Akari POV

Yesterday, Kakashi said to wake up early and not eat breakfast... I did the opposite. But can ya blame me? He's gonna be at the memorial stone all morning to wallow and pity...

So, today was the BIG test. Kakabaka is gonna make us work together, but how am I gonna make them work together...

Aha!! I have got it!

After having a chocolate covered house, I went to the training grounds.

"YOUR LATE," Pink banshee and Whiskers shouted.

"Sorry, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long road," I sniggered, taking Kakabakas line.

I walked over to an area near Sasuke and leaned on a tree like he was. Oh, this is gonna be fun.

He looked at me and hned. I copied the action, making him grow a tick mark. I did the same.

"Stop copying me, " we both said at the same time. This is just too rich!

He got up from where he was and walked over to me, stopping about a foot from my face.

He seemed to be studying me, taking in every detail.

"Like what you see~," I sang mockingly, which made him blush and step back to his tree again, letting me shine in victory.

Kakabaka then poofed out of nowhere, saying, "sorry I'm late, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take a long way."

Whiskers, Banshee and duck butt looked from him to me rapidly, mouths agape.

"Hn, we must have taken the same path," I chirped as he eyed me suspiciously.

Then he did all of his 'splaining, dumb questions here and there. As soon as he said to start, I disappeared, going behind him and masking my chakra.

He didn't notice me yet, so I took two bells for my plan, not replacing them with something.

Time Skip

The bell rang, signaling the end of the test. What did I do? Absolutely nothing.

As soon as everyone got here, I threw a bell into Narutos and I's pockets.

"Looks like nobody got a bell," Kakashi chided.

"Oh yes... they did," I said creepily, pointing to Whiskers and myself, "check in your pockets.

He did as he was told, bringing out a bell. After that, I held up mine.

"Why didn't I get a bell," Banshee asked glumly.

Duck butt was fuming.

"Hey, don't ruffle your feathers, Duck butt. Just watch," I said, whispering the last part to myself.

Naruto sadly looked at the bell, and looked at the pink banshee, his "one true love."

"Here, Sakura, I want you to have this," Naruto said, giving the bell to her.

Now Sakura was befuddled by what to do. She wanted to become a ninja, but she wanted to be a ninja with her Sasuke. So she gave it to him.

When Sasuke didn't say thank you, a karate chopped him in the head, making her m scowl at me.

"Say sorry to her! She gave you a bell, and you can't even say SORRY?!"

I was beyond mad. She was being kind to him and helping him make his dream come true! He could at least say sorry.

Then, realization hit Naruto like a wrecking ball, making him go wide-eyed.

"Hey!!! We are one! This test was used to see who was better!! Believe it!!"

All of us were taken aback, seeing how quickly he figured it out, making the others figure it out as well.

"Yeah," banshee agrees, "we are one!!"

Sasuke just hned in agreement.

"You all," Kakashi started dramatically, "... PASS!

"WHAT?!" Naruto and Sakura screamed, making my ears bleed.

"The meaning of this exercise was teamwork. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that is true, but those who abandon friends are worse than scum. You are all dismissed, except for Akari," Kakabaka said as the others left, leaving me in the dust.

"How did you know that was gonna work," Kakashi asked as soon as everyone was out of sight.

"It was simple, really. By giving Naruto one, he would give up his dream for one more year for that banshee, then banshee would want her Sasuke-Kun to be a ninja, so she gave it to him. Overall, I didn't expect Naruto to be the one to figure it out," I ranted as Kakabaka nodded slowly, taking it all in.

"Very clever, Akari. You are dismissed," he said shooing me away.

As I walked home, I thought about the future and what it may hold.