Teamwork!
Sakura landed smoothly on a tree branch, her breath even despite the ridiculous stunts she'd just pulled. Coolness was a resource, and she refused to waste it.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+8 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Effortless Landings.)
Beneath her, she could already hear arguing.
"I can get a bell on my own." Sasuke's voice was sharp, final.
"No way, bastard! I'M getting a bell first!" Naruto's voice was significantly louder.
Sakura sighed.
She had left for two minutes.
Two minutes.
And somehow, these two morons had immediately defaulted to fighting over the stupid bells.
She dropped down into their little hideout… just a small clearing behind a thick layer of bushes, safely out of sight from Kakashi. For now.
Naruto turned at the noise, grinning when he saw her. "Sakura! You should've seen it! We totally had Kakashi-sensei surrounded!"
Sakura just stared.
"…And how many bells do you have?"
Naruto's face froze.
Sasuke exhaled sharply. "Hn."
Ding!
[Aura System]
+6 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Devastating Naruto With Basic Logic.)
Sakura crossed her arms. "I'm assuming that means zero."
Naruto scowled. "Not yet! But I was just about to grab one before you interrupted!"
Sasuke made an unimpressed noise. "You? Get a bell?"
Naruto's scowl deepened. "Yeah, me! I can make a hundred clones, bastard! I have numbers!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Quantity doesn't matter if you can't even touch him."
"Oh yeah?! And what's YOUR great plan, huh? Scowl at him until he hands it over?!"
Sasuke's expression darkened. "I don't need a plan. I just need to be faster."
Sakura squinted.
Did he just…?
"Wait." She blinked. "Are you actually implying that you can beat Kakashi-sensei one-on-one?"
Sasuke crossed his arms, looking away. "Tch."
Sakura inhaled deeply. "Sasuke."
Silence.
"Sasuke."
More silence.
"…Sasuke. You just watched me hit him with three separate traps in a row, all perfectly timed, and that still wasn't enough to land a hit on him. And you think you can just… speed your way into victory?"
Sasuke's lips pressed into a thin line.
"…Yes."
Ding!
[Aura System]
+9 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Witnessing Uchiha Arrogance in Action.)
Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose.
Okay. Deep breath. Don't kill him.
Naruto crossed his arms. "Well, I don't care what either of you say! I'm getting a bell my way!"
Sakura squinted. "By throwing yourself at him until he gets bored and lets you win?"
Naruto gasped, offended. "That's not my plan!"
"…Is that not what you've been doing?"
Naruto looked away. "No…"
Sakura arched a brow.
"…Maybe."
Ding!
[Aura System]
+10 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Exposing Naruto's Lack of Strategy.)
Sakura exhaled slowly.
Okay.
Fine.
Clearly, they were still too stubborn to see the big picture.
That was fine.
She had other methods.
Like, say…
Letting them fail.
She smirked.
"…Alright." She took a step back, hands raised. "If you both think you can get a bell on your own, go ahead."
Naruto blinked. "Wait, really?"
Sasuke frowned. "What's your angle?"
"No angle." Sakura shrugged. "Go. Have fun. Show me how it's done."
Sasuke stared at her for a long moment, clearly suspicious.
Naruto, meanwhile, had already taken off. "HAHAHA! BELLS, HERE I COME—"
Sakura counted down in her head.
Three.
Two.
One.
*BOOM*
A loud thud echoed through the clearing.
Naruto screamed.
Sasuke and Sakura both turned.
Naruto was dangling upside down from a tree, caught in a snare.
Sasuke sighed.
Sakura smirked.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+12 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Letting Naruto Defeat Himself.)
Yeah.
Sakura took her time strolling over to where Naruto dangled from the tree, arms crossed as she inspected the situation.
Naruto flailed, trying to sit up in the air. "Uh… little help?!"
Sasuke stayed exactly where he was, arms still crossed. "You got yourself into this."
Naruto twisted, scowling. "Bastard! If you're so smart, then why don't you have a bell yet either?!"
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+8 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Instigating a Rivalry for Profit.)
Sakura sighed dramatically before flipping two senbon between her fingers and flicking them upwards.
Snip.
The rope snapped.
Naruto yelped as he crashed to the ground in a heap.
Sasuke huffed. "You should've left him."
Naruto groaned. "So much for teamwork, you jerk."
Ding!
[Aura System]
+10 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Mild Suffering.)
Sakura dusted off her hands. "Speaking of teamwork… I have a question for both of you."
Naruto sat up, rubbing his head. "What?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "…Go on."
Sakura leaned against a tree, tilting her head slightly. Perfect angle. The light hit her just right. Coolness confirmed.
Ding!
[Aura System]
+6 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Cinematic Framing.)
She smiled.
"Have you ever heard of a single Genin team being sent back to the Academy?"
Silence.
Naruto blinked. "Huh?"
Sasuke's brow furrowed slightly. "…No."
Sakura's smile widened. "Exactly."
Naruto scratched his head. "Wait, but Kakashi-sensei said he'd fail us if we didn't get a bell, right?"
Sakura tapped her temple. "Think about it, Naruto. We just said... no Genin teams ever get sent back. If every Jonin instructor did what Kakashi is supposedly doing, we'd have heard about at least one team failing before now."
Naruto's mouth opened, then closed. The gears in his brain were audibly struggling.
Sasuke, meanwhile, was already catching on. "Then that means…"
Sakura nodded. "He's lying."
Naruto froze. Then his face twisted. "Wait—WAIT—WHAT?! BUT—BUT—"
Ding!
[Aura System]
+12 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Breaking Naruto's Reality.)
Sasuke frowned. "Why would he lie about that?"
Sakura crossed her arms. "That's the real test, isn't it?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "…Teamwork."
Naruto still looked lost. "Wait, wait, hold on! What does that have to do with anything?!"
Sakura exhaled. "Naruto. Think about it. If Kakashi-sensei really wanted us to win, why would he give us two bells?"
Naruto froze.
Sakura watched the realization hit him in slow motion.
One.
Two.
His jaw dropped.
"OH."
Sasuke looked away, arms crossed, expression unreadable. But Sakura caught the way his fingers twitched slightly.
So. Even he hadn't figured it out at first.
Good. That meant she still had the advantage.
Naruto scrambled up. "Okay, okay, so if it's a teamwork thing... then what are we supposed to do?!"
Sakura smirked. "Simple."
She turned to Sasuke.
"We take the bells. Together."
Sasuke stared at her.
For a second, it looked like he might argue. Might resist, just on instinct.
But then… he exhaled. Sharp. Measured.
"…Fine."
Ding!
[Aura System]
+15 AP gained.
(Farming Method: Successfully Convincing an Uchiha.)
Naruto cheered. "ALRIGHT! Let's do this!"
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