Six: Battling Kakashi, quick learning!

The leaves shook for a moment and from within a hand reached out extremely quick.

Sakura barely had time to react and jump back.

Kakashi nodded and followed closely with a kick. One move after the other were thrown at her way, forcing Sakura to retreat again and again.

Feeling the pressure mounting over her, beads of sweat slid down her face as a grin look painted her face. The overwhelming sequence had completely thrown her out of balance. From time to time, flurries of fists would hit her in various parts of her body, although she was able to avoid and and counter a few, most still managed to inflict serious damage on her.

Gritting her teeth in pain, she grabbed something inside her back pocket and threw at him. It was another smoke bomb.

Using the small window of distraction, she pulled back and hid behind a tree.

Panting, she tried to calm down her heart as tiredness began to set in.

'Damn it! The plan is completely useless now!'

Knowing she had already lost the ability to complete her initial goal, she became way less constrained. Isn't it just a fight anyway? She wouldn't go down do easily.

Enduring the pain on her arms, Sakura changed the directions of her movements and rather than retreating she caught Kakashi by surprise by advancing instead.

She raised her fist and struck, putting loads of Chakra into her arms.

Kakashi blocked with his right hand but had no time to adjust his ongoing movement.

In that small frame of time, she used Kakashi's body as a lever and pulled herself up followed by a wave-like kick to his head.

Although he was in a certain disadvantage in this exchange of movements, the reality is still that he is a Jounin.

Seeing the approaching leg, Kakashi admired her decisiveness. 'In the midst of a fight, you don't have time to think. All you need is to constantly grasp opportunities, and if there's none, you must try to create them. Your physique is a little bit below the standard, but your head is in the right place, as a Genin, you're on the right track.'

Nodding in his mind, he held her leg and spun her in the air, delivering a blow that threw her away directly onto the ground.

Coughing up, Sakura struggled to breathe as the pain made her wince, forcing herself back up, she had to close her left eye due to blood making it almost impossible to stare at him with it.

Feeling a little tipsy, she couldn't help but crease her eyebrows as she stared at Kakashi displeased. This brute even dares to hit a girl in the face! No wonder he is single! Lecherous bastard!

On the other side, Kakashi sneezed for some reason.

Staring at the slowly approaching Kakashi, she thought about what to do when slowly she began to have some insights.

'This... Strange, it feels like... My power?'

Suddenly, Sakura felt like she had fought Kakashi dozens of times, each movement, each one of his patterns and even some of his traits and behaviors in fights were fiercely printed into her mind.

Looking at Kakashi again, a minuscule smile appeared in the corners of her mouth.

Rushing towards him, the two began to exchange blows once more. Each punch and kick was delivered with full strength and there was rhythm to it that could hypnotize ordinary people.

The more they fought, the more surprised and shocked Kakashi became. Suspicious, he threw a feint with his left hand and Sakura somehow predicted his actions, delivering a counter blown from a blindspot.

Feeling the wind generated by her fist, Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he began to understand how powerful Sakura's insight was. This fight even reminded him of some sparring matches he had with members of the Uchiha clan in the past.

He even checked again to make sure that she didn't have a Sharingan. This surprise was really unexpected, at the end of the day, Sakura will probably be the one who shocked him the most.

With a sigh, he stopped holding back and fighting at her level, and delivered a lightning quick punch that Sakura wasn't even able to capture with her eyes.

All she felt before she blacked out was an impact in her stomach.

Nodding, he grabbed her and took her to the tree stumps.

Meanwhile...

In a nearby lake, Naruto fought fiercely with Kakashi. By the sides, dozens of his clones lay half dead and slowly they all popped out of existence in a burst of smoke.

His face was completely deformed at this point, full of purple swollen areas and blood on the corner of his mouth. Surprisingly, Kakashi barely touched him since the fight started, it was his clones that did most of the damage.

His evaluation of Naruto was, full of potential, but also full of stupidity. He felt that it would be a headache to solve Naruto's issues, he even reminded him of his childhood friend.

But at this point, there was nothing Naruto could do, with just one attack, he went blank and also had to be carried by Kakashi.

Sasuke was the one lasting the most.

The power of each blow, their speed, their precision, everything was one or even two notches above that of Naruto and Sakura. It's no exaggeration to say that in terms of individual combat power, Sasuke was almost at the same standard of a Chunin. So long as he masters a couple more jutsus, he will really reach that level.

Although his insight wasn't as good as Sakura's, his talent and capability was undoubtedly the best amongst the members of team 7, and was very much appreciated by Kakashi. He even saw a shadow of himself within the Uchiha boy.

