Absolutely won!

Kakashi exhaled slowly.

Sasuke stood beside him, arms crossed, exuding silent superiority.

And Sakura?

Sakura just watched.

Calm. Poised. Like all of this was inevitable.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+25 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Standing Like a Protagonist After a Victory.)

Kakashi sighed, rubbing his temple. "Alright."

His visible eye flicked over them.

"…How?"

Naruto blinked. "Huh?"

Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly. "How did you do it?"

Sakura tilted her head, the softest of smirks playing on her lips.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+20 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Making an S-Class Shinobi Demand an Explanation from You.)

She clasped her hands behind her back, pacing lightly.

"You mean…" she mused, "how did we—a team of three fresh Genin… completely dismantle an elite Jonin's test?"

Kakashi's eye twitched.

Sasuke smirked.

Naruto snorted. "Ooooh, she's rubbing it in."

Kakashi sighed again. "Just explain."

Sakura finally stopped, turned toward him fully, and lifted a single hand—one finger raised.

"Step One." Her voice was crisp. Smooth. Cool. "Divide."

Kakashi felt something settle in his stomach.

That was not the tone of a Genin. That was the tone of a General.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+35 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Narrating a Victory Like a War General.)

Sakura gestured toward Sasuke. "We needed your attention on the wrong person. Sasuke was the best candidate."

Sasuke scoffed. "Of course I was."

Naruto elbowed him. "Shut up, bait."

Sasuke glared.

Sakura ignored them. "Sasuke is the strongest in direct combat. He's an Uchiha, a prodigy. He was the best choice… as a distraction.

Kakashi hummed, not denying it.

Sasuke huffed, but for once, he didn't argue.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+30 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Making Sasuke Accept Tactical Baiting.)

Sakura lifted a second finger.

"Step Two. Prepare the Battlefield."

Kakashi tensed slightly.

Sakura's lips curled at the edges. "Every fight is won before it begins."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+40 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Dropping a War-Level Tactical Quote in a Genin Exam.)

She tilted her head. "We trapped the entire field before you even arrived. And while you were playing with Sasuke, Naruto was already underground, waiting for the perfect opening. That's why we let you get comfortable. Let you play along, thinking you had control."

She chuckled softly.

"But you didn't, Sensei. Not once."

Kakashi's fingers twitched.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+50 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Gaslighting an S-Class Shinobi into Thinking He Was Doomed From the Start.)

Sakura lifted a third finger.

"Step Three. The Decoy and the Execution."

She turned fully toward Kakashi now, her smirk shifting into something more calculated.

"You tried to use your own tactic against us."

She took a step forward.

"You tried to pull Sasuke underground."

Another step.

"But you were already too late."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+60 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Walking Toward an S-Class Shinobi Like a Final Boss.)

"You realized it right before it was too late. You sensed Naruto. You tried to retreat."

She stopped just within arm's reach of Kakashi.

"And then you landed right in front of me."

Silence.

Kakashi didn't move.

Naruto held his breath.

Sasuke's eyes flickered.

Sakura tilted her head slightly, eyes sharp, voice lower now.

"…And that's when you lost."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+100 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Completely Shattering an S-Class Shinobi's Ego in 10 Words or Less.)

Kakashi sighed again, rubbing his temple.

Naruto squinted.

"…Are you okay, sensei?"

Kakashi finally twitched. His hands went into his pockets, his shoulders relaxing—forcibly relaxing.

He was pretending to be unbothered.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+30 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Forcing a Jonin to Emotionally Reboot in Real-Time.)

Sakura allowed herself the tiniest of smirks.

"I guess we did it," she said, tapping her chin in mock contemplation. "Wow. I didn't think it'd be that easy…"

Ding!

[Aura System]

+40 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Feigning Nonchalance After Completely Destroying an Opponent's Mental Stability.)

Kakashi took in a slow, measured breath.

"…Right." He pulled out an alarm clock from his vest—the same one he had set at the beginning of the test. He studied it for a long second, then flicked it off. "Well, that was unexpected."

His eye landed squarely on Sakura.

She smiled.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+25 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Directly Staring Down an S-Class Ninja Without a Hint of Fear.)

Kakashi exhaled slowly, then turned away. "Alright. Lunch break."

Naruto blinked. "Wait, so that's it? We're just—just done?"

Kakashi was already walking toward the memorial stone, hands in his pockets, posture almost relaxed.

Almost.

Sakura could tell.

She had done this to him.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+60 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Giving Your Jonin-Sensei an Emotional Crisis So Severe He Needs a Break.)

Naruto groaned. "Man, I'm starving! I could eat a whole—"

Sakura pulled out a perfectly wrapped bento box from her ninja pouch, slowly, dramatically, as Naruto's jaw went slack.

His eyes gleamed.

"…Sakura," he whispered, as if in the presence of divinity.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+35 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Being the Only Competent Person to Pack Food Before a Mission.)

Sasuke side-eyed the bento. He wasn't saying anything.

But he was looking.

Hard.

Sakura smirked and, in a magnanimous display of grace, pulled out two more bento boxes.

Naruto immediately lit up.

Sasuke tried to act indifferent, but the slight tension in his shoulders betrayed him.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+55 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Subjugating the Uchiha Clan's Last Heir Through the Power of Proper Nutrition.)

She handed them out, humming as she sat down, opening her own lunch with a dextrous flourish.

Naruto was already inhaling his food.

Sasuke took his with only the slightest pause. He muttered something under his breath… something suspiciously close to "Thanks."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+75 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Extracting a Grudging 'Thank You' From Sasuke Uchiha.)

Sakura was soaring.

