Summary: A good, solid punch to the face has always had the power to change a person's outlook. Kakashi didn't realize this until Gai got him, right in the kisser. He was never going to live this down. Team 7's fate was about to change.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto things would be different. Yep a lot different. So I obviously don't.

Chapter 1 : Knock Knock

Umino Iruka smiled down at his students. Another year at the academy had come to a close. The tests were finished and 26 shiny, new hitai-ate were about to begin their journey in the world.

Of course less than half of these students had any real potential. It was a harsh reality, but a majority of the students would not be accepted by their jônin sensei and would be sent back to the academy. This process was to put the civilian council at ease and made it appear as though becoming a shinobi was accessible to those of civilian heritage.

This of course was far from the truth. Iruka estimated that there were usually only two or three civilian-born students every year that made it past the team elimination tests. They were sent back to repeat the final year and without parents pressuring them to continue on the shinobi path most washed out.

Iruka looked out over the students who were settling into their seats. There were probably only two civilian-born in this bunch who had a chance. He caught the shocking head of pink that belonged to Haruno Sakura. She had potential, but no true drive. Yamazaki Isshin was the son of a weapons' maker and had wonderful aim and a natural affinity for taijutsu. But, unfortunately for Isshin the team he was put on definitely would not pass in Iruka's opinion.

Iruka pushed aside these thoughts. He didn't make this system and graduation was a time of celebration. However, there was also bitterness in watching your students move on. For Iruka it was especially difficult to watch a particularly loud blonde go. The veteran teacher was worried about Naruto and had been since he found out just whose team Naruto was being put on. Glancing in his favourite student's direction Iruka hoped that the boy wouldn't be sent back after his jônin sensei's test. Naruto would be impossible if he failed after finally passing the Academy tests and Iruka would have to deal with the fall out. His ears would be ringing for weeks.

The chûnin teacher knew that if the new Team 7 failed, both Naruto and Sakura would be sent back to the Academy. Due to political pressure the Hokage would have to assign Sasuke to either an apprenticeship or find him an older genin team that had lost a member. While Sasuke looked stellar on paper the boy had serious issues to work out. He would not work well on any team he would be placed on. Being apprenticed to some jônin would only increase the boy's isolation from his peers. A shinobi who couldn't work with others was pretty much useless.

Iruka sighed. He had tried to explain this to the Hokage, but the man had completely dismissed Iruka's concerns, which was rather surprising. The Sandaime had always graciously listened to the now veteran teacher's advice despite his young age.

"Alright, alright everyone settle in. We have a lot to get through before we announce the teams so please find a seat and be quiet about it." The students found their seats quickly. Knees bounced and fingers tapped as the room filled with nervous energy.

"Ahhh come on Iruka-sensei can't you just tell us now!" Naruto whined from the fourth row. He seemed to have quickly gotten over whatever embarrassing kerfuffle had occurred between himself and Sasuke moments ago.

"I will announce them when it's time. We still have a few housekeeping issues to take care of before that and we will break for lunch before the jônin sensei arrive as they are currently receiving their ord-" Iruka's explanation was interrupted by a knock at the door. Blinking in surprise the chûnin did not bid entry right away. "Yes," he called after a few more knocks were rapped against the wooden frame.

The door slid open to reveal a man with a rather slouched posture. Iruka's jaw fell open slightly in surprise. He had been warned by the Hokage that Hatake Kakashi was known for being habitually late and would probably not arrive for his genin team well into the afternoon. So, what was the elite jônin doing at the Academy when it wasn't even ten o'clock yet?

"Ah, Hatake-san. We aren't quite ready for you yet," Iruka apologized with a bob of his head.

The jônin didn't seem to hear him as he stepped into the room. His lone eye tracked across the students lazily before coming to settle on the rather flummoxed teacher. The students eyed him back with obvious curiosity, wondering if this was one of the jônin.

Iruka tried again, "Umm, you see, I haven't announced the teams yet and well, the jônin were supposed to meet at the Hokage's office to receive their team assignments and the students' files." Maybe the man had just gotten confused. Iruka had heard that along with his tardiness the man rarely paid attention to the goings on around him. Though Iruka heard some of the stories about this shinobi and his achievements, they didn't really match up with the picture in front of him.

The man merely blinked his solitary eye at him before pulling three light blue files from inside his green flack jacket. "I have my team assignment here, I would prefer to just take them now. I am on a bit of a tight schedule you see. Lots to do today."

Iruka swallowed tightly. Naruto was doomed. "Yes well, let me just…" he shuffled through some papers on his desk in order to cover up his exasperation with this interruption to his schedule. After going over them for three nights straight he knew the team assignments by heart.

