Me and my teammates were sitting in front of three wooden columns and Koga Sensei had told us that he would give us another chance to grab the bells but one of us had to go without food. It was kind of hard for me to go along with the whole thing he was putting on because I knew that the test was actually to see if we would break the rules to feed our teammate.
Akari was the one that was picked to be tied up and go without lunch. The reasoning behind it was that she contributed the least during the training exercise. Which was undoubtedly true, she pretty much just hid the whole time and only put up a half hearted attempt to attack when we were both already knocked out and she was found.
Her punishment of not being allowed to eat was especially hard on her as a member of the Akimichi clan. She was too shy to say anything but you could tell that she was really having a tough time.
Me and Kenichiro were starting to eat our lunch when he suggested that we strategize for our next shot at grabbing the bells from Koga Sensei. Of course I knew that we wouldn't actually have to go for another round of trying to get the bells, but I went along with it anyway.
The girl, Akari, seemed to not have much input into our strategizing. "Hey, aren't you going to pitch in? You're the one who has the most to prove here. From what I can tell, you're a useless coward. Why are you even bothering to become a ninja in the first place?" I asked harshly.
"Hey isn't that being a bit too hard on her? I mean you're right, but you didn't have to say it out loud." Ken said.
I knew that all I needed to do to pass was give the girl some food to show that I would help a friend even if I had to disobey orders. That was the whole point of this test in the first place. However, I wasn't going to be on a team with someone who didn't have the guts to be a ninja. She'd just be a liability and would end up getting herself or one of us hurt or killed.
"W-Well I-I-" She started to stammer out.
"T-T- Today Junior!" I shouted.
"W-Well I come from a ninja clan. It's expected of me to become a ninja as well." She replied.
"Oh, so is it going to be your family's fault whenever you end up dead someday?"
"W-What, no I just-"
"Ninja put their lives on the line during every mission. I don't want the person watching my back to only be there because someone else told them to." I said as I stood up. "Listen, here's the bottom line, I can pass this test for all of us. However, I'll only do so if you tell me why YOU want to be a ninja."
She went quiet for a while then said, "I- I just-"
She said almost whispering.
"I can't hear you."
"I just-"
"Louder!"
"I just want to prove that even a failure like me can be useful to someone!" She shouted as tears streamed down her face.
"Tch, that might just be the most pathetic thing I've ever heard." I said as I put my lunch tray down in front of her. "It makes me feel sick to my stomach. I couldn't eat another bite."
"What are you-" She started to try to say.
"Just shut up and eat. I still think you're a half baked ninja but at least you can try to stand up for yourself. It's not much but it's a start. Now eat up and let's grab those bells." I ordered. "Hokage dork kid, you too give her some of your food too."
"What no way! We were given explicit instructions not to give her any food. It's the most basic law of the shinobi to follow orders. Shinobi who can't follow orders are-"
"Listen nerd if you don't give her some of your food I'm going to knock your teeth out." I said as my veins started bulging out of my forehead.
I was going to give the other kid some sort of speech about the importance of helping your comrades, but I was getting pretty annoyed by these kids messed up personalities. I mean one is a coward who has an inferiority complex because she's not fat enough to use her family's ninjutsu, and the other is a Hokage fanatic who can't have a single thought go through his head without someone giving him an order.
I got fed up with that stuff so I scratched the plan of trying to help them to try to change their perspectives and grow, and I switched to coercion through threats of violence. Luckily it worked because that little twerp gave the wimpy broad some of his food.
Then suddenly, Koga Sensei appeared out of nowhere, as I was expecting him to. "You all…! Pass." He said.