“Quit being ninjas?” Naruto yelled struggling to get free from the ropes that were wrapped around him, “What do you mean? We couldn't get a bell, but why do you have to say we should quit?! You can’t just do that!”
Kakashi cast Naruto a cold look. Same Kakashi, as heartless as ever. “It's because you three don’t think like ninja. You think like little kids. Brats.”
Sasuke charged at Kakashi with his fist in the air.
“Sasuke stop!” I screamed.
Kakashi immediately grabbed him and put him in an arm lock and sat on him. He stuck his foot on Sasuke’s head forcing his face into the ground. Like Sasuke was a bug. Naruto gasped, “He’s so quick!”
“See?” He said nodding his head at Sasuke, “You don’t know what it means to be a ninja. You think it’s a game huh? You are all just kids. Do you guys think being a ninja is easy? Why do you think we're training by breaking up into groups? Hmm? Did you ever consider that question for one moment?”
“What do you mean?” Naruto yelled still struggling against the ropes.
“I mean, you never realized what this exercise is about. Not even close.”
“What it’s about?” I asked.
“That's right,” Kakashi said firmly, “That’s what determines whether you pass or fail.”
It hit me. We were in groups to utilize each other’s strengths as a team. To work together. Something all three of us failed to do.
When no one replied Kakashi put his face in his hand, “Geez, are your brains empty? Tch. Use your head. Three people on a squad. Why do you think we would do that?”
Naruto was the only one not catching on, “How do you think we’re supposed to know why you picked three people? We didn’t make the rules!”
“It’s so basic,” Kakashi said in a low voice, “Teamwork!”
“You mean, cooperate with each other?” Naruto said dumbly. He then looked at Sasuke with a glare on his face, “No way!”
Kakashi sighed, “That's right. But it's too late even if you notice now. If all three of you came at me at once, maybe you could have gotten a bell. Well anyways, it’s over.”
I looked at the two bells hanging from his side and then it hit me, “Wait... Why do we need to use teamwork when there's only two bells? If three people work hard to get it, one person will have to bite the bullet. A group conflict will occur instead of teamwork.” What kind of test was this? Two pass and one gets sent to the academy? It was in no way fair.
“Of course,” Kakashi said like it had been the most obvious thing in the world, “This test tries to put you three against each other.”
“Well what’s the point in that?” Naruto yelled at Kakashi while kicking the post.
“I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But that never even crossed your minds,” Kakashi stared sternly at Naruto and me, still holding on to Sasuke in the same position. I could see Sasuke shaking and sweat coming from his forehead. He stared back at Naruto with a more intense look, “Naruto! You do everything on your own. Everything,” he then glared in my direction, “Red! You let past emotions cloud your judgment and sat around watching rather than actually helping these two. And you,” he stared at Sasuke who was still firmly in his grasp, “You assumed that those two were so far beneath you they were worthless. That they were only going to burden you. So you did everything yourself. Arrogance,” he spat the word, “Ninja missions are done in squads. It's true that ninjas need well-developed individual abilities and skills, but it's teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When an individual puts himself before the team, an individual action that disrupts the teamwork will result in failure or even death for the teammates. For example,” he reached into his weapons bag and pulled out a dagger, and pointed it close to Sasuke's neck, “Red! Kill Naruto, or Sasuke's going to die!”
I cast a look at Naruto contemplating my options. He stared back and forth from me to Kakashi in complete fear and began to panic, “WHAAA-?” But when it came down to it, I liked Naruto better than Sasuke.
Kakashi spun the kunai in his hand before withdrawing it back into his backpack, “That’s what will happen on a mission.”
He released Sasuke and threw him towards us, I caught him by his shoulders as he stumbled. Sasuke glared at me, “I noticed you didn’t take any action just then.”
“Hmm,” was all I could manage.
“After getting someone taken hostage, you will be faced with an impossible choice, and someone end up dead. On every mission, you put your life on the line. Did you look at this stone?” he began walking over to a large memorial behind him and indicated to it, “Or the names engraved on it? They are all names of ninja praised as heroes in our village.”
“That’s it! That’s it! That’s it!” Naruto shouted excitedly, “I've decided that I'm going to have my name engraved into that stone! I’m not going to live and die for nothing like a dog! I’m going to be a hero! A hero!”
“They are… a special kind of hero,” Kakashi said turning to look at us three.
“Huuhh?” Naruto smile grew even wider, he didn’t know, “So what kind of heroes were they? Come on, tell us.” When Kakashi didn’t answer immediately, Naruto pressed on, “Well? Well?”
“They were all… K.I.A,” Kakashi said quietly. I felt my eyes beginning to water.
“Ohhhhh K.I.A? That sounds real cool!”
I turned to look at Naruto, “It means killed in action… They all died,” I managed to choke out. The memorial had some of my closest friend’s names on. I began walking forward to look at the memorial. I went down the names and found the one dearest to me. “Shina Uchiha”. My mother.
Naruto stopped smiling and looked down to the ground.
Everything was quiet. There were no words to be said. Talking about the dead ninja who fought for us was rough. Knowing them was a whole different story.
“This is a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends are engraved here,” Kakashi said quietly. I wondered if he was thinking about potato-nose-Kyo or anyone else. I just stared at my mother’s name and let the tears burn my cheeks. I told myself since the day I was little I was going to be a great ninja like her, one that would make her and dad proud.