"Team 7: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura," Hatake droned, not waiting for Iruka to call the names himself. The teacher grit his teeth and pushed down his annoyance at the jônin's high-handed action. It would not do to be unprofessional in a room full of freshly graduated genin. Technically the jônin outranked him and he didn't have any authority to stop the other shinobi from doing exactly what he pleased.

The kids whose names were called, stared rather stupidly at what they assumed was their jônin sensei. They were too shocked at this rather interesting turn of events to react to their team assignment as expected. "Follow me," the silver haired man commanded in a flat voice. With that the jônin ambled out the door from which he entered.

There was a beat before Sakura, the first one to realize and acknowledge the order scrambled from her seat and with a quick bow to Iruka and left through the same door.

Sasuke followed at a more sedate pace not even acknowledging his ex-sensei as he left the room.

Naruto, who had stood at his spot looked rather torn and a little angry. The jônin might be his new sensei but he was outright rude to Iruka-sensei who was Naruto's favourite person in the world.

"Go on Naruto," Iruka said while shooing the blonde towards the door. Naruto didn't even have time to bid his sensei a last promise that he would become Hokage as he hurried to catch up with his new team.

Iruka sighed as he slid the door close behind his favourite student and turned back to his class. He had a very bad feeling about this.

"No fair! Why does dead-last get his team assignment now?" Inuzuka Kiba's forehead was quickly introduced to projectile chalk.

Sakura couldn't believe her luck as she kept pace with the rest of Team 7, as they followed their new sensei through the village to an empty training ground. She had gotten on Sasuke-kun's team! The pink haired girl couldn't wait to rub this in Ino-pig's face later. It was a bummer that Naruto, the class idiot had to also be put on the team. How did the boy end up graduating anyway, she wondered.

Naruto was already being a menace as he badgered their new sensei all the way to the training ground. Sakura frowned slightly as she stared up at the odd man. He hadn't introduced himself, just bid them to follow. His appearance was also strange. His silvery grey hair, though he didn't appear old enough to have grey hair, stuck up at an odd angle and he wore his hitai-ate as an eye patch. His face from the bridge of his nose downward was completely covered by a cloth mask. It was a fashion statement Sakura definitely didn't agree with. She idly wondered if he was covering up some grotesque deformity or gruesome scar.

When they had come to the end of their journey the blonde menace tried again to question their sensei. "Are we going on some super-secret mission sensei? Is that why you pulled us out early?" Previous anger at his new sensei forgotten, Naruto was back to his hyper self.

"Stupid, we're new genin we won't get missions above D rank for two months probably," Sakura scolded, flicking her hair over her shoulder. Honestly did Naruto not pay attention to any of their lessons?

Naruto's enthusiasm only died for about a second at being called stupid. "Then why did he call us out here early and he said we had lots to do today?"

Sakura was about to answer when the last Uchiha seemed to lose his patience. "Shut up both of you," he hissed.

Naruto scowled at the black haired boy and Sakura flushed at being harshly spoken to by her crush.

"Are you quite finished with your inane bickering?" their sensei questioned. Though his words were sharp they were delivered in such a relaxed manner that it was difficult to take them seriously.

Sakura pursed her lips but kept quiet. It was really Naruto's fault with his idiotic comments. "Yes sensei," she mumbled, while Naruto continued to scowl.

"Great, because I have much better things to do than teach three fresh brats from the Academy." Sakura blinked as she gaped at the man. That was so rude! Sasuke was not a brat and neither was she. Naruto had obviously already made a bad impression and she and Sasuke were getting painted with the same brush! "Now before we get started let me explain a few things." Naruto looked like he wanted to interrupt again but caught the fierce glare Sakura was sending him and wisely stayed quiet. "This is your new favorite place in Konoha, training ground 13. I have reserved it for the indefinite future so it will be available everyday,twenty-four hours a day."

Sakura cringed before taking a gander around the clearing. She hoped he didn't really mean they were going to be training around the clock. There was a clearing that they were standing in now with a small lake directly in front of them. A young forest surrounded them on all sides with the path that they had just walked interrupting the tree line at their backs. There was a small shed set off to the side of this path.

"The shed is ours to use and store training equipment. You each get a key." Their sensei handed the keys out and Sakura readily accepted hers with excitement. "I of course will be taking them back if…" Their sensei let the word hang for a moment before continuing, "you don't pass my test."

Confusion flooded the poor pink haired girl's mind. Another test. A glance at her teammates showed that they were equally confused.

