The Legend of Konoha's Shooting Star

Kakashi's Final Decision

"Hehehe!" Naruto laughed, grinning slyly, as he sat down to eat the bentos he had spotted while hanging upside down from the tree. "Instead of wasting time trying to get the bell... I can just hide and eat the lunches now. Hehehe, time to eat!!" he said, clapping his hands together.

"Hey," Kakashi said as he loomed over him ominously, perched on top of the stone memorial.

"... That was just a joke..." Naruto said awkwardly with a tense expression on his face, breaking out into a nervous sweat.

"Too late!" Kakashi stated bluntly.

'Damn it... There's that large a difference...?' Sasuke thought, gritting his teeth in frustration. Like April, he was still buried up to his neck.

"!" he and Sakura both gasped in surprise when she ran out of some bushes and their eyes met.

"..." Sakura's eyes widened and she broke out into a nervous sweat. "Awww!!! His severed head!!" she screamed before abruptly fainting.

"Wh... What?" Sasuke said, furrowing his brow in confusion as he sweat-dropped.

Meanwhile, April had managed to make a little progress on her own escape.

"Ung!" she grunted as she finally succeeded in wriggling her hands free enough to make a hand seal. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Two shadow clones appeared in a puff of smoke. "Okay, guys. Dig me out."

"Hey," Sasuke said, trying to get Sakura to wake up after having just finished digging himself out.

'Huh? Sasuke-kun's voice?' she thought, opening her eyes. "!" she gasped when she saw that he was sitting right next to her, alive, whole, and unscathed. "Sasuke-kun!!! You're all right!!!" she cried with relief, glomping him affectionately.

"Stop!! Don't hug me!!" he shouted, getting flustered. "There's not much time until lunch," he stated once he'd freed himself. "I'm going."

"Sasuke-kun, you're still going after the bell?" Sakura asked.

"I already touched it. Next time I'll get it," he stated confidently.

"What!!?" Sakura exclaimed in shock and surprise. No way! "Oh, I see... you're incredible, Sasuke-kun..." she said with a tense smile. 'This is bad, there's no way I can get a bell... at this rate, I'll be separated from Sasuke-kun,' she thought anxiously. "You know, there isn't much time left, so... we don't have to push ourselves too hard... There's always next time..." Sasuke glared at her.

"!" Sakura flinched, gulping nervously.

"There's a man that only I can kill," he said, looking away.

"... Oh..." she said nervously. "Who? Kakashi-sensei?"

"That time... crying..."

"Crying?"

"My..."

"What... do you mean?"

"I am an avenger," Sasuke stated darkly. "I have to become stronger than that man. So I can't just stay around here..."

"!" Sakura gasped as she remembered what Sasuke had said about his ambition.

To kill a certain man.

BRRINNNG~!

The alarm clock went off, signaling that it was noon. Time was up.

"Tch!" Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance as he kicked the ground and started heading back. "Damn!! Wasted too much time."

"..." Sakura watched as he left, not knowing what to say. 'Sasuke-kun...'

Ten minutes later, they were all back at the starting point. Sasuke, Sakura, and April were sitting on the ground, taking a rest, while Naruto was tied to a stump for trying to cheat. Their stomachs let out a combined growl that was embarrassingly loud.