"They're late, again." Secilia groaned. "What, did they encounter another black cat or something?"

"Apologies, we got lost on the path of life," Kakashi said, appearing with a puff of smoke. Jade and Toraliah landed, setting Kia and Ross down.

"Really?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, definitely got lost for a while there," Kia agreed with a meaningful glance at Kakashi.

Secilia made a skeptical face at Kakashi, but he ignored her. Kia and Ross moved to stand next to Secilia.

Kakashi and Jade each held up two bells. "You get a bell, you pass," Jade said, the two bells in her possession jingling slightly.

"There are only four bells," Naruto said.

"Your observation skills are off the charts," Secilia noted dryly.

Naruto puffed up, apparently taking it as a compliment.

"That wasn't a compliment, loser," Sasuke said.

"He's right, it wasn't," Kia agreed.

"Back on topic, those who don't get a bell fail, and will be sent back to the academy," Jade said, attaching the bells to her belt. "If you can't get a bell by noon, you'll go without lunch."

Secilia frowned. "That's why you said to go without breakfast, you're being evil."

"To a degree," Jade allowed.

"If you aren't prepared to kill us, you won't get a bell," Kakashi said, attaching the bells to his belt as well.

"Well, you probably won't get a bell anyway, but still," Toraliah said, grinning. "I'm here to make sure no one dies."

"Right, are you ready to begin?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course!" Naruto lunged for Kakashi, and Secilia sighed, turning to Kia and Ross.

"This is going to require teamwork, can we work together?"

"Doubt it," Kia said, folding her arms. Ross glanced at her friend but didn't say anything.

Secilia frowned. "Sasuke, Sakura?"

Sakura snorted, folding her arms and turning away. "Of course not!"

Sasuke glared at her but didn't say anything, instead of returning his attention to the fight. Secilia sighed, darting into the forest. Maybe if they got creamed, they'd be willing to work with her then. She climbed a tree, watching them fight, and taking care to notice all their weaknesses. Naruto's reckless abandon, Sakura's less than great hand to hand skills, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen, and Kia and Ross were working together well, but they were going after Jade, and Jade apparently knew where all their holes were and were exploiting every single one of them. Getting Ross into close quarters, keeping Kia at a distance.

"Not joining them in getting a bell?" Toraliah asked, landing on a branch near her.

"I'm waiting until they've all been creamed enough to team up with me."

Toraliah nodded, not saying anything.

"We'll see if it works. Until then, I'm seeing all of their weaknesses. And working out how to fit them together to make it work."

Naruto launched for a bell, and Secilia watched him fall into the trap. "Idiot," She muttered.

"Don't underestimate him, the kid's got a lot of Chakra," Toraliah advised.

"And no control over it. The control is the important part," Secilia pointed out. She checked on everyone again, and decided Kia and Ross had been creamed enough, and so had Sakura, as she was crying for what looked like no reason. Probably a Genjutsu, and a good one at that. "See ya!" She jumped off the tree branch, landing safely on the ground.

Secilia approached the sobbing girl cautiously. "Hey, Sakura, you realize your Sasuke isn't real? I can't see that image."

Sakura looked up at Secilia with a tear-stained face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can't see whatever you're seeing. I'm assuming it's Sasuke cause you seem to be quite attached to him. Kakashi is quite good at Genjutsu, that's what's going on here. Come on, now will you team up with me?"

Sakura got to her feet, wiping away tears. "Fine, I'll team up with you," she said begrudgingly.

Secilia internally pumped her fist. Yes. One person down, four to go. "Come on, let's find Naruto, I'm fairly certain he's beaten enough to actually listen to reason. Also, last I saw him, he was hanging upside down from his ankles."

Secilia oriented herself quickly, then marched off in the direction she'd last seen Naruto.

As Secilia had predicted, they found him hanging by his ankles, looking irritated. Secilia threw a shuriken, slicing the rope and cutting him down.

"So, you cooled down enough to team up with me? Sakura's already with me." Secilia decided that would be the best way to get him to join her tiny group. Also, the reason she went after him before going after Sasuke. And why she found Sakura first.

Naruto appeared to debate for a while, then nodded. "Okay! But this is a one-time thing."

"Hopefully not, the entire purpose of this exercise is to make us work together. Or rather, see if we can work together." Secilia said.

"Then why are there only four bells for the six of us?" Sakura asked.

"It's an attempt to drive us apart, it's sneaky but trivial to overcome."

"I never saw you in classes, how old are you?" Naruto asked, squinting suspiciously.

