"So it was teamwork!"
Naruto and Sakura were surprised. Naruto—the class clown with grades consistently at the bottom—had actually analyzed the situation thoroughly.
Sakura, needless to say, had been worried about failing since last night. She hadn't even considered analyzing the evaluation criteria. Sasuke, while he'd analyzed quite a bit, hadn't thought about the teamwork aspect at all.
"That explains why we're in groups of three," Sasuke said. He exhaled sharply and turned to stare intently at Naruto. "This must have been explained to you by Menma, right?"
He paused, his voice dropping slightly. "He's powerful and intelligent, sure, but I suggest you don't rely on him too much. He's dangerous."
"Wha—?!" Naruto had been grinning smugly, but his laughter stopped abruptly. A flash of guilt crossed his face, though he stubbornly insisted, "How do you know it wasn't my own idea?!"
"You're just jealous that I'm smarter and analyze things better than you!" Naruto shot back.
Sakura agreed with Sasuke's words. The shock in her eyes as she looked at Naruto vanished, replaced by suspicion.
"You couldn't analyze a math problem in the academy," she said flatly. "But now, suddenly, you're a master strategist?"
"I remember Menma," Sakura added, her voice low. "Powerful but ruthless. He took down that Jōnin impersonating our teacher in seconds. If your analysis came from him telling you, then it makes sense."
"Menma is just my alternate personality!" Naruto insisted, stubbornly refusing to admit his analysis was garbage. "What he says is what I say!"
"Menma? Alternate personality?" Sasuke and Sakura said in unison, their eyes locking onto Naruto with intense curiosity.
They'd both had their suspicions about the entity inside him, but neither had pried. Every ninja had their secrets, and digging into someone else's business just bred resentment.
But Naruto didn't seem to mind. He was going to be their partner, so there was no point hiding it.
"Fine. It's complicated," Naruto sighed, scratching his head. "But basically? Naruto Uzumaki and Menma—that's Menma—are both me. Two sides of the same coin."
Hearing the story, both of them let out a long sigh. Sakura understood Naruto's past better now, and sympathy welled up in her eyes.
Sasuke, on the other hand, felt a pang of envy. If he had a powerful ally like that inside him, he could kill Itachi Uchiha in no time.
"Two sides," Sasuke muttered, a sarcastic edge to his voice. "One side's an underdog, the other's a leader. Figures."
He shook his head, shifting the subject. "Alright, we're done talking about Naruto. Now, we need to discuss the division of labor within the team."
Now that they understood Kakashi's evaluation criteria, they needed to perform to them. If they messed up the roles, they'd end up working against each other and fail.
"How do we split the tasks?" Naruto asked, looking between them. This kind of mental work wasn't his strong suit.
"It's obvious," Sakura said, reciting academy basics. "Main attack, feint attack, and overall command."
Sasuke nodded, turning back to Naruto. "Will Menma intervene?"
"No. I'm planning to keep him out of this," Naruto said, waving his hands. "Every time he attacks, it's terrifying. I don't want our team leader getting killed."
"Then, can you still use Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu? Can you make as many clones as before?"
"I used to, but not now," Naruto admitted with a grimace. "Now I can only make about ten at most."
There was a reason for that. Mizuki had slapped his stomach yesterday, and Naruto felt like his chakra levels had dropped significantly.
"But I can still use the Clone Technique without failing!" Naruto insisted. "That hasn't changed."
His internal chakra flow was currently a mess. The Five Elements Seal Mizuki had placed on him was interfering with the Eight Trigrams Seal, preventing it from converting Kurama's chakra into his own. That made his reserves feel smaller.
Usually, having two conflicting chakra types would cause chaos in his body. But thanks to the system, Menma had exchanged for a specific type of Kurama's chakra—one Naruto could control perfectly. That control stabilized his body, preventing the chaos and letting him use the Clone Technique smoothly.
"Alright," Sasuke said, accepting the explanation. "Then I'll take the lead. Naruto, you'll feint and support me. Sakura, you oversee the big picture and support us."
He laid out the tactical assignments quickly. They couldn't plan everything perfectly—this was their first time working together, and being too rigid would just get in the way.
"As expected of Sasuke!" Sakura beamed, swaying slightly in admiration. "He's so cool!"
Naruto, standing to the side, glared daggers at him. He's just trying to steal the spotlight and win Sakura over!
"Why are you the main attacker?" Naruto demanded. "I want to be the main attacker!"
"Fine," Sasuke sighed, too lazy to argue. "You be the main attacker. I'll feint."
It didn't matter who did what. As long as they passed the assessment, the roles were irrelevant.
---
By the time the sun was directly overhead, Kakashi finally arrived, bag slung over his shoulder, looking thoroughly late.
"Hey. Good morning."
"You're late!" they all shouted, glaring at him.
They'd been there since 6 a.m., and it was almost noon. Kakashi had kept them waiting for five hours.
Luckily, Naruto had the foresight to bring fried noodles, bread, and milk. Otherwise, they'd be starving.
"Excuse me," Kakashi said, not looking sorry at all. "I wasn't late. I just got lost on the road of life."
He pulled a book from his bag—Make-Out Paradise—and held it up. "I lost track of time reading this. It's the author's fault for writing something even better than Make-Out Paradise."
Without hesitation, Kakashi shifted the blame on the author, though he had no idea Naruto was actually the author.
"Alright, calm down," Kakashi said, slipping the book away. "This is part of the test."
He reached into his bag and pulled out an alarm clock and two small bells.
"It's 11 a.m.," he lied, setting the clock. "Correction—I'll set it for noon. You have one hour to steal these two bells from me."
He dangled the bells. "Whoever doesn't get a bell by the end watches the others eat lunch. They'll be tied to those pillars over there."
He pointed to three wooden pillars nearby.
"So this is how they threaten us not to eat breakfast," Sakura muttered.
She and Sasuke exchanged a relieved glance. At least Naruto had brought food.
"But," Kakashi added with a sinister smile, "there are only two bells. So one of you is destined to fail. You'll be deemed unqualified and sent back to the academy to retake the course."
Silence.
Then, the genin exchanged looks, their faces beaming with hidden joy.
Just as they'd predicted!
The test was designed to make them turn on each other. If they fought individually, none of them would get a bell. They'd all fail.
"Tsk," Kakashi clicked his tongue, looking genuinely impressed. "Your mental fortitude is really good. Not a single one of you is surprised or upset. Honestly, I'm starting to look forward to seeing what you've got."
His eye curved into a smile. He casually pulled a book from his bag—Make-Out Paradise.
"Alright, enough chit-chat," Kakashi said. "Let's begin."
---