After realising they had been found out, the duo stopped attacking simultaneously and instead switched positions. Sasuke went completely on the attack while Naruto was in charge of not letting Kakashi get away. His movements were peculiar and a little more bestial than a year ago. The team dynamic was one familiar to Sakura as she watched them improve at a pace beyond her past timeline.
Their unfortunate sensei was feeling a little troubled right now with how they were complementing each other while not getting in each other's way. In face, an impulsive youth like Naruto was the type to always make plans go awry whenever he was involved, so how was it possible that he suddenly felt like listening to his teammates all of a sudden? There was something amiss...
Kakashi decided to let them lead him to where he assumed would be multiple traps. However, what he saw instead was a pink-haired girl who seemed to be leisurely leaning on a tree. She cut a string, and the traps set up activated in a chain reaction.
Normally, this would be the time that a ninja would retreat to make sure they weren't caught up into their own traps, but both Sasuke and Sakura instead advanced... since this was the greatest opportunity they could get to stealing the bells.
Even as logs, needles, darts, and arrows were flying everywhere, the two of them tag teamed Kakashi as Naruto was keeping the parameter checked. He also wanted to jump in but knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with them.
'They really are amazing…' Naruto was entranced by the scene that happened before him. It was like watching a well executed and choreographed dance rather than actual combat… Both Sakura and Sasuke had calculated movements due to knowing of the traps beforehand, but Kakashi was still able to keep up with his reflexes and intuition alone. This was the might of Kakashi being serious!
'These two are no longer on the level of just regular Gennin.' Kakashi thought with certainty. As they pressured him to such an extent, even his Taijutsu was failing to keep up as Sasuke landed a few clean hits on him. It was a rare occurrence...
'Time to end this!' Their sensei no longer felt like assessing them anymore as they had already proven impeccable teamwork… Now all that was left was to check their adaptability.
He could tell that that this seemed to be a plan of their's that was going along smoothly, but what will they do after their plan fails? There was no longer any need for him to hold back on using Ninjutsu.
In just a small moment, he caught Sasuke's arm.
'Dammit!' Sasuke knew he was screwed as his body was suddenly electrocuted by a Lightning Release.
Sakura knew what was going to happen next with her experience, yet could do nothing as Kakashi broke their coordination by throwing Sasuke into her. The chain reaction of traps were still ongoing so her choice of action was follow the force of being pushed back and retreating out of the area where she set up her traps. Sasuke also recovered quickly, but their plan had completely failed.
"What are you guys going to do now?" Their sensei spoke while also agilely jumping out of the chain reaction of traps. It was only a few seconds later that the traps stopped activating and everything turned eerily silent, as if a storm was brewing...
"Plan B."
"What was Plan B?" Sasuke had only heard of the initial plan.
"Run!" Sakura grabbed Sasuke and booted it out of there. Of course, how could their pursuer let them get away?
He tried putting Sakura under a Genjutsu to mess with her sense of direction, but found that it had been broken the same instant he used it. From what he could tell, it was as if she expected him to take such an action.
'No wonder they put her in the team. Her ability to lead the group is better than I expected.' An honest praise came into his head as he pursued them like a vulture hunting its weak prey. The fact they had pushed him to use Lightning Release said wonders about their synergy while they were fighting him in close combat.
The duo ran towards Naruto before disappearing using Body Flicker once again.
"What do we do now?" The knucklehead Ninja asked.
"One last time, we'll go at him all once. Naruto, I want you to take the opportunity once it presents itself."
She didn't want to give Kakashi any time to counter strategies against them, so she decided to go all out.
Once again, the duo of Sakura and Sasuke ambushed him once he let his guard down with their strongest moves.
[Fire Style- Fireball Jutsu!]
Sasuke expertly weaved hand signs while Sakura finally decided to display her actual physical strength.
"Cha!" Instead of using a log for substitution, she summoned one before throwing it in Kakashi's direction.
The flames covered the wooden projectile she threw and barely managed to graze their sensei who was retreating in full force. From the ash scattered about appeared Naruto he speedily caught up to the retreating figure and finally grabbed the bells.
'I got the bells!' He felt excited but was taken off guard by the pain he felt as soon as he grabbed them. Even as he was being electrocuted, he endured the pain while throwing the two bells to the teammates behind him.
"Okay, Survival Training is over." Kakashi spoke after capturing Naruto, but his next words killed their enthusiasm.
"But Naruto, you're don't have a bell… So you're not getting lunch today!"
"What?!!!"
But before he was tied up on a log, two hands grabbed each arm of Kakashi simultaneously.
"We won't agree on that." Sakura spoke on both their behalf.
"I'm you're instructor and the one who gives you your orders. You must know... those Ninjas who violate orders are scum of the Hidden Leaf." An invisible pressure bore down on them as he spoke.
Even Naruto felt like it wasn't worth it if his comrades were to lose their qualifications to become Ninja over him. The optimistic youth truly believed that he'd be able to become Hokage even if he doesn't get lunch for one day. Although he'll be hungry for a few hours, that was a small price to pay.
"We still refuse to budge."
"You're going to outright go against orders? I can have you sent back to the Academy with a word."