Evading another one of his fireballs jutsu, Kakashi struck him a C-level water release technique, and made Sasuke pass out on the spot.

Nodding, he grabbed Sasuke and also brought him to the tree stumps.

...

When they woke up, all they saw was the blinding light of the sun and the vague outline of a person.

After blinking and adjusting their eyes to the light, they finally saw a lazy Kakashi seating on a chair with his legs crossed while reading an inappropriate book.

"Huh, where... When did..." Sakura asked in confusion, the last thing she remembered was being hit by a powerful fist that knocked her out in an instant.

"I... I remember I had just used my Fire release: Fireball Technique... But after that..." Sasuke complained softly, trying to remember what had happened to him.

Only Naruto chose to remain silent. 'No way, it's too embarrassing...' He felt like crying but it hurt him so he controlled his tears and endured.

"You're all amazing, trying to kill your sensei so fiercely... If I didn't know, I would have thought you hated me." Kakashi joked in a humourous tone.

'I do hate you.' x3

If Kakashi knew what they were thinking... He probably wouldn't care.

"Hmph! Didn't you ask us to fight with the intention to kill? Don't go around changing your words! We're just doing what you asked!"

Naruto gritted his teeth and complained.

"Yup, I did say that." Kakashi nodded. "Overall, you all surprised me. Whether it's individually or as a team, I can say with certainty that you have a lot of potential to be uncovered."

"Then, what about your words about the test from before? What was the point of the bells and all those gimmicks?" A slightly annoyed Sasuke questioned with a dark look on his face.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kakashi's eyes narrowed into a smile. "From start to finish, catching the bells was never the real goal. It doesn't matter if any of you manages to get your hands in any of them. If there's no teamwork or you directly fight against yourselves, you will be immediately disqualified."

Hearing his words, the group was stunned to a certain extent. Sakura already expected it, but Naruto and Sasuke weren't so sure before.

"What?! Then what was going to happen once we were disqualified?" A shocked Naruto asked with drops of sweat running down his face.

"Simple. Disqualified students wouldn't be able to graduate and would be sent back for another year of specialized training in teamwork." At this point Kakashi paused for a moment and swept his eyes over the three kids. "Do you still remember my words when we first met?"

The group shook their heads, how could they know what exactly Kakashi was talking about?

"I told you that only nine out of the twenty seven graduates would become Genin and that's only partially correct. You see, we are a military force first and foremost. Be it for the sake of the country or for the village itself, we can not support such a low graduation rates at all." Pausing for a moment, Kakashi allowed them to digest his words before giving sequence. "That's why the graduation is divided into two parts, to separate those worth nurturing from those who aren't. The benefit of passing the test is that you are granted a Jounin sensei to guide your future development. This is as much as your responsibility and job as it is your privilege. As for the others, if they manage to graduate after another year of training, they will only be ordinary Genins who will form teams by themselves or if they are especially talented, they might be led by a Chunin team leader in missions."

Kakashi's words stunned them.

That's right. At the end of the day, what many people forget about this world is that Konoha and the other villages are ultimately organized military forces serving a country.

When all is said and done, aren't they soldiers?

Honestly, Sakura never saw herself in such a way, and she also didn't see it as such when she watched the anime. But that's because of a matter of perspective. Konoha despite its flaws and darkness is too united and heavily promotes the idea of a collective will, friendship and working hard for your companions.

Places like Iwagakure, Kumogakure and such were a way more cold bloded and really resembled the image of a war machine.

"Then, why only two bells?"

Looking at Sakura who had just asked, he explained calmly. "To provoke infighting. As Ninjas, the village will often have you completing missions where you will have to make dangerous choices. Sometimes, the goal will be right in front of you, but without a sacrifice, it won't be possible to achieve it. This test is designed to see which one of you would be selfless enough to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the others. And you, Sakura, shared your thoughts about the test from the very beginning and took the initiative to work together with your teammates for a common goal, so, to be honest, you have all passed the test yesterday. And all of this was reinforced today when you all chose to ignore the fact that there were only two bells, and followed with your plans you discussed together as a team."

With a sigh Sakura couldn't help but reflect on those words. Can she really sacrifice herself for her friends? This is no longer the safe 21st century that she came from, where sacrificing for a friend was most of the time just covering for them in class when they couldn't come for some reason.

Here, in this world, one single wrong decision can lead to death. So, can her? Can she do such a thing like putting her life on the line for others?

No... At least, at this moment, she didn't have the will to do such a thing.

She is not like Jesus who willingly sacrificed himself, her life was still more important than that of the others.

"Well, now that all of this is behind us, let's go and eat lunch. I prepared those lunchboxes myself, it's a gift for you."