I tilted my head up to look at the bright blue sky above me. Somewhere up there, mom was there singing some tune that was terribly off key while Dad sat in his chair and smoked a pipe. A tear came and dribbled down my chin. I hadn’t become a great ninja like I promised her. Or a great person. I let dad become an alcoholic after she died, then failed to protect him or the rest of the village because I was immature and selfish. It was my fault the Uchiha clan was gone. And there was nothing I could do about it.
Can you hear me, Mom? Do you forgive me?
Kakashi turned to face Naruto and Sasuke who sat there and looked as though they were fixing to cry. “Alright. I’ll give you one last chance. But I’m going to make it much harder on you. You’ll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength, but Naruto doesn’t get any.”
I walked back to the stumps and wiped my face with the bottom of my shirt. I knew I looked as mess.
Naruto growled at Kakashi. “It’s your punishment for trying to eat lunch by yourself,” Kakashi said. So that’s what he did, “And if anyone tries to feed him, that person will automatically fail.”
The three of us stared at him. How harsh could he possibly be?
He gave us a dark look and lowered his voice, “I make the rules. You follow them. Got it?”
~
Sasuke began eating his food while I just sat there staring at mine while hugging my knees to my chest. I wasn’t hungry anymore.
Naruto was still tied to the post and his stomach sounded like a dying whale, “This is no big deal! I can go without eating for days! For weeks! Believe it! This is no. Big. Deal!” he shouted more to reassure himself than us.
I grabbed the food that was sitting in front of me and held it out to Naruto, “Here.”
“Wha-? Red you can’t do that! You heard what Kakashi said!” Naruto protested. But I could see his mouth watering and hear his stomach growling.
“He’s gone. If we are going to go after those bells then we’ll all need all of our strength. If you’re hungry you will be weak. That’ll hurt the team and jeopardize our mission,” I looked at the food I held out. I smiled at him. I couldn’t go on being upset with myself. For the sake of my team I had to pull myself together to help them become ninja.
“Here, Loser,” Sasuke said looking away, “You can have mine too.”
“Sasuke…,” Naruto said quietly, “Thank you both.”
I smiled, “Don’t thank us just hurry up and eat before Sensei gets back.”
“But… isn’t that your lunch?”
“Oh, I’m not going to eat it. I had that one bite of apple this morning. I’m still full. So just take it, Naruto!”
Naruto twitched a little, “I can’t take it! Because… I can’t move my hands you’re gonna have to feed me,” he said indicating the ropes.
“HUH?”
“Hurry up,” Sasuke rushed us, “He could come back at any minute.”
“Ughh,” I picked up the chopsticks and made them grab a chunk of rice, “This is one time only! That’s it! I’ll never do anything like this ever again! And if anyone finds out I did this for you, you'll regret it! Big time! Is that clear?” I yelled.
Naruto blushed and gave me a close-eyed smile, “Clear as a bell, Red. Ahhh,” He opened his mouth and I dropped the food in. Which he gulped down quickly.
A large cloud of dust appeared in front of us with winds threatening to knock us over, “YOU!” Kakashi shouted at us. I could just make him out as the dust disappeared. He saw us feeding Naruto. “You broke the rules! I hope you’re ready for the punishment!” He began forming seals faster than I could identify them. Dark storm clouds rolled overhead and thunder and lightning boomed out of them, “Any last words?”
I stood my ground ready to attack. Was he honestly going to kill his students?
“B-B-But y-you s-s-said….,” Naruto cowered.
“Yes?”
“You said there were three of us! That’s what you said! And that’s why… Red… uhhh…”
Sasuke picked himself off the ground and stared defiantly at Kakashi, “We’re all in this squad and we’re all in it together!”
“That’s right!” I yelled, “We gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one!”
“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” Naruto began swinging his legs wildly on his post, “Believe it! That’s right!”
“The three of you are one? That’s your excuse?” Kakashi walked forward and looked us each in the eye, lightning crashing behind him. “Hmph,” his expression softened and you could see a smile through his mask, “You pass.”
“Huh?” the three of us said in unison.
“You. Pass.”
“What do you mean?” Naruto raised his eyebrows and questioned Kakashi, “How’d we pass?”
The clouds began to part and expose the sun whose rays shone brightly on us, “You’re the first squad that ever succeeded,” he said it like it was a surprise to him too, “The others did exactly what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn’t think for themselves,” he lifted his head and stood tall in front of us, gleaming with how proud he was. “A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break rules are scum and that’s true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.”
I smiled, yes!
Sasuke smirked beside me but I knew he was just as excited as Naruto who began sniffling, tears were evident in his eyes, “He’s uhh… you know… He’s kinda cool,” He managed to choke out.
“The exercise is over! Everyone passes! Squad 7 starts their first mission tomorrow!” Kakashi exclaimed giving us a big thumbs up.
“I did it! I did it! I did it! Believe it! I’m a ninja! Ninja! Nin-jaaa!” Naruto cried with excitement.
Kakashi smiled and turned to leave, “Let’s go home.”
Sasuke and I began walking with him. Two Uchiha’s side by side, walking on the road to being a better ninja.
“I KNEW THEY’D DO THIS IT HAPPENS EVERY TIME! BELIEVE IT! YOU GUYS FORGOT TO UN TIE ME!” Naruto shouted angrily behind us.
~
I had to rewatch the episode to write the last two chapters so I wouldn't screw anything up majorly. When I got to the part where Kakashi tells them they passed I touched my cheek and realized I was crying (I know, I am such a nerd). If you haven't seen some of the first episodes in a while, I think you should. It's amazing how much it will get to you.
Thank y'all so much for all the reads! But I'm not done with Red's story yet! I'll be uploading soon! Believe it!