Naruto had expected to be the first one there, but to his surprise, Sakura was already sitting on a rock, rubbing her eyes and barely staying awake. The morning air was chilly, and the training ground was still covered in soft shadows from the trees. She yawned, arms wrapped around herself, blinking slowly like a cat who had been forced out of bed too early.
He walked past her without a word and sat against a tree, stretching his legs out in front of him. The grass was damp with morning dew, cool against his fingertips as he absently traced patterns into the dirt.
Then, a soft rustling.
A small brown bunny hopped out of the underbrush, nose twitching. Then another. And another. Within moments, he was surrounded by them. Tiny paws barely made a sound against the earth as they approached him, ears flicking at the morning breeze.
He reached out, fingers running gently over one's back. It barely reacted, just twitched its whiskers at him before settling down comfortably by his side. Another nudged at his knee. Another pawed at his sandal.
Sakura, who had been trying to keep her head up, noticed. Her eyes widened, watching as more rabbits casually made their way over to Naruto like he was some kind of magnet for small, fluffy creatures.
"What the hell?" she muttered, sitting up straighter.
Naruto barely glanced at her, too focused on petting the small white bunny now curled up beside him.
More rustling. More ears flicking.
"Okay, what the hell," she repeated, louder this time, standing up and walking toward him.
Naruto just kept petting the rabbits, one hand running over their soft fur while the others sniffed at his clothes.
Sakura stared, completely baffled.
"How are you doing this?" she finally blurted out, pointing at the absurd scene in front of her.
"Doing what?" Naruto asked, voice calm, as if this was completely normal.
"Petting the bunnies, of course!"
Naruto blinked. "You've never pet a bunny before?"
Sakura crossed her arms. "Of course I have! But they don't just… come to people like this! They always run away!"
Naruto tilted his head. "Maybe you're doing it wrong."
Sakura scoffed. "There's no wrong way to pet a bunny!"
He gestured at the rabbits still gathered around him. "Then why do they run away from you?"
Sakura's mouth opened, then closed. She frowned. "Fine," she huffed. "Show me how, then."
Naruto shifted, moving his hand to demonstrate. "First, don't just grab them. You gotta let them come to you."
Sakura sighed, but sat down next to him, watching as he slowly extended his hand, palm facing down, letting one of the rabbits sniff at it before gently stroking its head.
"See? No sudden moves. No grabbing."
Sakura hesitated, then copied him, reaching out slowly. One of the bunnies twitched its nose at her fingers. Encouraged, she moved closer—
And instantly, the rabbit darted away, vanishing into the bushes.
She groaned.
Naruto shook his head. "Too fast."
Sakura glared at him. "Oh, shut up."
She tried again, this time slowing her movements. One of the bunnies hesitated, watching her with large, round eyes. She barely breathed. Then, after what felt like forever, the rabbit cautiously moved closer, its tiny paws barely making a sound against the ground.
Then, finally, it let her touch it.
Sakura grinned, triumphant.
Naruto just nodded. "Not bad."
She shot him a look. "Not bad? I just did something impossible!"
Naruto shrugged. "It's not impossible. You just needed to stop being hesitant."
Sakura punched his shoulder. Not hard, but not exactly gentle either. "You're so annoying."
The bunny she was petting twitched, then quickly hopped away.
Sakura groaned again. "Damn it!"
Naruto just nodded, reaching out to scratch another bunny behind its ears.
The morning sun rose higher, filtering through the trees, casting long shadows across the training ground. The rabbits, sensing the change in the air, began to slip back into the underbrush, disappearing one by one.
Sakura watched them go, frowning slightly. "I still don't get how you did that."
Naruto just leaned back against the tree, arms resting behind his head. "Not sure. Guess they just like me."
Sakura gave him a long, skeptical look but didn't argue.
Instead, she sat back against the rock she had been on earlier, glancing up at the sky. The day was just beginning, and knowing Kakashi, they'd be waiting a long time.
For now, she decided, she wouldn't question things too much.
Naruto crunched down on his carrot, slow and steady, chewing like he had all the time in the world. He had been a tortoise once, in another life. The kind that lived for centuries, barely moving, barely thinking. He had also been a sloth, hanging upside down in the rainforests of Kawa no Kuni, moving so slowly that moss had grown on his fur. But not even those lives could compare to the sheer, mind-numbing laziness that was Kakashi Hatake.
Five hours late. Five. Hours.
If he had known, he would've taken a nap. Maybe painted something. Maybe found more rabbits. Instead, he had sat here, watching Sakura alternate between muttering angrily under her breath and dozing off. Watching Sasuke stare at nothing, arms crossed, face unreadable as ever. Watching the sun climb higher and higher while his stomach reminded him of last night's missed meal.
And now, finally, finally, Kakashi had arrived.
Sakura was fuming. "You're late!" she snapped, standing up so fast her chair nearly toppled over.
Kakashi just raised a hand in lazy defense. "Mah, mah. I got lost on the road of life."
Naruto bit off another piece of carrot.
Sasuke remained silent, but the slight twitch of his eyebrow showed he was just as annoyed.
Kakashi, completely unfazed, reached into his pocket and pulled out two small, silver bells, letting them dangle from his fingers. "This is your test. Your goal is to take one of these bells from me."
The bells jingled softly, catching the light as they swayed.
"There are only two," Kakashi continued, "which means one of you is going back to the Academy."
Sakura stiffened. Sasuke's hands twitched slightly. Naruto swallowed the last of his carrot, licking stray crumbs off his thumb.
Kakashi set an alarm clock down on a tree stump, twisting the dial. "You have until noon."
One hour, then.
"Your time starts now."