Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Back to the Past ❯ Chapter Six: Decision ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Recap:

"You all pass"

On with the chapter

"That means all three of us...all three of us!" Naruto gasped.

" Yes, all three of you... are both being dropped from the program! Permanently!"

"What!" Naruto gasped again.

Everyone frowned at Kakashi when he said this except Sakura. She knew this was going to happen, it had happened back in her past.

"I don't see why the three of you deserve to be ninja!" Kakashi spat.

Sasuke flipped out. He went from being calm and cool to furious. In a flurry of dust, he darted at the jounin, armed with a kunai. He attempted to slash at Kakashi, but as he got to him, Kakashi disappeared. He reappeared behind Sasuke and grabbed his hands, taking the kunai from him and shoving him to the ground. Kakashi-sensei was sitting on his back with Sasuke's kunai at his neck and his foot on his head.

"Do you guys think being a ninja is easy? Why do you think we broke you up into groups?" Kakashi asked when he looked at them, almost shaking his head.

'Ooops, I forgot I really needed to get those idiots over here to help me. Heck, I even ask them to help me and I told them it was about teamwork, but did they listen to me? Nope. Nada. Zeelch,' Sakura thought.

" Sensei, I did get a bell. I even asked those idiots over there to use teamwork, but they insisted that they were stronger than me and didn't need help." Sakura said as she pointed to Sasuke and then to Naruto.

"You got it on your own but, even if you asked them, it would have been nice if they helped you or you them. I saw that you got Naruto and Sasuke out of those traps." Kakashi snaped at Sakura.

"I have to make this discussion close to the one I had the first time so that he can give us a second chance!," Sakura thought. She snapped her head up and opened her mouth to speak, acting like she had just realized something.

"But Sensei, there were only two bells! If all three of us had worked together to get them, one of us would still have to be sent to the academy, thus leading to conflict and the team would split up!" Sakura stopped to take a breath of air and smiled at Kakashi with an innocent look.

"Exactly! This test tries to put you three against each other. In this situation, we select those who can prioritize teamwork over themselves," Kakashi said as he glared at Sasuke. He continued, "Sakura, even you asked them to use teamwork, but instead of really helping out Naruto in his fight against me, you just waited for an opening to help you all out. That was good, but that won't always be the case. While you are waiting for an opening, your teammate could be killed. And even though Sasuke spoke to you horribly, you still helped him. That is good teamwork." Kakashi stated as he looked at Sakura, thinking. 'What could she be hiding?'

'Cha, thanks Kakashi. Even if you really never trained me back in my time. It was all Naruto or Sasuke. And what about when he left us?' she thought as she glared at Sasuke again.

"Naruto," Kakashi began as he turned to the boy tied to the post, "All you did was work on your own!"

"And YOU", Kakashi glared at Sasuke, who he was, very comfortably, sitting on. "You assumed those two were only going to burden you, and you did everything yourself. Even when Sakura offered to work as a team." Kakashi said as he placed his foot back onto his head and pushed a bit.

Sasuke's head was pushed into the ground more as Kakashi's foot suddenly left his head. He knew he was still there since he couldn't get up.

"If all three of you had come at me at once, maybe you could have gotten a bell." Kakashi told them. "It's true, ninja's need well-developed abilities," Kakashi-sensei continued, "but it's teamwork that is much more important. An individual action that disrupts the team will result in danger or even death for the teammates.

"For example", Kakashi said as he held Sasuke's kunai against his throat, "Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke will die!"

Sakura nodded at Kakashi as she took out a kunai and placed it at Naruto's throat. Wide-eyed, Naruto looked from Kakashi, to Sakura, the Teme, and finally, the sky. He looked back to Sakura who said, "Sorry, but that's how the life of a ninja works." Sakura removed the kunai from his throat. "It's kill or be killed."

That took her a long time to understand in her past so it was better she tried to help them understand now. Sakura learned that the hard way with being a ninja.

