roxanne the Jinchuuriki

Failure!

"Give it up not one of the three of you will ever be ninja!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN GIVE UP? Just because none of us got our hands on your stupid bells! Why should we quit  im the best?" The tied up blond yelled, feeling he was being unfair. "Because not one of you has what it takes!" Kakashi replied. You are nothing

Something triggered in Sasuke when Kakashi said these words. Before anyone knew what was happening or what had happened the older masked ninja was sitting on a very angry squirming pile. Looking completely undeterred he pinched the humiliated Uchiha's cheek "What you are is a trio of spoiled brats". "Master Kakashi! Don't Step On Sasuke!" Sakura tried to go to the defense of her teammate. Meanwhile Naruko tried her best to hold in her laugh at the scene in front of her "Have to hold it! Have to hold it! Being serious right now!"

With a deadly glare from Kakashi the humour of the situation disappeared leaving both girls frozen. "Are you trying to make fun of the shinobi with your behaviour? Well, are you?... Did any of you wonder why you were divided into teams?" Sakura was slightly taken back by the question "Uhh..." Shifting a little he continued "Obviously not, you missed the entire point of the exercise." Naruko tilted her head to the side in confusion "It had a point...?" Kakashi nodded his head "Of course, and that point determines whether or not you would succeed."

"But... you haven't explained what it is!" The pink haired genin was getting frustrated from all the suspense. "... I don't believe this..." Kakashi muttered.

Iruka's House

Both master Iruka and Hokage sat across from each other enjoying lunch. "You invited me to lunch because you wanted to learn something right, Iruka? What is it?" said man stopped mid eating "Group seven... Naruko and the others... what kind of teacher did you assign them, lord Hokage? Is he strict?" Iruka seemed almost afraid to ask. "Who... Kakashi? Does it worry you? Here..." The hokage casually handed a teacher's book to Iruka, who opened it without hesitation. "It's a roster of all of Kakashi's previous students among the junior-level shinobi, who passed and who failed."

A look of disbelief immediately flashed on Iruka's face.

Training Grounds

"TELL US ALREADY!" yelled Naruko, finally sick of all the stalling.

"It's Teamwork."

This surprised all of them. "If the three of you had come at me together... then you might have been able to take the bells." he said matter of factly. "But... if we were to work as a team, Why did you only have two bells? Even if we worked together one of us still would have had to go without lunch! Your saying teamwork is the key, but you completely played us against each other!" Now they were all confused. Kakashi was quiet for a few seconds trying to keep his cool. "Of course this task was designed to cause a rift in the trust between you, But the situation was set up to reveal which of you would set aside your individual interests... and propose to the others that you work together for the good of all... instead..."

His one good eye went in Sakura's direction "You Sakura, ignored Naruko who was right in front of you and clearly needed the aid-" "HEY!" the offended blond growled. "Were focused only on Sasuke, though you didn't know where he was. Naruko tried to do single handedly what should have been the work of all three! And Sasuke had already decided that the other two just got in his way... and was better off alone. You are a team learn to act as one! Yes, It's necessary for ninja to have individual skills, but... what is important right now is teamwork!" he scolded harshly.

"Making a play as an individual is bad for the team and exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger. You may as well kill them yourselves... here's an example..." reaching into his back pocket Kakashi bent forward kunai in hand, the blade deadly close to slitting the throat of the teen beneath him. "Sakura... kill Naruko... or Sasuke dies!" Naruko's leg's kicked to get free. "A time might come when you are faced with the same situation..." Relief washed over both girls as Kakashi freed Sasuke (or more simply stood up). "When you're on a mission your lives are always at risk." He made his way over to a concrete marker. "Look at this... the names carved into it were heroes, all ninja".

Hearing both the word hero and ninja in the same sentence instantly rallied the little dim wit. "That's it! That's where I want my name to go, I wanna be like them! A hero! Believe it!" Kakashi cleared his throat awkwardly "The ones listed here aren't just any heroes..." "Really? There's different kinds? What kind are they? Tell me! Tell me!" she was enthusiastic now over her new discovery.

"The dead kind. They died in the line of duty Naruko." he answered solemnly. After a few moments of silence she realized her insensitive questions. Her head had lowered in embarrassment, her blue eyes hidden behind her chin length blond bangs.

"This is a memorial, it includes the name of my best friend..." Team seven listened carefully, actually interested in what their somewhat strange sensei had to say. "... Now... I'm giving you all one last chance. One that will be far more difficult than the game with the bells." Narrowing his one good eye in the direction of the blond. She could only gulp nervously. "If you're prepared to continue, you may eat one of the bento boxes. But no sharing with Naruko, she goes hungry." "Why?" she asked. "You brought it on to yourself when you tried to steal them in the first place. If either of you feed her it's an automatic fail... My word is law, Got it?" With a cloud of smoke he was gone.

"HA I can last without food no prob! I once survived three weeks without food hahaha!-" GROWL!.

Team seven sat around the training pole where the starving Naruko hung. Her stomach growling miserably. Sasuke sat below watching the expression on her face with a blank expression. Prying her eyes opening Naruko caught the stare but ignored it and was enraptured by the box of food he was holding.

"Um Sasuke?...uh-" "Here." He interrupted her with his bento shoved in her direction. Sakura saw this and the food she was chewing fell out of her mouth. "B-But Sasuke! Master Kakashi told us-!" "I'm not worried; He's probably miles away by now. And we'll need our strength if we're going to get those bells. You're no good to me if you're just going to be a liability..." A heavy blush of an embarrassment appeared on the Naruko's whiskered cheeks. Suddenly another box of food appeared in her line of sight. "Naruko I'm taking some food from Sasuke's bento into my so he won't have feed you... That's my Sasuke!" Her inner Sakura yelled. A bright grin lite up Naruko's face "thanks.."

Iruka's house

"What? I don't believe it..." Iruka was flabbergasted. "Yes... there's no denying that Kakashi is extremely strict... and when students come to him, they are utterly naive..." Iruka looked up at the hokage. "I can understand that but... no one? No one at all...?" The younger man seemed almost frantic. The hokage took another puff from his pipe. "Yes, Kakashi never passes anyone. Ever..."

Training grounds

Unsuspecting doom crept upon team seven. An explosion of smoke pushed both Sasuke and Sakura away from the training pole. "YOU...!" Kakashi's head appeared out of the smoke eye red with anger.

Sasuke prepared for a fight while both Naruko and Sakura watched with awaiting horror.

"Pass!" He winked

Naruko slumped, Sakura on the verge of tears, And Sasuke glared hard. "We Pass! But..Why?" questioned the pinkette.

"You three have just taken a giant step forward. Up until now all any of you have done is listen unquestioningly to everything i say... like mindless little drones. A true shinobi seeks for the hidden meanings within hidden meanings. In a ninja's world those who violate the rules and fail to follow orders... are lower than garbage." a tender look in his eye made Naruko blush. "But... those who do not care for and support their fellows are lower than that!"

"Oh!" Sakura cutely smiled. Sasuke looked down at the ground in contemplation. Naruko's blush grew to the tips of her ears. "Master Kakashi... is so cool..." Giving his new team a thumbs up for confirmation Kakashi concluded the test. "Team seven's duties shall start tomorrow!" "YEAH! I DID IT! I'M A NINJA BELIEVE IT!"

"Now let's all go home." Kakashi walked away with Sakura and Sasuke on either side of him... "HEY! I'M STILL TIED UP! I take back what I thought! Kakashi isn't cool!"