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Konohamaru looked at the last piece of chicken as he reached out to grab it with his chopsticks before getting smacked by the oldest Sarutobi. "Mine," she said as she grabbed it.
Konohamaru's face fell as the other males stared at the only female in confusion as she gobbled down the food hungrily. "Ruka, you didn't eat anything for lunch?"
"I did," she said while munching her food, glaring heatedly. "That dead-eyed fish told us not to eat anything before training tomorrow."
"I'm going to eat a lot so I won't be that hungry tomorrow."
"Big Sister, you're gonna get fat," Konohamaru grumbled in jealousy, knowing that she finally starts her training and mission. "With all the missions I'm going to have soon, I'm definitely going to lose more weight, Kono."
Asuma turned to his father with a nervous look plastered on his face. "Don't you think he takes it too far for this? Starving the kids?"
"I'm sure Kakashi has it all planned out, Asuma," said Hiruzen calmly as he ate his food. "Now, Ruka. Remember, you must trust your instincts and don't be afraid of making any decisions."
"Yeah, yeah," Ruka muttered in annoyance as her grandfather began to lecture her on being a true shinobi. It's bad enough she has to wake up at 4:30 am the next day.
---
THE VERY NEXT DAY AT 6 AM, Ruka arrived at the training ground right after Sasuke, followed by Sakura and Naruto.
She stood there with her teammates in boredom, waiting for Kakashi to arrive.
A few moments later, the sun was rising, and there was no sign of him. "Idiot," she grumbled in annoyance as she sat down and curled her knees to her chest.
"Why is he late?" Naruto muttered sleepily, sitting beside her. "It's almost 7."
After a couple more hours... Ruka's eyes snapped open when she heard Naruto and Sakura screaming, "YOU ARE LATE!"
She looked up to find Kakashi walking towards them with an excuse. "A black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way."
"Well, let's get started." He walked over to the three wooden posts and placed an alarm clock on one of them. "It's set for noon. Your assignment is very simple." He took out three simple bells from his pocket and showed them. "You have to take these bells from me, and if you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch. You'll be tied to the post and watch as I eat my lunch in front of you."
