Behind the Mask | PAUSED INDEFINITELY

Chapter 3

"Me?"

"Yes, you're the only that hasn't gone."

"Well... my name is (f/n) (l/n). I was kind of slapped on with this group. I like to read when I can, I guess. I don't really not like anything in particular, and my dream is..." You suddenly paused mid sentence.

You had no idea what your dream really was. Well, for one, you almost wanted to fix relations with your mother, but who knew how that would end. You felt as if she'd never forgive you. You didn't really want to say that. It sounded kind of stupid and too personal, but it couldn't be as bad as Naruto's and you didn't have anything else to say.

"I think I want to make things better between me and my mom, for now."

"I see... Well, the four of you are very distinctive and interesting! We'll have a mission tomorrow," He announced.

"Yes, sir!" Naruto saluted eagerly, "What kind of mission?"

"First, we'll do what we can with just five people."

"What? What? What?"

"A survival exercise."

"Survival exercise?" Naruto repeated.

"Why are we doing an exercise even though this is supposed to be a mission?" Sakura asked, "We've had more than our share of exercises in the Academy!"

"This is no simple exercise."

"Then... then what kind of exercise is it?"

You glared at Kakashi-sensei with everyone else as he began to giggle, which made you question his sanity momentarily.

"Hey, what's so funny, Sensei?" you asked, frowning

"Uh, well, if I tell you, I know you all will grow disenchanted," You could tell he was smiling underneath his mask. Suddenly, his expression grew serious. "Let me put it this way, this exercise is an extremely difficult test with a failure rate of 66% or higher."

You could feel a bit of disbelief with a slight pinch of annoyance hit you.

"See, see! You got disenchanted!"

"That's crazy! To have suffered that much! Then what was the graduation test for?!" Naruto asked.

"Oh, that. It was to select those who have the potential of becoming Genin."

"Whaaaattt?!"

"I'll be determining whether you pass or fail. Bring your complete set of ninja tools. We meet at five in the morning!"

That's a high failure rate... you thought to yourself, I'm not going to be one of those 66% people.

"Okay! You're dismissed!" He waved us off, but then added as a side note, "Oh... And you'd best skip breakfast. You'll throw up."

You couldn't tell if he was serious or not, but in the morning you didn't want to take the risk.

*****

Five in the morning came too soon, it seemed. You somehow managed to get yourself up and dressed and made your way to the intended meeting area.

"Morning," Sakura said sleepily as she rubbed her eyes, still trying to wake up like the rest of you.

Naruto just continued walking like a zombie, and you nodded as you silently shuffled your feet, still feeling tired. The only one out of the four of you who seemed awake enough to think was Sasuke. The four of you stood there, waiting for your teacher. Minutes turned to hours as you stood silently, only looking at each other and not saying a word. It wasn't long until the sun was out, and by then Naruto had already fallen back asleep. On the other hand, you and Sakura managed to wake up all the way.

The sun just kept climbing higher and higher in the sky. You sat down next to Sakura as your feet began to hurt from standing in one place so long. It was then when your Sensei finally decided to show up.

"Hi, folks. Good morning!"

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto said angrily.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path, you see."

That's not even a good excuse. The least he could do is make it believable.

"Ahem... oh well," he shrugged it off after he saw the looks he was getting.

He walked over to a stump and pulled out a clock and placed it on there. "Okay, it's set for 12 o'clock! Today's assignment is to take these bells way from me by noon," he explained as he held up two bells in his hand, "Those who can't do it won't get lunch. They'll be tied to that," he motioned over to the three wooden poles, "And, I'll eat my lunch before your very eyes."

So that was the point of not eating breakfast... He's cruel...

By now, your stomach was growling and you were very hungry. You didn't eat dinner last night because you weren't sure if the food was safe or not, but now the pain was awful. The thought of missing the chance to eat lunch was unbearable.

"Hold on," Sakura piped up, "Why are there two bells?"

You could tell he was glad Sakura asked. "There are only two, so at the very least, two will have to go to the logs. Those people will be disqualified for failing the mission and return to the academy. It might be two people at the very least, or it could be all four of you. You can use your Shuriken. You won't be able to take the bells unless you come with the intent to kill me."

Kill him? We can't kill our teacher. That's absurd...

"But, that's dangerous, sir!" Sakura argued.

"Y-yeah, that's right!" Naruto agreed, "You couldn't even avoid a chalkboard eraser!" He laughed.

"In this world, those who aren't skilled enough tend to complain more," Kakashi-sensei calmly stated, "Well, just ignore the loser. Begin when I give the 'ready-go' signal."

However, Naruto was already ahead of him and already went after him with his kunai knife but was stopped easily. Kakashi-sensei managed to move swiftly around Naruto and pin his arm against his back.

"Don't be so hasty. I didn't say start, yet."

You took a few steps back in surprise. You barely saw him, and suddenly he was right next to you with Naruto in hand.

He released him and Naruto also took several steps away from him, just as surprised as you were. "But, that's fine. At least you came with the intent to kill me," he chuckled, "How can I put this..? I feel like I'm finally starting to like you guys. We're going to start. Ready... Start!"