"Are you trying to make fun of the Shinobi with your behavior! well, are you? did you ever stop to wonder for one minute why you were divided into teams?" Kakashi-sensei asked, glaring at them "Uhh...excuse me?" asked Sakura confused "This is getting interesting" thought Rokudi in his head as he smirks "Obviously not, you three missed the entire point of the exercise" said Kakashi-sensei "It has a point...!?" asked Naruto confused "Wait, there are four of us, why do you keep saying three?" asked Sakura "Because Rokudo was the only one who got the point of this exercise" said Kakashi-sensei "Come on already! tell us!!!" said Naruto getting impatient "It's teamwork" said Kakashi-sensei giving off a bad aura, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke looked at Kakashi-sensei "If the four of you had come at me...together you might have been able to take the bells" said Kakashi-sensei, Sakura looked at the bells that were in Rokudo's hand as he showed it to them.
"If we were expected to function as a team, why did you have three? even if we'd worked together, one of us still would have had to go without lunch, you're preaching teamwork, but you played us against each other!" explained Sakura a but confused, Kakashi-sensei looked at her "Of course, this task was designed to cause dissension in your rank" said Kakashi-sensei "WHAT!?" yelled Sakura and Naruto at the same time "The situation was set up to reveal which of you would set aside your individuals and propose to the others that you work together for the good of all" explained Kakashi-sensei.
"Instead of which...you, Sakura ignored Naruto, who was right in front of you and you didn't accept Rokudo when he asked for your help. You only went after Sasuke the whole time"
"Naruto also said no to Rokudo and tried to do single-handedly what should have been the work of all four of you!"
"Sasuke didn't accept Rokudo's help and had already decided that the others just get in his way and he was better of playing solo"
"Rokudo, thank you for learning the point of the exercise and getting the bells" said Kakashi-sensei, Rokudo nodded to him as Sakura glared at him and Kakashi-sensei sights.
"You are a team! it's necessary for a ninja to have individual skills, but what is even more important now is teamwork, making a play as an individual is had for the team and exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger, you might as well kill them yourself, here's an example..." said Kakashi-sensei as he pulled a kunai and aims it around Sasuke's neck "Sakura! kill Naruto and Rokudo or Sasuke dies!" said Kakashi-sensei "What!!?" Naruto yelled as he and Sakura panicked.
"The day would come...when one of you may be taken hostage, and you're forced to make such a choice, when you are on a mission, your lives will always be on the line" explained Kakashi-sensei as he puts his kunai away and getting off of Sasuke, Sasuke got up from the ground and went to go sit back down while Kakashi-sensei went to a stone "Look at the marker...all the names carved in the stone, heroes of our village" said Kakashi-sensei as he looked at the stone his expression saddened "That's it! I just made up my mind! there's where I want my name to go! I'm not gonna throw my life away! I want to be like them-a hero!" said Naruto with excitement in his voice.
"But the ones listed there aren't just any heroes..." "Really? what kind of heroes are they?" asked Naruto interrupting Kakashi-sensei but Kakashi-sensei didn't answer him "Come on! come on!" said Naruto getting more excited "The dead kind. They died in the line of duty" said Kakashi-sensei, Naruto's smile disappeared as he looked down away from Kakashi-sensei, while Sakura looked at Kakashi-sensei with sadness in her eyes not speaking a word. Rokudo got up from his seat and walked to the stone as the paper formed out of his hand making an origami flower.
He places it on the stone and goes to sit down on the tree stump "This is a memorial...it includes the names of my best friends" said Kakashi-sensei before turning around to face them "Pay attention...! I'm giving you all one last chance, one that will be difficult than our last little game with the bells, if you're prepared to continue, you may eat one of the bento boxes, but no sharing with Naruto, he goes hungry, why? he brought it on himself when he tried to sneak lunch for himself, if either of you feeds him, you fail the test right there, my word is law do you understand?" he puffs away with the smoke without letting any of the four answer him.
