𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 | Naruto Uzumaki ✓

┊002

"Good! The four of you are quite distinctive and interesting. We'll have a mission tomorrow!"

"Yes, sir! What kind of mission?" Naruto bursts out with enthusiasm.

"First, let's see what we can do with just five people," Kakashi-Sensei responds.

"What, what, what?!" Naruto exclaims, his excitement turning into a restless display as he taps his feet on the pavement. I can't help but smile at the sight of the energetic boy.

"A survival exercise," Kakashi states.

"Survival exercise?" Naruto responds, a clear hint of confusion in his voice.

"An exercise? Even though this is supposed to be a mission? We've had more than our share of exercises in the Academy!" Sakura exclaims.

Sensei chuckles, "This is no simple exercise."

Naruto looks intrigued, "Then... what kind of exercise is it?"

A chuckle leaves our teacher's mouth and the unexpected action makes all of us suspicious. "What's so funny, Sensei?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that... if I told you, you'd chicken out," Kakashi teases.

"Chicken out? Why?" Naruto responds, his confusion mirrored on all our faces before Kakashi-Sensei continues.

"Out of the twenty-eight members of the graduating class, only nine will actually be accepted as junior-level shinobi. The other eighteen go back for more training. The test usually has a sixty-six percent pass rate, but because there are four of you, the rate is now seventy-five percent."

A laugh escapes from Kakashi's mouth. "See? You're chickening out already!"

"That sucks! We've been through it all! What about our graduation test?!" Naruto exclaims.

"Oh, we wanted to eliminate all the hopeless cases from your ranks. The ones who are left are the only students who show true potential," Kakashi explains.

Naruto's jaw drops. "Say what!"

"Well, that's the way it is. I'll be determining whether you pass or fail. Bring your complete set of ninja tools. We meet at five in the morning," Kakashi says, pushing himself off the fence. "Oh, and you best skip breakfast. You'll throw up," he adds with a casual yet ominous tone.

━

"Did you guys really skip out on breakfast?" Sakura mumbles, her stomach audibly grumbling with hunger.

Naruto groans in pain, "Yeah." Sasuke lets out his classic, "Hn."

"What about you, Misaki? You're the only one that doesn't look in pain," Sakura asks me.

"I would rather throw up than fight hungry, and I kind of figured that Kakashi-Sensei was the type to make us wait," I reply, lying down on the grass beneath us, attempting to ease the discomfort of an empty stomach. "Although, I didn't think he'd make us wait this long. I'm now starving."

"Good morning, class!" Kakashi waves to us.

"You're late!!" Naruto, Sakura and I yell in unison at him.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path, you see. Ahem! Oh well... Anyways, I've set this alarm to go off at noon."

We all stand before him confused as he pulls out three bells with a hand propped up on his hip. "Your mission is to take these bells from me before the alarm goes off. Anyone who fails doesn't get any lunch. Instead, you will get ties to that tree stump, so I can eat your lunch in front of you."