Naruto: The First Step

Chapter 26

Sakura teleported to where Naruto was sitting.

"Hey, Naruto.", she sweetly said.

Naruto wasn't surprised at her arrival at all.

"Hey.", he said.

"What do you think?", Sakura asked.

"He's making us confused. That's what. But not me.", Naruto said.

"You figured it out?", she asked, surprised.

"Well, yeah."

Sakura perked up by hearing this.

'He figured it out already?', Sakura thought.

'Hell, yeah!! Naruto-kun is so smart!!', Inner Sakura cheered.

'One of the things I love about him.', she dreamily thought.

"Wanna hear it?", Naruto asked, bringing her back to her senses.

"Hai!", she said.

"Here's how I figured it out. There are 2 bells right?", he started.

She nodded.

"Right. So he said only 2 of us are to pass and the 3rd will go back to the academy. He wants to trick us into going for the bells all alone.", he continued.

"What do you mean?", she asked.

"To get the bells, we need teamwork. That's the whole point of this test. We need to work together to accomplish this task.", Naruto said.

"And what if we were able to get the bells? What's gonna happen to us?", she asked.

"Hopefully, none of us goes back to the academy.", he said.

Sakura nodded, getting his point.

"We need to get to Sasuke. Knowing him, he might rush in there by himself and try to get the bells.", Naruto said.

They nodded to each other and teleported to where Sasuke was hiding. The Uchiha was ticked off.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?! You're going to get us all in trouble!", Sasuke silently screamed.

"Sasuke, Naruto figured it all out.", Sakura said.

Sasuke sighed.

"Alright. Explain.", Sasuke said.

Naruto did. Once he was done, Sasuke seemed to get it and was impressed.

"How could I not have known that? It seemed easy.", Sasuke complained.

"Oh, quit your yappin'! We need to rack our brains and formulate a plan!", Naruto said.

Sasuke snorted.

"Whatever.", Sasuke said.

They walked away from that area and began planning.

"So that's it. Sakura will be the diversion and will lure him towards our hiding place where we will ambush him and Sasuke and I will handle things from there. Sound good?", Naruto said.

"As good as a plan will ever be.", Sasuke stated.

"Alright. Let's go!", Naruto said.

They split up and Naruto and Sasuke positioned themselves separately. Sakura, on the other hand, went looking for Kakashi whom they didn't realize was gone.

She walked a few meters from them and began searching Kakashi in every tree and bush.

Some leaves began flying through the air even though the sun was hot as a summer's day and no breeze or wind passed by the training field. She was surrounded by the pile of leaves and they flew skyward as if a leafy tornado was sucking her in.

In a few minutes, the leaves fell all around her and she looked around if she could spot the Jounin. She heard the sounds of sandals walking through the leaves and saw Sasuke badly beaten and bruised. He had cuts and broken limbs in evey corner of his pale body.

"S-Sakura... help. Please.", Sasuke pleaded.

She noticed that the Sasuke she saw is only a Henge and formed a hand seal, mentioning the word 'Kai!'.

In an instant, Sasuke disappeared and in his place was the very Jounin she was looking for. Kakashi was shocked on how she learned it was a trick.

"You may be thinking right now on how I figured out your Jutsu.", Sakura guessed.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I was assuming you liked that Uchiha boy when you said you liked someone. Perhaps, I was mistaken.", Kakashi said.

"Badly. Most of the girls my age and even older loves that emo. But not me. I wasn't attracted by his looks. It's his attitude. I am attracted to boys who are more respectful, hard-working, lovable, and caring than him.", Sakura explained.

Kakashi nodded.

"So, I see. Perhaps, it's that blondie, yes?", Kakashi asked.

Sakura blushed a pink hue and nodded. She began to remember what she was supposed to do.

"Alright. Let's get serious for once, sensei.", she said, forming a fighing stance.

Kakashi smiled from under his mask and nodded.