"But um," Sakura floundered for a moment trying to remember his name. "Hatake-sensei?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh, yes I forgot to introduce myself didn't I? You can all me Kakashi."

"Kakashi-sensei, what is this test for?"

"Well to see if you will be genin of course," their sensei answered in a falsely cheery voice.

Naruto apparently couldn't hold it in any longer. "What do ya mean 'if we will be genin'? We already are genin. We passed the academy test. Look!" The blonde boy pointed emphatically to his hitai-ate.

The jônin made a sweeping gesture with his hands as if to brush away his student's protests. "That is simply a formality to see if you are worth even being assigned to a team. The true genin test is given by the jônin-sensei."

Naruto's shout of dismay could probably be heard across the village and it rang in the others ears rather painfully. "Shut up before I send you back to the Academy with a kunai embedded somewhere you don't want it," cut the rather cold voice of the jônin. This warning was not as laid back as their sensei's earlier scolding. Naruto's mouth snapped shut and Sakura's protests died on her lips. Sasuke continued to glower. "Traditionally the jônin-sensei will give another test. If the team passes this test they officially join Konoha's ranks. If they fail they are all sent back to the Academy for remedial training."

Sakura raised a wavering hand and Kakashi nodded at her. "All of them? This is a group test?"

The masked shinobi nodded down at her with a crinkled eye that somewhat conveyed the fact he was smiling. Somehow that was hardly reassuring. "Yes, all. If one of you fails, all of you fail."

Sakura felt as if her world was collapsing. She had gotten on Sasuke's team. There was no way that this man this weirdly masked man with terrible posture, could take that away. Anger boiled in the petite girl. Well fuck him and fuck his test. 'Bring it!' the strong voice in the back of her mind yelled.

"So what is this test?" Sakura was jerked out of her anger by the voice of her idol. Sasuke was directing a frosty glare at their teacher and looked none too pleased at this upsetting turn of events.

"Yeah we'll take your stupid test!" Naruto cheered.

Kakashi brought a hand to his lips and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, you see I left a package in a tree not too far from here. The tree is to the west of here and very tall, you can't miss it. I want you to retrieve the package in three hour's time."

"That's it?!" Naruto asked incredulously. Sakura frowned as well. It seemed like a ridiculously easy task.

"Yep that's it. Oh and your time started as soon as we got here so you only have about two and a half hours left." There was only a moment of stillness before both Naruto and Sasuke took off towards the west followed by Sakura.

The three genin raced through the woods. Sasuke easily outpaced his two teammates, but it didn't matter because soon they came upon a small clearing with a tree much taller than the rest at the centre. Sakura blinked in surprise at its height and girth. The intelligent girl immediately realized the problem with this so-called easy task, which Naruto generously illustrated as he attempted to scramble up the tree only to slide back down. The tree was massive, taller than those surrounding it and much wider, but the problem was its branches. There were no branches until at least fifity feet up.

Sasuke took a running start and the pink haired genin was sure that the test would soon be finished as he too came back to the ground, defeated by gravity.

"What the hell kind of tree is this?!" Naruto yelled, pulling Sakura's attention back to the blonde. He had taken out a kunai to use as a rudimentary climbing tool, but when he went to stab the tree the kunai could barely chip away at the tree's bark.

Turning back to her crush, Sakura saw that Sasuke's attempts were also meeting the same end. Fear began to trickle down her spine. Surely Sasuke would figure something out. So Sakura stepped back and watched, waiting for him to do something amazing.

The next fifteen minutes were full of Naruto's curses and more failed attempts at climbing the tree. Flopping down near where his female teammate was standing Naruto looked up at the girl. "Sakura-chan you're smart, got any idea?"

Said girl blinked in surprise at being asked, but immediately huffed, "I'm sure Sasuke-kun will figure it out."

Naruto scoffed, "The asshole just keeps doing that stupid fire jutsu, which doesn't do a damn thing."

"Don't call him an asshole you idiot!" Sakura screeched retracting her hand to smack him over the head. The blonde flinched and raised his arm to protect himself, but Sakura stopped mid swing staring at her fist.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"Why did he give us the key?" she whispered.

"What?"

The girl didn't hear him though. The cogs of her mind were whirling too fast to hear anything. There was really no point in giving them the key ahead of time was there? Not if he would have to just take it away when they failed. The only point in giving them the key now was… Sakura's head snapped back in the direction of the training ground from whence they came.

Without pausing to explain her actions to Naruto, Sakura sprinted back towards the clearing and what she believed would be the key to passing this test.

