As you all know, Naruto had it hard as a kid. Nobody wanted to be his friend, the entire village rejected him, and the worst of all, he didn't have anybody to care, love, or look after him. Well, all that changed for little Naruto when he unexpected...
"Let's see... Curry... or Onigiri? Curry... Onigiri... Curry... Onigiri... Curry...?"
I sat on the same branch with my back leaning against the trunk of the tree as I picked the flower petals of a flower while trying to figure out what I should make for dinner tonight. "Curry... or Onigiri..." I continued to pick the flower petals until I came down to the last one.
"I see... Curry it is, then," I said, dropping the flower to the ground. "Or wait! Should I make Udon instead?! Hmm... Decisions, decisions. Huh?"
I looked at the timer as it went off. "Time's up." I said as I watched Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura walk towards the rendezvous point.
Naruto's POV
"All three of you are being dropped from the program. Permanently!" Kakashi said. "What?! But that's not fair!" I objected. "Before this exercise began, I told you that all three of you had to get a bell by lunch or you all fail. There's nothing unfair about it." He said.
"But..." I paused, remembering my Mom's words. "Don't take that out of your pocket until the end. Once you and your teammates meet up with Kakashi again, that's when you can take it out."
"Right, but what did she stuff in my pocket?" I mumbled. I went in my pocket and gasped at what I pulled out. It was a bell! But how was Mom able to get ahold of it?! Did she fight Kakashi herself. "What?! Naruto, you got a bell?!" Sakura said.
Kakashi's POV
The missing bell! Naruto had it the whole time? But that's impossible! He couldn't have. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! I've figured out what we were supposed to do!" Naruto said.
"We were supposed to work as a team in order to get the bells. Despite there's only three of us and two of those bells, the point was for all of us to compromise and think of plan so we could get the bells together! I get it now! It was teamwork!"
'When did he get so smart? From his mother, I guess.' I thought. "For a class clown, you're pretty smart." I praised. "That's right! So, you have to give us another chance! Come on! You can't just fails all of us if I got a bell and figured out the answer! Give us one more chance!" Naruto practically begged.
He threw the bell at me and I caught it with one hand. "Hmm... All right, you've convinced me. I'm giving you all a second chance. You two should thank your teammate," I said, pointing towards Sasuke and Sakura.
"Anyway, eat your lunches. I'll be back soon. There's something I need to take care of." I said before walking off.
Naruto's POV
I grinned as Kakashi walked off, then disappeared. "How did you know?" Sasuke asked. "Huh?" I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?" I asked. "How did you know the answer to the exercise? I know you're not that smart." Sasuke said.
"Hey, I am smart!" I argued. "As if! You'll never be as smart as Sasuke, Naruto!" Sakura insulted. Eh... Maybe Mom's right. Sakura definitely isn't the girl fro me. All she really does is just insult me, like I'm not important to the team.
"Never mind that! The whole point is that we need to start working as a team!" I said. I grabbed my boxed lunch, opened it, and began to eat it quickly. I glanced at a tree, noticing a blue bird was watching me.
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What's up with that?
Haru's POV
I watched through my summoning, Aoi Tori's, eye as I frowned at how Sakura insulted Naruto. "Nobody would care if she disappeared. No one." I said. One of these days, I will make Sakura regret hurting my son.
I was in Yamanaka Flowers, buying a bouquet of flowers. Once I was bought them, I walked back to the training grounds and went to the Memorial Stone.
"For the fallen ninjas who fought bravely in battle. You have my gratitude," I said, placing the bouquet of flowers on the stone. "Rest well."
I held my hands together and closed my eyes, praying. When I was done, I opened my eyes and placed my hands in front of me as I stared at the stone until I heard footsteps walking over to me. I didn't have to turn around because I already knew who it was.
"Don't mind me, Kakashi. I'm only paying my respects to the ninjas who have fallen in battle." I said. "Was it you?" Kakashi asked. "I beg your pardon?" I said.
"Did you help Naruto?"
"I don't believe I know what you're talking about."
"The training exercise. Did you help Naruto?"
I smirked as my hair green bangs covered my eyes. "You know something, Kakashi Hatake? Instead of accusing me of helping my son, you should look into the matter that Naruto could be very smart after all." I said.
Yes, I did help out Naruto. But in his defense, he didn't know what was going on. I mean, how do you expect your child to know the answer to the test unless they study?
"Excuse me, but I really must be going." I said. I walked away, back into the woods. "Aoi Tori." I called. I held out the back of my hand as I saw him flying towards me until he perched himself on my hand. "Well? How's Naruto doing?" I asked it.
He blinked his eyes, then showed Naruto and his team through his eye. "They're sharing they're food. How generous. Nice job, Aoi. Let's leave things how they are right now." I said. He gave a nod, then perched himself on my shoulder.
I smiled at him and continued my way through the woods.
(Time skip)Naruto's POV
"All right! We passed!" I cheered. "Congratulations. All of you." Kakashi said. "Great! Uh-oh, I gotta go!" I said. "Huh? Hold on, where are you going?" Sakura asked. "I can't tell! See you all later!" I said, running off into the woods.
"Mom! Mom, are you here?!" I called. "Up here, Naruto," I looked up and grinned at I spotted my mother on a branch, gently swinging her legs. She smiled at me and jumped down from the branch, landing on her feet in front of me.
"How'd it go?" Mom asked. "It was awesome! You were right, Mom! The point of the exercise was teamwork!" I said, happily. She giggled. "I told you so. Well done, my son." Mom said, gently petting my head.
I smiled and hugged her waist. "You're the best Mom in the whole world! I love you so much!" I said. "And I love you as well." She replied, wrapping her arms around me as she hugged me back. Mom broke the hug and placed her hands on her knees.
"Now, let's see if we can arrange that date with you and Hinata."