"Very good, Sakura." Kakashi replied. "Now, if this was a real mission, you'd be dead before you could even hit the enemy."

"What? So teamwork is that important?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes, it is." Sakura said when she looked at Naruto.

"Dobe." Sasuke muttered under his breath.

Sakura looked down at the ground in thought. 'It was the first lesson that Kakashi taught us; to use teamwork. I didn't screw up, but they did, and they almost brought me down.'

"In every mission you put your life on the line," Kakashi stateed as he got off Sasuke.

Kakashi walked over to the memorial stone behind him and stared at it. "The numerous names carved on this stone…all these names have been, and are, praised as heroes in this village."

When Sakura heard this, her shoulders dropped. The names of all those she lost ran through her head. Lee, Gai, Naruto, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, Tenten, and her love, Neji, were all on the stone the last time she saw it. Looking at Kakashi, she wished he had never brought that up. Naruto spoke up eagerly.

"Oh! Hey, I've decided that I'm going to have my name carved on that stone! A Hero! A HERO! I won't die a useless death!" Naruto tried to jump up and down, but it was to hard to move when he was tied up.

After Sakura heard this she got up and ran into the woods, hiding from them. 'Stupid Naruto! He had to say that now when I'm more sensitive than when I was at home"she thought as tears started trailing down her face.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, Sakura ran out into the forest." Naruto called out, looking in the direction she ran.

"Let's wait for a few minutes." Kakashi said. He was looking at the forest too, but his thoughts were more focused on why she would have run. 'I wonder what she's hiding.'

Back to Sakura

"Calm down, calm down. Breathe. In...and out," she said to herself, trying to calm down. Sakura took out her canteen and washed her face to remove traces of the tears. 'Remember just to breathe in and out,' she thought as she walked back out of the forest.

"Sorry guys, nature called." Sakura lied. It was weak but she was hoping that they wouldn't question her when she said it had something to do with being a girl.

"Okay. I'll give you guys one more chance." Kakashi said. "You may eat your lunch so you will have enough energy to try this test again. But if I see any of you giving food to Naruto, you will fail."

And with that sensei disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sakura looked at her bento box and then up at Naruto when he groaned and clutched his grumbling stomach.

"I'm okay even if I don't eat!" Naruto yelled over his stomach's growls. "I'm okay! Okay…" His stomach continued to growl.

Sakura started to lift up her food but was beaten by Sasuke, as his was out in front of Naruto face. Naruto looked at him, astonished.

"Here," Sasuke sighed.

"Sasuke! You'll get caught and be sent back to the Academy!" Naruto stated, surprised that the Uchiha was risking that for him.

Sasuke was about to speak when Sakura interrupted, holding up her food. "Naruto, just eat it. Do you want us to loose? This is about teamwork and this is where it really comes down to pass or fail. Now eat." Sakura yelled. "And Uchiha got his germs on his and I don't want you to catch anything from him"

Sasuke was nodding in agreement, but stopped as he noticed that she had made him sound like a diseased person. He glared at Sakura but when she looked up she had a confused look on her face.

"What? Why are you glaring at me now, Sasuke?" She asked him.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, looking at the sky.

"Naruto, I'll feed you since Sasuke, over here, is stuffing his face with his food." Sakura stated as a true smile came to her face for the first time since Neji died.

"What?" Sasuke hissed. They ignored him.

"Are you sure, Sakura-chan? You want me to have your food?" Naruto whispered, once again shocked.

"Really, it's not a problem. Besides, Sasuke eats more than me and I'm on a diet." Sakura held the food up to his face and smiled.

Naruto eyes lit up with joy "O-Okay, thank you!" He opened his mouth, waiting for Sakura to feed him.

As Sakura fed Naruto, she silently counted down in her mind, waiting, while looking at the sky. It suddenly turned pitch black as storm clouds appeared around them with lighting and thunder. Kakashi appeared with a very smug and angry look as he pointed at them.

