US FROM THE PROGRAM, THAT MEANS WE CAN NEVER BECOME NINJA! YOU SAID IF WE COULDN'T TAKE THE BELLS WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO MISSIONS FOR A MONTH, YOU CAN'T JUST CHANGE YOUR MIND AND KICK US! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!" Naruto screamed while he kicked his legs around, trying to escape his bindings.

I winced and covered my ears, I was sitting right next to him and even Naruto talking in his 'inside voice' was yelling.

"Because you don't think like Ninja, you think like little kids..." The Silver-haired man started.

Sasuke abruptly stood up to attack Kakashi, one hand reaching into his Kunai pouch.

The cloud of dust Sasuke kicked up limited our vision of what was happening, However the dust cloud cleared up quickly and what I saw didn't shock me.