My Brother's a Jinchūriki!

Chapter Sixty-Four- Three Against One: An Unexpected Match!

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto stood around the trio of posts in the third training grounds waiting for Kakashi to show up.

Naruto scrunched his face and kept his arms crossed as he grumbled to himself. "Why does Kakashi-sensei always tell us to meet and then he's the one late?"

Sakura sighed deeply, keeping her eyes closed. "I wonder why he called us here. We're not supposed to have any missions in preparation of the Chunin Exam..."

Sasuke kept his arms crossed his arms as he leaned against the post.

Finally, Kakashi approached them with his hand raised in greeting. "Good morning!" He stuck his hands into his pocket and smiled. "There was an old woman who needed help crossing the street."

Naruto and Sakura pointed at him simultaneously with a scowl. "Liar!"

Kakashi chuckled and stopped in front of them. "Let's get right to it, then." He looked over the three of him with a hand on his hip. "As you know, there are still a few days left to submit your applications for the Chunin Exam, but today I wanted to put you through one final exercise to prepare you, should you decide to take it."

"Prepare us?" Sakura lowered her arm and tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"

"To put it simply..." Kakashi looked up for a moment and then back to his team. "You'll be competing against your old classmates and friends. Normally, you would hold back against a friend, but in the Chunin Exams, everyone has to compete with one another. You'll have to put your qualms aside if you're going to advance."

"So," He continued as Naruto crossed his arms and listened. "I've enlisted the help of a familiar face."

Kakashi turned to look to the side and Natsumi stepped out of the forest with a smile.

"Natsumi?!" Naruto blinked. "How is she going to help?"

Natsumi met Kakashi's eyes for a moment, her cheeks warming slightly as she stopped beside him and smiled at her brother.

"She'll be your opponent for this exercise."

Naruto and Sakura's eyes widened as they stared at the redhead, who nodded.

"That's right!" Natsumi beamed and looked at them. "It'll be fun."

"Opponent?" Naruto muttered and scratched his cheek. "Say, Kakashi-sensei... what do you mean by that?"

"It's exactly how it sounds. The three of you will be fighting against Natsumi."

Their eyes widened and Sakura froze in place, gulping. "Her?! We have to fight... her?" She glanced sideways at Sasuke and let out a sigh. "Well, considering her speed alone in the classroom that time... I don't think I have much of a chance against her, but there's no way she could defeat Sasuke."

"Wha—?!" Naruto looked at Natsumi. "Kakashi-sensei, what do you mean?! I have to fight my own sister?!"

"Naruto, the other Genin participating are not going to go easy on anyone— not even on their own friends. You'll have a lot of competition and only a few can become Chunin in the end. If you hold yourself back, you'll be held back." Natsumi shrugged. "It's as simple as that."

Kakashi looked down at the girl and then nodded. "Well said."

Natsumi blushed faintly at the praised and clasped her hands behind her back as she waited. Kakashi put one hand on his hip and turned to his team.

"That's right; only a few will be able to earn the title of Chunin. During the Exam, you will have to give it your all. The best way to prepare for that is to give your all during training. If you're lazy in your training, your skills will be low during the exam."