"Eleven. I graduated a year early." Secilia said, orienting herself again. "Come on, Kia and Ross were this way last I saw them."

Kia and Ross were both on their knees, probably recovering. Both were covered in scratches, and Kia had a metal feather looking thing embedded in her upper left arm.

"What's that?" Sakura asked, examining the feather.

"One of Jade's feathers, don't pull it out though, I'd rather not be bleeding everywhere," Kia said, slapping Sakura's hand away.

"You already are bleeding everywhere," Secilia pointed out. "It didn't hit any vital arteries or anything, so actually, taking the feather out and wrapping up the injury would be better. And you wouldn't have a feather sticking out of your arm."

Kia frowned at her but allowed Secilia to remove the metal feather and wrap up her arm. "Happy now?"

"Yes. So, will you team up with us, or do I need to tell you everything you're doing wrong so you join us, cause I can fill in all your holes." Secilia said, tucking the roll of bandages into her ninja pouch.

Ross grinned. "Works for me. Kia?"

Kia snorted. "Fine, we'll work with you."

"Just one more person. Do either of you know where Sasuke went? I couldn't find him from up on my tree," Secilia said.

"You were up on a tree?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, I was watching you," Secilia said, then she disappeared into the undergrowth.

"What!? Where'd she go!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, she climbed a tree," Sakura said, thumping him on the head and pointing up, to where Secilia was easily seen, climbing through the branches like a squirrel. She advanced out onto a branch, scanning the forest for any signs of battle. Jade and Toraliah were hovering over the clearing they were originally in, but other then that, nothing was out of the ordinary.

Then, a massive cloud of either smoke or steam rose up. Secilia figured out a path in her head, then jumped down.

"I know where Kakashi is, and also Sasuke. About a quarter of a kilometer that way." She pointed in the direction of the stream and started leading the way, not bothering to look back and see if they were following.

"Okay, we should go after Kakashi's bells, as Jade can fly and escape us easily. Our best hope is to remain on the ground. Ross, you'll provide your usual assistance of long-range distraction. When we get to Sasuke, Ross, you begin attacking Kakashi with your shuriken and kunai while Kia and Naruto do their best to get the bells. I'll explain to Sasuke what's happening, and Sakura, you need to be ready to jump in if anyone falls out of battle and needs to recover. The close range fighters will play tag team, no more than two people attacking at once." Secilia spoke quickly and finished just as they arrived.

Ross immediately pulled out her kunai, beginning to sling them at Kakashi. Sasuke paused in his attack for a moment, long enough to catch Secilia beckoning him over. As soon as he was out of the way, Kia and Naruto jumped into action with Kia having more success at landing hits than Naruto, who seemed to be serving as more of a distraction while Kia got in a few good hits.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke hissed.

"We're getting the bells obviously. We're attacking Kakashi because for us he's a more realistic target compared to Jade. If I'm right, this is a test of teamwork, not whether we get the bells or not. I'm hoping to actually be able to get them. I don't think anyone else has gotten them before." Secilia said quickly. Naruto was thrown into a tree a little to her left, and Sakura jumped in to help. "The close range fighters are playing tag team while Ross bombards Kakashi with Kunai and Shuriken to try and distract him."

Sasuke frowned, thinking it over. "It might actually work. So, I jump in when someone else is thrown out?"

"Yes, I'm hoping to get you and Kia in at the same time. Both of you keep out of each other's way, but try and get to the bells any time you can. Got that?" Secilia asked.

Sasuke nodded, turning to watch the battle. Only a few seconds later, Sakura was thrown out, and Sasuke jumped in.

Kia and Sasuke worked wonderfully together, using their strengths to help cover for each other's weakness' and patch up any extra holes, with Ross filling in anything they couldn't reach. At some point, someone managed to slice the string of one of the bells, letting it fall to the ground. Sasuke scooped it up, throwing it to Secilia while Kia kept Kakashi at bay.

Finally, Kia grabbed the other bell, tossing that one to Secilia too. Kia and Sasuke jumped back, and Ross stopped throwing weapons.

"I think we won," Secilia said, proudly displaying the two bells they'd gotten off of Kakashi in the fight.

"Very impressive," Kakashi agreed. "You pass."

Naruto shouted happily, giving Secilia a massive hug. She stiffened, and he let go. "We passed! We're official Genin now!"

Secilia bumped her cousin. "You gotta be at least a little happy, you're one step closer to your goal."

"Our goal," Sasuke admitted.

Secilia grinned. "Yeah, our goal."

(A/N) Yay! Bell test is done! On to the next part...