"Hey, this'll be breez3, I can go without lunch...no problem" said Naruto as his stomach growled while Sasuke, Sakura, and Rokudo were eating the bentos. Rokudo looks down at his bento before sighting, he gets off the stump, and looks at Naruto "Here" he says as he hands him the bento "I'm not that hungry, you can have it and plus you need strength when we fight Kakashi-sensei" said Rokudo, Sasuke looks at Rokudo before he did the same "Bu...but Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei told us-" "Rokudo is right, we all need strength, if Naruto doesn't eat he'll bring us down" said Sasuke interrupting her, Sakura looked up at Rokudo and glared at him while giving Naruto her bento also "Thanks guys" said Naruto with a smile as Rokudo started to feed him.
As Rokudo was feeding Naruto an explosion of smoke appeared in front of them with dark clouds surrounding them like a tornado was going to form any second "You..." yelled Kakashi-sensei with anger in his voice while glaring at them, Sasuke and Rokudo got in a fighting stance while Naruto and Sakura were screaming in fear "...pass!" said Kakashi-sensei as the smoke and dark clouds disappeared, Rokudo looked to see Kakashi-sensei was smiling at them as Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke looked at him confused.
"We pass!? but...why!?" asked Sakura confused at the sudden change "You four have just taken a giant step forward" said Kakashi-sensei "Ummm...how?" Sakura asked again as she and Naruto were more confused "Until now, all of you have done it listen unquestioningly to everything I say, like mindless, little drones. A true shinobi seeks for the hidden meaning within the hidden meanings, in a ninja's world, those who violate the rules and fail to follow orders...are lower than garbage, however...those who do not care for and support their fellows...are even lower than garbage" said Kakashi-sensei. Sakura smiles, Naruto was shocked by what Kakashi-sensei said, and Sasuke and Rokudo smirked.
"This exercise is now concluded, you all pass!! that's all for today, Team seven, your duties will commence tomorrow!!!!" said Kakashi-sensei as he gives them a thumbs up.
"I...I did it! I did it! I'm a ninja!" Cheered Naruto.
××××××××××
As Rokudo walked inside his house he looked up to see his father, mother, and twin sister glaring at him. Rokudo looked at them until Sakura walked up to him and punched him "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU ARE SMARTER THAN ME!!!! I DON'T GET KAKASHI-SENSEI PRAISED YOU IF YOU DID NOTHING!!!" she screamed as she kicked him in the stomach and started to beat him as their parents watched.
As soon as Sakura and their parents left, Rokudo struggled to walk into his room, he sat on his bed, he started to aid his wounds while he started to sing, his voice a bit cracked.
If I wasn't here tomorrow
Would anybody care?
If my time was up I'd wanna know
You were happy I was there
If I wasn't here tomorrow
Would anyone lose sleep?If I wasn't hard and hollowThen maybe you would miss me
I know I'm a mess and I wanna be someone
Someone that I'd like betterI can never forgetSo, don't remind me of it forever (forever)
What if I just pulled myself together?
Would it matter at all?What if I just tried not to remember?Would it matter at all?
What if I just pulled myself together?
Would it matter at all?What if I just tried to remember?Would it matter at all?
All the chances that have passed me by
Would it matter if I give it one more try?Would it matter at all?
If I wasn't here tomorrow
Would anybody care?Still stuck inside this sorrowI've got nothing and going nowhere
I know I'm a mess and I wanna be someone,
Someone that I'd like betterI can never forgetYou don't remind me of it forever
What if I just pulled myself together?
Would it matter at all?What if I just tried not to remember?Would it matter at all?
All the chances that have passed me by
Would it matter if I gave it one more try?Would it matter at all?
I know I'm a mess and I wanna be someone,
Someone that I'd like betterCan you help me forget?Don't wanna feel like this forever (forever)
What if I just pulled myself together?
Would it matter at all?What if I just tried not to remember?Would it matter at all?
All the chances that have passed me by
Would it matter if I give it one more try?
If I left tomorrow
Would anyone care?Stuck in this sorrowGoing nowhereAll the chances that have passed me byWould it matter if I gave it one more try?Would it matter at all?
As he finished singing he laid on his bed, he sighed before he moved to his side, his back facing the door, and went to sleep not noticing Sakura listened the whole time behind the door, she looked down and walked back to her room not saying a word.