She had farmed so much AP in the last few minutes that she was pretty sure she had statistically surpassed God.

But she wasn't done.

No.

This was it.

The final move.

A finishing technique so devastating, so insurmountable, that even an S-Class Jonin would be left defenseless.

She turned to Kakashi.

His back was to them.

He hadn't moved since he'd wandered toward the memorial stone.

He was brooding.

He was deep in his feelings.

And Sakura?

Sakura saw an opportunity.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+25 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Spotting an Aura Harvesting Goldmine Before Anyone Else.)

She reached into her bag, pulling out one last bento.

Her masterpiece.

Naruto and Sasuke immediately stopped eating.

They sensed it.

The shift in the air.

Something was happening.

Something big.

Kakashi barely acknowledged her approach. His shoulders were still. His posture was deceptively relaxed.

But Sakura knew better.

She knew that this was the stance of a man pretending not to care.

A man who had spent his entire life avoiding care.

And so, like the benevolent saint she was, she struck.

She held out the bento.

"You didn't bring lunch, did you?" she asked, her voice perfectly gentle. Kind. Effortless.

Weaponized mercy.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+50 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Offering Nourishment to a Man Who Has Survived on Guilt and Trauma for 20+ Years.)

Kakashi finally turned.

His visible eye blinked at her.

"…Huh?"

He was confused. Shook. Shaken.

Naruto held his breath.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

They were watching history unfold.

Sakura just smiled and shook the bento lightly.

"Here."

A pause. A long pause.

A monumental pause.

Kakashi looked at her. Looked at the bento. Then back at her.

His fingers twitched.

His breathing was steady. Too steady. Artificially steady.

Because the reality was that he had never… not once, expected this.

Ding!

[Aura System]

+100 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Short-Circuiting an S-Class Shinobi's Brain with a Single Act of Kindness.)

Sakura waited.

The moment stretched.

And then… finally, Kakashi took the bento.

"…Thanks."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+250 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Making Kakashi Hatake Accept Something Without a Self-Deprecating Joke.)

Sakura felt the AP flood in.

It was beautiful.

Pure.

She turned back toward the boys, completely victorious.

Naruto and Sasuke were staring.

Naruto blinked rapidly. "Uh. What—what just happened?"

Sasuke chewed slowly, eyes narrowed. "…I think she won."

Naruto frowned. "Won what?"

Sasuke scowled. "…I don't know."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+50 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Leaving Your Teammates in Utter Confusion While You Collect Infinite W's.)

Sakura sat back down, picking up her chopsticks.

She had absolutely won.

***

Today had been… productive.

But just as she reached the quiet streets near her home, she heard hurried footsteps behind her.

"Sakura-chan!"

She didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.

A moment later, Naruto skidded to a stop beside her, still catching his breath. His face was scrunched in determination, his blue eyes burning with a deep, unshakable fire.

Sakura tilted her head slightly, arching a brow. "Something you need, Naruto?"

Naruto clenched his fists. His lips parted, and then—

"How are you so cool?!"

Ding!

[Aura System]

+30 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Being Called Cool by Naruto Uzumaki in a Genuine Moment of Admiration.)

Sakura smirked.

Naruto threw his arms up. "Seriously! I mean, I get it, Sasuke is all broody and talented and stuff, but you?! You're like—" He flailed wildly, trying to find the words. "—like you planned out everything! Like you knew what Kakashi-sensei was gonna do before he even did it!"

Sakura shrugged. "I did."

Naruto gawked at her. "HOW?!"

Sakura just closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as the wind stirred around her.

It was time.

Time to share her greatest skill.

She turned, walking forward. "Follow me."

Naruto blinked, then hurried after her. "Wait—huh? Where are we going?"

Sakura didn't answer. She simply moved.

Through the streets. Up the buildings. Across the rooftops.

Until finally—

She found the spot.

A lone ledge, jutting out over the village, standing above the rest of the rooftops.

The wind was stronger here.

Sakura stepped onto it.

The moment her foot touched down—

Ding!

[Aura System]

+40 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Standing on a Tall Ledge While the Wind Blows Dramatically.)

She folded her arms.

The wind lifted her hair slightly. The world stretched out below her.

Naruto stared, wide-eyed. "Wha—what are we doing?"

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment before speaking.

"…Aura farming."

Naruto tilted his head. "Aura what now?"

She cracked one eye open, smirking slightly. "Aura farming. The secret to true presence."

Naruto's eyes sparkled. "Wait—you mean—?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+20 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Revealing a Secret Ancient Art in the Most Dramatic Way Possible.)

Naruto clenched his fists. "Teach me!"

Sakura gestured to the ledge beside her.

"Step up."

Naruto swallowed hard. Then, with the determination of a boy ready to learn the deepest secrets of the universe, he climbed onto the ledge.

His feet settled. His stance was shaky at first, but then he straightened, mimicking her posture. Arms crossed. Chin slightly tilted.

The wind blew.

Naruto blinked, then glanced at her hesitantly. "Like this?"

Sakura turned slightly, observing.

Then, after a pause—

She exhaled.

"…No."

She adjusted her stance. Shifted her balance. Tilted her head just right.

Her hood billowed in the wind, catching her hair strands perfectly.

Then she smirked.

"Like this."

Ding!

[Aura System]

+20 AP Gained.

(Farming Method: Passing Down the Ancient Art of Aura Farming to the Next Generation.)

Naruto's eyes widened in awe.

And for the first time that day…

Sakura felt truly fulfilled.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Yes Sakura, we see the fit.

Anyways, stones and reviews!

As usual, every 100 stones is an extra chapter.

Feel free to come read extra chapters and support me at Patreon!

Patreon: Teddartic