Even Sasuke was started to feel pressured now.
"Orders mean nothing if they mean abandoning a friend." To these words, both Naruto and Sasuke found the pressure on them lessen as they truly felt the same thing... It was like their thoughts were put into words. Then they looked defiantly at Kakashi.
"..." Kakashi let go of Naruto. They expected harsh reprimands but were instead greeted with a smile.
"You all pass. I guess I underestimated you." And on this day, Team 7 had finally formed as a unit.
"Pass what?"
"If you had abandonment him for even a moment, I would have sent you back to the Academy. Your words reminded me of a friend of mine.., One day, I hope you grow up to be Ninja who'll remember those words." There was reminiscence in his eyes.
"What do we do now?" Sasuke asked, his mind was blank after that harsh battle that took so much effort.
"You can partake in missions and show merit. What you do as a official team from now is up to the three of you." After leaving behind those words, he vanished into a puff of smoke.
Sasuke thought back to how they fought and decided it would be best for him to train more.
"We'll split up today and do missions tomorrow." The broody youth spoke to his teammates before leaving.
"Hold up!" But before Sakura could follow him, she felt Naruto grabbing onto her wrist to keep her back.
"What's wrong?" She turned to see him frowning. Did he get injured? No, Kakashi was the type who could meticulously control his strength if needed be. The jinchuriki before her could also self-heal on his own without needing specialised medicine.
"Firstly, why didn't you let me use the 'Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu'? I could have had him if I used it!"
"Even if you have a lot of Chakra, it's best not to be wasteful with it. I've already told you that the 'us' of right now can't match sensei if he got serious." She shook her head while taking his hand off her wrist.
Their sensei was someone with a lot of l burdens on his heart, so it was usually too late when he finally became serious. Depression from losing his comrades isn't something erased that easily...
"Okay, then… Lastly, what happened?"
"I'm not sure what you're saying."
"You've been feeling sad since yesterday."
"Have I?" Sakura touched her face as she was sure there was never a time she expressed negativity.
"Don't think you can hide anything from me! Did Sasuke say something? I'mma beat him up…!"
"He didn't say anything to me…"
"Then why are you sad?"
"..." She looked Naruto before stopping herself from saying anything. There was no way he'd believe her.
"Do you believe in destiny?"
"...What?"
"I said, if destiny preordained something, would you follow it?" She asked again with a deeper meaning.
"Depends if I like it or not, ya know. If destiny was to say I can't be the next or next-after-the-next Hokage, I'd beat the hell out of it!" These fiery words of determination couldn't help but make her smile from how familiar they felt.. This was the Naruto she knew, confident about himself no matter what obstacle was before him. The type who punched Neji Hyuga in the face when that guy started to act like he found all of life's truths.
"I guess your right…"
"Back to the point, now… Is Sasuke being cold to you again? You should be my girlfriend! I'd never treat you as cold as he does! Id be warm and nice and super duper nice! Believe it!" The knucklehead confessed to her once again before patting his chest abruptly, but she knew she couldn't accept these words since… she wasn't worthy.
Naruto would one day get with Hinata, a sweet girl who cared about him a lot and was brave enough to fight for him even when she was outmatched. Someone who couldn't even bring herself to him like her doesn't deserve his affection like this, it was just immaturity… One day, he would move on to the girl who was destined to be with him.
"Why, are you getting sadder? Okay, I won't confess to you anymore. Don't cry! I was just joking, alright?" Naruto was tripping over himself as he couldn't understand her emotions.
"Who's crying?!" She got a little angry at how this knucklehead was overreacting about her emotions.
"But I don't get you. Why go after Sasuke if he doesn't make you happy? What's wrong with being with me instead? Is it the looks? Trust me! My handsomeness when I grow up will get all the girls attention! You'll be missing out in the future if you don't accept." These narcissistic phrases was a first from him as he tried to lighten up the mood, and found he succeeded when he saw Sakura was trying her best not to laugh at him.
He didn't mind being the class clown if it meant the girl he liked could laugh a little instead of being so stoic. Brooding was better on Sasuke, not the girl he had feelings for. Definitely not the girl he fell for.
For some odd reason, though she seemed happy on the surface, he couldn't tell why she would force herself to smile even when it was unnecessary. His liked to a genuine smile from her than a faked one. It caused ripples in his heart...
Sakura's thoughts wondered as she realised that Naruto had always been 'faithful' to her just as she had been to Sasuke over the years. Not even outright rejection seemed to stop him from telling his father in the Fourth Great Ninja War that she was his girlfriend.
On the other hand, she confessed to Sasuke three times and got attacked him in response every single time… Although her love bore fruit in the end, wasn't their relationship a little tragic with how it went along?
"You can only say things like that because you haven't met Hinata yet," Her thoughts leaked out, surprising him. Naruto was confused since he couldn't remember who she was referring to, which had to do with how his isolation made it so he couldn't interact with her.
"She's someone you'll definitely fall for. Since 'Destiny' says so." Since she couldn't take her words back, all she did was say some cryptic words before leaving. Naruto was even more confused after being unable to follow.
"I choose my own destiny!" In the empty testing ground where they fought side by side, he declared heavily.