Konoha's Maelstrom

7

Meiko was an enigma to Sasuke. Just last week she was pulling pranks every two seconds and dumb. Now, she was calculative and quick-witted. She had skills better than what he knew and he was jealous.

He should have that strength and skill. He needed it to defeat Itachi, so why did Meiko get all that and he didn't?

It was infuriating.

Sasuke was ready by exactly five A.M. and he left his house in the Uchiha Complex. He arrived at the training grounds at 5.12 A.M.

Upon his arrival, Sakura brightened. He ignored her and began leaning on one of the three wooden poles.

Another three hours passed and Meiko turned up. She walked in.

Sakura greeted her with shouts of anger of her being late. Sasuke watched with annoyance. The duality of that girl infuriated him.

"Be quiet," he said. Sakura immediately quietened.

"But Sasuke-ku-"

"Thanks Sasuke, the ringing in my ears wasn't going away," Meiko interrupted.

Sakura made a noise of indignation, but the two weren't listening to her. Sasuke was mentally preparing for the test because he had to pass. Meiko was deciding on how one would go about storing chakra for later usage in case someone was out of chakra and didn't want to have one of those horrible black pills.

And then, two hours later, their teacher turned up.

Sakura stood up very quickly and shouted, "YOU'RE LATE!"

Meiko and Sasuke were slower, but they also stood behind Sakura. Meiko had her arms crossed and Sasuke's hands were in his pockets.

"Well a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." Sasuke rolled his eyes at the excuse.

Kakashi placed his backpack down and pulled out an alarm clock, which he set for noon. He put it on one of the posts. He then took out two tied bells.

"Today's assignment is to take these bells away from me by noon. Those who can't do it won't get lunch. They'll be tied to that...and I'll eat my lunch before your very eyes," Kakashi pointed to the wooden posts.

Sasuke glared. That was the point of no breakfast, he realised.

Sakura was internally screaming at her hunger. She held her stomach as it growled and seemed to be about to shout when she looked at Meiko. Meiko was unaffected and smirking, as if she had eaten.

Sakura was about to point it out when Kakashi's words caught up with her and she finally asked an important question. "But, hold on. Why are there only two bells?"

"There are only two, so at the very least, one will have to go to the logs. That person will be disqualified for failing the mission...and will return to the Academy," Kakashi announced, very obviously smiling beneath the mask. "It might be one person at the very least, or it could be all three of you. You can use your shuriken. You won't be able to take the bells unless you come with the intent to kill me."

"But, that's dangerous sensei!" Sakura exclaimed in concern.

Meiko, true to her act and because she was extremely bored, spoke up, "Especially if you couldn't sense and dodge that simple piece of fuinjutsu. And easy to sense as I didn't even try to cover it up."

Kakashi replied easily, "Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores. Losers."

It was a jibe to get a reaction out of Meiko. She would be lying if she said it didn't annoy her much but Meiko didn't rise to the bait. She cooled her anger and pushed it down. Kakashi needed her to lose her temper, when she did, she would fight recklessly.