Art of Genjutsu

Survival of the Fittest

I dash out of my room and into the kitchen, trying to get my shoes on. I had overslept by ten minutes, and I was attempting to get everything done at the same time to get out the door before I was late. No dice. It would have helped if I didn't have to get up at four o'clock in the morning to do this stupid Pass-or-Fail Survival test.

I slide on my pack and finish strapping up my shoes. I pull down my shirt because it was riding up, and a start to run out the door.

I stop for a moment. I glance behind me and see the basket of fruit that Grandad always keeps full. Well, it would be good to have at least some breakfast. And even if I did throw up, it wouldn't be a whole lot, and it would be a healthy breakfast. You are just so clever! I quickly grab something and bolt through the door.

I run down the dark street of Konoha, doing my best to eat the fruit without choking. There was no one out this early in the morning, except the for the food stall owners, who were always up early to prepare for the day. Too bad I didn't have time to stop in and get something. I head towards the outskirts of the Village, where the training grounds are.

I finish my fruit and toss whatever was left into the bushes as I walk up to the grounds. It's nothing but trees and bushes, so basically a forest. Sasuke and Sakura stand there, waiting in there usual way. Sasuke is broody as ever, and Sakura is swinging between intense seriousness and being distracted by Sasuke. A minute later, Naruto jogs up, just a little bit later that I was. "Hey, guys," He manages to gasp out.

"Hey, Naruto," I answer with a grin. Sasuke sure isn't going to answer, and Sakura hates Naruto's guts, so I was going to greet him.

"Is Kakashi-sensei here yet?" he asks as he sits on the ground.

Sakura looks at him. "Not yet."

I sit on the ground next to him. "I don't think it will be too long, though."

To tell the truth, I don't know how long we sat there. What I do know, is that I was really wrong about Kakashi being on time. I can't tell you how long we waited, because Naruto and I fell asleep leaning on each other. But by the time we woke up, the sun was high in the sky.

"Wake up you two!" Sakura nudges me with her foot, and almost kicks Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei's here!"

I open my eyes and take my head off Naruto's. I watch as our Jonin slowly walks toward us. He waves at us, "Hey, there." He shows no emotion in the one eye we can see.

"Kakashi-sensei, you were supposed to be here hours ago!" Sakura yells at him.

He smiles through his mask."Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."

Seriously? That's bogus, dude. That's a stupidly lame excuse. Though, I do like how creative it is. Better file that away under 'Witty Comments and Excuses.' I have a number of super creative one-liners and insults I stored in my brain. I like to test them out on Ino. It's awesome.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Kakashi brings us over to a set of stumps in a small clearing. On one of the smaller stumps, there is an alarm clock with large bells on it. He pushes the button on top, and begins the countdown. Then he takes out a set of two bells.

"Your mission is simple. You must take one of these bells from me." Kakashi jingles the bells in front of us, like he's trying to taunt us. "If you can't take these bells from me by noon, you will go without lunch."

"What?" Naruto yells beside me.

Joke's on you, sensei. I already ate breakfast! It wasn't a whole lot, but it's better that nothing!