"You three! You broke the rules!", Kakashi thundered. Sakura ignored him, instead looking up at the sky where the clouds were dispersing.

"Okay. Kakashi-sensei, how do you do that?" Sakura asked pointing to the sky.

Kakashi was stumped by his students lack of reaction and only managed to say, "Oh, my chakra."

"You're chakra?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, now enough! It's time for your punishment." Kakashi snapped.

"Hey, Sensei, if I can say something? You said that we need to be a team, right? Well, if we didn't feed Naruto then it's not teamwork. Right?" Sakura stated in a confident tone, smiling at him.

"What?" Naruto asked looking confused. Sasuke looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

Sakura shrugged. "I mean, if we didn't feed Naruto then we would have failed. This was a test on teamwork so not caring for our teammate and only feeding ourselves would have meant we failed. Right, Sensei?" Sakura blinked innocently.

"Yes, you're right, Sakura." Kakashi muttered, still sore that his move didn't phase her. He started walking back to the stone again. " And you pass."

Team Seven, minus Sakura, was shocked. Naruto had his mouth hanging open and he seemed frozen. Sakura was waiting for a fly to go into his mouth. Sasuke was shocked too but hid it by smirking. One look at his eyes told another story. They were wider than normal. As for Sakura, she just smiled at Kakashi.

"What!" Naruto finally managed to say.

"You. Pass." Kakashi repeat slowly.

"W-Why?" Naruto stammered. He was still confused on how they passed.

"You guys are the first to pass my test. The previous teams only listened to what I said. Ninjas need to think beyond the normal. In the world-"

"In the world of ninjas, people who break the rules are called scum, but those who don't help their friends are worse than scum," Sakura cut him off. She smiled sadly, closing her eyes as she thought about Ino, who sacrificed herself for her.

Flashback with Ino's death

As Sakura, Ino, Neji and Kiba raced out of the castle, ninjas guards were chasing after them. The enemy ninja threw some weapons at them which they all dodged. Unfortunately, as Ino was dodging one weapon she saw a sword headed straight for Sakura. A sword sword one desperate ninja had thrown stabbed Ino in the back and went straight through her, making her scream in pain and fall to the ground. Sakura stopped and immediately went to her friend's side, yelling at the others. "Neji, Kiba run! I'll heal Ino and we'll catch up with you."

Ino, I'm here now." Sakura said as she pulled her friend out of sight of the enemy. She put one hand on her friend's back where the sword had pierced her and the other on the pummel of the blade. She tried to ease her friend's pain when she yanked out the sword, immediately starting to heal the wound, ignoring Ino's scream of pain. It wasn't working as Ino coughed up a large amount of blood.

As Sakura tried to find out if any of her organs had been damaged Ino pushed her away. "Sakura, get out of here! Please, go now!" Ino yelled. She coughed again and even more blood came out. Sakura had tears running down her face.

"No! Ino, I can heal you." Sakura said as she tried to heal her best friend. Her hands were glowing green as she tried to heal her internal organs before she lost too much blood. The sound of an explosion distracted her and she looked up for any signs of the enemy. She saw none and she turned back to Ino.

Ino's face was growing paler and paler, making the blood trailing down her chin stand out in stark contrast to her skin. Her eyes were half open and glazed. Sakura knew it was too late for Ino, but that didn't stop her from shaking her head in denile and trying to heal her.

"Sakura, you have to go, now! They're coming." Ino ordered as she coughed again. Her voice was getting weaker.

Sakura ignored her. "Ino, hold on." Sakura said as she finished healing the hole in her lungs, but it was too late. Too much blood had been lost and too much was in her lungs for her to breathe. Sakura hugged Ino's body to her as she stopped breathing. "Ino, Inoooo! Please come back, please come back!"

