Sasuke frowned as he noted the tripwire on his way back from relieving himself in the bushes. He hadn't put a trap there, and he was reasonably certain that most of Shino's traps were bug related. Which meant that this tripwire was Sakura's and that it had been placed since he left the camp.
"Top marks," he noted under his breath. "Absolutely useless."
He started to step over the tripwire and noticed that the dirt and grass on the other side were disturbed. Bending down, he carefully brushed aside the dirt to reveal a paper bomb, the seals of which were designed such that contact with a sufficient amount of chakra, say from someone stepping on it, would set it off.
"Hmm, perhaps she's not so useless after..." Sasuke stopped as a thin wire pulled up from the dirt as he'd brushed it aside.
Immediately he went into a roll as whipping branch slashed through his former position. As he came up to his feet and glanced backwards, he found himself rudely pulled up into the air by a snare trap that had grabbed him by one leg.
"What the hell?" Sasuke demanded, glancing up towards his feet.
He twisted himself up to grab hold of the rope so that he cuold start to free his feet. Which was when he happened to catch sight of the fact that the rope was draped around a high branch. Nope, it was hanging over an expanse of wire that led in either direction.
Careful looking revealed those wires branching off to other wires that sat on the triggers to yet more kunai aimed down toward the spot that someone who had just freed themselves would land.
Sakura looked toward a glaring Sasuke and a not-quite glaring Shino and then toward Kakashi who looked more or less frustrated as he sat there reading a pamphlet he'd pulled out of a pocket.
"Type 1 Gifted: The Successful," Kakashi repeated in his mind as he read. "Children who demonstrate the behavior, feelings, and needs classified as Type I's have learned the system. They have listened closely to their parents and teachers. After discovering what "sells" at home and at school..."
He looked up and glanced toward Sakura and then back down again.
"These are the children many believe will "make it on their own." However, Type I's often become bored with school and learn to use the system in order to get by with as little effort as possible," he continued, pausing again to look at Sakura. "They fail to learn needed skills and attitudes for autonomy, but they do achieve. They are dependent on the system but are not aware that they have deficiencies because of the reinforcement they receive from adults who are pleased with them and their achievement. It seems that these children have lost both their creativity and autonomy. Gifted young adults who may underachieve in later adulthood come from this group."
He sighed and looked up toward the heavens and then back down at Sakura and the rest of his team.
"The traps worked," she noted in her own defense.
"Question, Sakura," Kakashi said, "how many resources do you have left after trapping this one camp sight for this one night?"
"Uhhh..." Sakura said, nervously.
"Almost none, right?" Kakashi asked.
"I have all the kunai," she said. "And most of the wire is still good."
"The paper bombs?" Kakashi asked.
"Uhhh," Sakura said again.
An explosion erupted somewhere in the woods around the camp.
"We'll check that," Sasuke said.
"If you can see if there's enough left of whatever it is this time," Kakashi said in a friendly tone, "maybe we can eat something other than rations."
"That sounds agreeable," Shino noted as he and Sasuke left to check the most recent of the nights over common false alarms.
Kakashi took a breath and then looked at Sakura.
"Are you here to do your job or show off for Sasuke?" he asked.
"What?" Sakura demanded. "I'm here to do my job, of course."
"Then do the job," Kakashi said. "Do it as best you can. Your goal is not to stand out, it is to accomplish the mission, understood?"
Sakura bit her lip as she considered that bit of advice and tried to figure out how she could surpass Ino and attract Sasuke's attention without trying to stand out.
"All right, I think I understand, Kakashi-sensei," she said.
Kakashi considered that response and wondered at the possibility that she had just worked the system and given the response he wanted. It would have been a bit more comforting if she'd tried to argue her position.
"If you just focus on accomplishing the goal as well and safely as possible and with as little waste as possible," Kakashi said. "Standing out will come on its own."
He hoped that last statement would help the message sink in a little bit better, but it was looking like he'd have to spend a lot of time with Sakura getting her to not treat the mission like an academy assignment.
Sakura looked like she was about to say something when Sasuke showed up looking grim.
"This time it's not an animal," he said seriously as he held out a semi-charred forehead protector that bore a musical note on the metal plate.
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(Posted Tue, 31 May 2011 14:36)
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