Ding!
[Aura System]
+15 Aura Points gained.
(Farming Method: Stating one's cool ambition in utter seriousness.)
Silence settled over the rooftop.
Kakashi tilted his head slightly, his lone visible eye unreadable as he processed what had just happened.
Naruto sat there, blinking in dumbfounded awe.
Sasuke, meanwhile, was completely still—the only sign of his inner turmoil being the continuous twitching of his eyebrow.
Sakura remained unmoving, her fist still clenched, her gaze sharp. She had just taken Sasuke's entire life mission and stated it first.
It was almost a shame to let the silence break.
Eventually, Kakashi, with the air of a man who had already seen too much in his lifetime, turned to Sasuke. "Well? Your turn."
Sasuke inhaled slowly, visibly forcing his irritation down as he spoke through gritted teeth.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I hate, and not much that I like."
Sakura could tell he was still processing what had just happened, but he powered through, his voice turning sharper.
"But I have an ambition that I don't intend to leave as a dream. The revival of my clan and to…"
He hesitated for the briefest moment.
Not because he had doubts… no, his conviction was absolute. But Sakura could see the internal struggle in his eyes, as if debating whether to change his words after what had just occurred. But in the end, he continued, voice low and dangerous:
"...to surpass and kill a certain man."
Another chime echoed in Sakura's mind.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+1 Aura Points gained.
(Farming Method: Indirectly infuriating the last Uchiha.)
Sasuke's eyebrow started twitching again.
Naruto, utterly oblivious to the unspoken battle between his two teammates, pointed dramatically at Sasuke. "Hey, that's what Sakura said! You shouldn't copy other people's dreams, Sasuke!"
Sasuke didn't even dignify that with a response. He simply clenched his jaw and glared at Sakura as if trying to will her out of existence.
Sakura, in contrast, remained completely composed, her passive aura farming thriving under the tension.
Kakashi, for his part, took a very long pause before he finally spoke, his eye narrowing just slightly at Sakura.
"...Alright."
The fact that he didn't comment further was evidence enough that he had many questions but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the effort.
After a beat, he cleared his throat. "Well, you three have… interesting personalities, at least."
The way he said interesting almost made Sakura smirk.
Kakashi shifted his posture slightly, his tone growing more serious. "We'll begin our missions starting tomorrow. But before that… we're going to do something, the four of us."
Naruto perked up. "What? What is it?"
For a moment, Kakashi just stared at them, the silence stretching.
Then, his mask shifted slightly, indicating an open-mouthed grin.
"Survival training."
The wind chose that precise moment to pick up, ruffling Kakashi's hair and flak jacket, as if the very universe was conspiring to make him look cooler.
Sakura took notes.
Naruto tilted his head. "Survival training? But we already did that in the Academy!"
Kakashi let out a low chuckle, closing his eye in amusement. "Ah, but this won't be your typical training exercise… this time, you'll have to survive against me."
The grin was practically radiating from beneath his mask.
Naruto blinked. "Huh? Why would we need to—"
"If I told you," Kakashi interrupted, his voice dropping an octave, "you'd chicken out."
Naruto immediately squinted in suspicion. "Chicken out? Why?"
Kakashi splayed his fingers over his face in a dramatic gesture, his expression shadowed ominously. The air around him shifted, and the very trees in the background seemed to sway in tandem with his aura.
"Because," he said, pausing for effect, "out of the 27 students in your graduating class… only 9 will be accepted as Genin."
The air grew still.
"The other 18… will be sent back to the Academy for more training."
Naruto's jaw dropped.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, his interest finally piqued.
Sakura remained still.
Kakashi let the moment sink in before delivering the final blow:
"In other words, the test we're about to take… has a 66% failure rate."
For a second, Naruto just froze, processing the words.
Then—
"WHAAAT?!"
Kakashi laughed. "See? You're chickening out already."
Naruto flailed dramatically. "That sucks! We already went through hell to graduate! What about our exam?!"
Kakashi gave a casual wave of his hand. "Oh, that? That was just to weed out the hopeless cases. The real test is tomorrow."
"WHAT?!"
Ignoring Naruto's rising volume, Kakashi continued, his tone almost amused. "We'll meet tomorrow at Training Ground 7. That's where I'll be evaluating your skills and weaknesses. Bring all your tools and weapons."
He paused briefly before adding with way too much amusement, "And don't eat breakfast. Unless you want to throw up."
Before they could even process that threat, Kakashi casually tossed three handouts their way. "Details are on these. Memorize them. And don't be late."
Sasuke glanced at the paper for half a second before crumpling it in his fist.
Naruto, squinting at the document, seemed to be struggling with the first line.
Sakura, without even looking at it, effortlessly caught the sheet mid-air and smoothly slid it into her shinobi pouch in one seamless motion.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+1 Aura Points gained.
(Farming Method: Effortlessly catching important documents .)
And with that, their first meeting was over.
Tomorrow… the real test would begin.
As Kakashi poofed away in a swirl of leaves and sheer disrespect for punctuality, Naruto groaned loudly, throwing his arms behind his head.
"Man, what is with that guy? First, he's late, then he drops a bomb like that on us?!"
Sasuke, predictably, said nothing, already standing up and walking off, his hands buried in his pockets, brooding at maximum efficiency.
Sakura remained seated for a moment longer, letting the wind ruffle her combat shirt as she stared at the spot where Kakashi had just been.
Ding!
[Aura System]+1 Aura Points gained.(Farming Method: Remaining seated ominously while the wind enhances one's dramatic presence.)
She exhaled quietly.
Not bad.
Naruto, still reeling from the information overload, stomped forward, pointing at her. "Oi, Sakura, how are you so calm about all this? We have to fight him tomorrow! Didn't you hear him?! Only 9 of us are gonna pass!"
Sakura tilted her head slightly. "And?"
Naruto spluttered. "AND?! What if we fail?!"
Sakura blinked. Then, in one fluid motion, she stood up.
Ding!
[Aura System]+1 Aura Points gained.(Farming Method: Rising from one's seat in an eerily composed manner, further cementing one's presence.)
Sakura didn't answer. She simply turned and jumped off the rooftop in a blur of movement.
Naruto just stood there, dumbfounded at the way he had been ignored.
Then he turned to Sasuke, who had stopped at the stairs. "Tell me you saw that. She's doing this on purpose!"
Sasuke just scoffed. "Hn."
And with that, he left.
Naruto stood there for a moment before sighing deeply and shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Man, everyone's so damn cool all of a sudden…"
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