Sakura screamed and cried in pain. She felt some enemy ninja coming her way, following the sound her of her screams and her pain turned to rage. She looked up to see them racing towards her. She gently set Ino's body down and closed her eyes before she stood up. She screamed in rage as she smashed her fist into the ground making the ground and buildings crumble and fall apart. The enemies stopped and screamed as the were crushed under rocks. None of them got out of the way as Sakura threw a kunai with an explosive tag at another building, making it collapse on top of the survivors.

Seeing the enemy dead, Sakura crumbled to the ground crying, over her best friend's body. The sounds of rushing foot steps made Sakura look up. Neji and Kiba were taking out the next group of ninja Sakura hadn't noticed arrive. They got rid of them quickly but more were coming. Kiba tried to grab Ino's body but Sakura snapped at him, refusing to let go. Neji grabbed her arms and pulled her away. She screamed and hit him but soon passed out as her emotions became too much.

At the funeral, all Sakura did was cry. She couldn't heal Ino and all her efforts did was prolong her pain. Pain she felt for taking the sword for her. After that, all she did was train, eat, sleep and train again. Until Neji came in her life, then she started to feel happy again.

End of Ino and her Flashback

Sakura snapped out of her flashback and her eyes widened as she realize what she just said. She laughed nervously, trying to think up an excuse. "Hehe… I learned that from my father's friend,who is a ninja" Sakura lied. ' Oops, I made a big mistake. Kakashi-sensei is definitely going to be suspicious of me now. I better be more careful from now on.'

Kakashi scrutinized his only female student with one narrowed eye. 'Only my teammates knew of Obito's saying. How did this kunoichi know it?'

Sakura could feel the growing tension and decided a change of subject was in order. "So, we pass, Sensei?" Sakura asked, distracting Kakashi for a second.

"Yes, you did. Team Seven starts its first mission tomorrow. Don't be late." Kakashi ordered before disappearing again. But not with out one last look at Sakura. 'Okay, Miss. Haruno. I will figure you out.'

Sakura jumped to her feet, stretching."Okay, see you tomorrow." She said as she walked away from them.

"Bye, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, not realizing he was still tied to the post.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

"Teme, get me out." Naruto yelled once her realized he was still tied up.

"Get yourself out." Sasuke replied, walking away from him.

With Sakura

'That was too close' She thought.

"No shit." Inner Sakura snapped, peeved that her other self almost blew everything.

'I don't need you to rub it in even more,' Sakura sneered back.

"Hey, I just wanted you to feel worse about it." Inner Sakura admitted with a shrug.

"Great." The original thought sarcastically.

"Anyway, how are you going to do this?" Inner Sakura asked.

Sakura tapped her chin in thought as she was walking home."Well, maybe I can get Mr. Nara, and Mr. Yamanaka to help me on this mission. They are the ones that helped Tsunade-sama make the necklace and ring. They have to how know to contact Tsunade through the ring and necklace.'

'Fine, you do that, but when?" Inner Sakura asked.

'I don't know yet. Now leave me alone.' Sakura ordered.

'Fine then." Inner Sakura snapped before withdrawing.

Sakura sighed as she finally reached her house. Her stomach growled when she smelt food being cooked. She didn't really get to eat anything so she made her way to the kitchen, following the delicious aroma of food.

With Naruto

"Someone get me out!" Naruto shouted before moaning as his stomach growled.

With Sasuke

Sasuke opened his door, walking into his depressingly empty house. His stomach growled so he went to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took out some tomatoes, lettuce, and fruit to make a salad. As he was cooking his thoughts went to his female teammate. 'Sakura knows something, but what? What happened to her to make her change? I kind of miss the fangirl her' Sasuke shuddered as he thought about that. 'What I'm I saying?I miss a fangirl? Though I wonder why she said those things when we introduced ourselves. Then shattering the ground with one hand. How did she do that?'

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts after making a promise to himself to find out what was up with his teammate and turned to his food.

With Kakashi

"Sakura Haruno, I will figure out what you are hiding from me." Kakashi whispered as he watched her fall asleep. When he was sure she was asleep, he went home.

A/N- I hope you like this chapter. TTFN Bye