When she arrived back at the clearing their sensei was no longer there, but Sakura did not pause to wonder where he might have gone. Time was wasting. Opening the door quickly Sakura half expected there to be ladder waiting inside, instead there were, "scrolls?" What the hell? How were these going to help?

Hatake Kakashi watched Haruno from underneath the shade of a tree that he had planted himself under. He wasn't surprised she was the only one to figure out his little gift.

He still wasn't sure if he had made the right choice of designing his own test, instead of using the bell test. But he doubted that these brats would have passed if he had given it to them. There was very little chemistry between them from what he had observed before and now that he had seen them interact in front of him… make that zero chemistry. How had Minato-sensei done it? Rin, Obito and himself couldn't have been this bad.

But, failure was not an option for this team. It was a directive from the Hokage himself. It was time to see if the Uchiha could be moulded into anything or if he was just damaged goods. Sneaking Minato and Kushina's son on the team was emotional blackmail and Kakashi wouldn't forget it anytime soon. The girl was just filler, or that was what he had thought a month ago when he had received their files from the Hokage.

The man had given him the files early with the command that he would not be allowed to fail this team, so he might as well take some time to get to know them. In shinobi speak this meant stalking them.

And stalk them he did. Uchiha and Haruno were boring as hell, but Naruto, he couldn't really keep himself from thinking of the boy as anything but the name Minato-sensei had given him, was always good for a laugh.

What he found after stalking the three pre-teens was surprising. He hadn't been expecting so much potential on one team. It was rough to be sure and they all had some issues and habits that needed to be beaten out of them forcefully, but he could work with it.

The Uchiha brat was a mess with emotional issues, which were noted in his file. His ego was the size of a ripe summer melon thanks to the treatment the instructors had given him in the Academy and it would need to be dealt with. The boy was driven only by his goal of revenge on Itachi, not that Kakashi could really blame him, but that was a can of worms he didn't want to touch anytime soon.

Kakashi had known Itachi when he was in ANBU and there was definitely more to the Uchiha Massacre than the Uchiha prodigy snapping. It stunk of a cover-up.

Sasuke was gifted to be sure and well ahead of his teammates, but anyone in his position would have been. He had been basically tutored since early childhood in the shinobi arts and the Academy teachers had been thrilled to clear up their schedules for the last Uchiha when he asked for one on one attention.

It was clear that Sasuke's biggest obstacle would be learning to work with his teammates. The boy had lived by himself since the age of eight and was completely self-reliant. He would no doubt see his teammates as burdens similarly to how Kakashi had first thought of Rin and Obito. This needed to change and change quickly.

Haruno was a wild card. The Copy-nin wasn't quite sure if she would make it yet. He watched from his shade as she pulled out one of the scrolls that would definitely help her. Clever girl. If she could learn how to tree climb on her own it would prove his estimations of her potential right. Kakashi observed her for a time. The pink haired girl's eyes flicked across the scroll's surface quickly, by this time Naruto had come to stand next to her. She began to talk to him animatedly pointing at the scroll, before both pre-teens rushed back down the path towards the giant tree.

It seemed when she was adequately distracted she didn't mind her blonde teammate either. No doubt she had learned her dislike of Minato's son from villagers and other shinobi children who had learned their own parents. Sighing and pushing aside the resentment that bubbled inside of him Kakashi silently followed his kids into the woods.

Sakura's physical skill was non-existent and she would need the most conditioning out of the three. He planned to teach her a style of taijutsu more suited to the female body as the style taught at the academy fit the male body better. She would basically have to start over. The pink haired girl was smart to be sure. Her academic test scores, which were even higher than the Uchiha's, proved that she could retain and recall information nearly verbatim and seeing how she hadn't spent one minute studying in all the time he observed her it was also effortless.

The one-eyed shinobi continued to watch from the shadows as Sakura went from the tree to the scroll and back again. The girl seemed to completely understand the concept the scroll was explaining as he watched her experiment. First, she didn't apply enough chakra and slid down the bark. After making a trip to the scroll she put only one foot on the tree's surface and her foot was repelled off of it. Kakashi could tell that this had been expected, as the girl was ready to catch herself from falling.

By this time Naruto's excited praise had brought Sasuke over to watch. Finally, Sakura put both feet on the tree and Kakashi knew she had this test in the bag. Three attempts. Not even three really more like a little experimenting and one true attempt. That was all it took her. Kakashi smiled. To tree climb this quickly and make her way up the tree with only a couple of slips… the girl's control must be near perfect. What a welcome surprise.

Naruto excitedly congratulated his teammate when she returned to the ground victorious. Kakashi noticed that Sakura flushed in pleasure from the praise. Sasuke, however pointedly ignored her and Sakura's face fell like clockwork. Her motivation was the main problem. From what he could tell she only had one reason for being here. Sasuke. Her silly, obsessive crush needed to die. The question was would she stick around when it did?

The fact that her family were civilians didn't help the situation. Though well off they weren't incredibly wealthy and traded in textiles it seemed. She had nothing tying her to the shinobi community.

As he walked out to congratulate his team he idly wondered if Sakura knew that her mother had had an affair with a shinobi sometime when she was younger. Her father definitely knew and was using it to emotionally torture his wife. His daughter wanting to become kunoichi was probably a slap in the face to the man. At least father and daughter shared the exact same eye colour so he couldn't question the girl's paternity.

Ah families.

"Well done Sakura-chan!" Kakashi praised clapping his hands.

"So we pass right sensei? Sakura got the package, so we pass!" Naruto declared.

The grey haired shinobi tapped a finger against his clothed chin, "Well, actually that was only the first part of my test." Before Naruto could make their ears bleed Kakashi continued, "The second portion will begin after lunch, there are bentos waiting for you back by the storage shed." The jonin disappeared to eat his own lunch quickly not wanting to deal with their complaints. The next portion of the test would be in Naruto's ballpark. He hoped the boy would live up to his expectations.

Naruto was the living-breathing image of Minato-sensei. It hurt a bit to look at him. Though he might take after his father in looks, so far Naruto was all Kushina before the red haired woman had grown up, from the stories she used to tell about herself.

He was outwardly immature and tended to be whiney. He hadn't seemed to inherit any of his father's intelligence, but he had gotten his mother's propensity for mischief. All the reports on him were filled with vitriol other than his homeroom teacher's. Most of the words that Umino Iruka had written were still not flattering but they at least seemed fair.

The boy was sloppy, but Kakashi had seen that most of the teachers ignored him, so go figure. No one corrected his taijutsu stance. No one stopped to explain most of the elementary ninjutsu. It was clear that he was overloading it on the chakra, something that the instructors should have recognized and addressed.

The boy's chakra capacity and stamina were absolutely ridiculous, but then Kushina's had been as well. She had told him once that both were a result of the Uzumaki bloodline and being jinchûriki. Keeping the demon sealed put constant stress on the container's chakra system and stamina. In a normal shinobi the strain would eventually kill them, but because the Uzumaki clan traits of increased stamina and vitality their systems would adapt rather than break down.

His childish pranks ranged from old school to downright creative bordering on inspirational. His predilection towards painting and his oiroke no jutsu showed extreme attention to visual detail that could be encouraged into something a bit more useful. Kakashi covered a giggle. If the boy ever used that on a certain hermit… the masked shinobi just hoped he would be present if it happened.

Kakashi sighed. Having students was going to be a pain in the ass and would definitely cut into his hobby time. But, if he had to teach them, he was going to damn well teach them.

He gently rubbed his hand over his jaw. The damage Gai's fist had dealt months ago was healed, but the memory of the pain and the clarity it brought remained.

He hadn't been day dreaming about a certain book, or planning his next excuse for being late. He hadn't been staring up at the clouds momentarily distracted by a formation that looked like the chest of a certain irritable blonde or caught in a more unpleasant memory. No, he had been completely focused on the task at hand.

So, when Gai's fist was rather brutally introduced to his face, Kakashi had a moment of reflection as he lay on the ground, his head ringing from the blow and no will to stagger to his feet. He had gotten soft. Not just post ANBU soft, but really soft, softer than a newly graduated genin soft. Well, that might be exaggerating it a bit, but damn did it sting that one single punch from Gai was all it took to knock him flat on his ass.

"Kakashi!" the Beast cried. Damn. Gai wasn't even gloating. There was serious concern in his voice. Kakashi pressed both his eyes closed with a gloved hand. The jônin truly did not wish to see his friend's concerned face. It would only make the sting of the humiliation that much sharper. Keeping his eyes closed he readjusted his hitai-ate so it once again covered the Sharingan. The eye had seen the punch coming, but his body had not been able to react quickly enough. It was like when he had first received the eye. Obito… what would you say now?

The silvered haired scarecrow held up an arm and was pulled to a sitting position a moment later by his friend. The taijutsu master sat down next to him on the ground. "So…" Gai started.

"You don't have to say anything. I know," Kakashi said with a sigh. "I've gotten soft."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Kakashi. We all do eventually." Kakashi let his head fall back. There was nothing worse than a serious and empathetic Gai. Gai's empathy held him back in the shinobi world, as he was not able to take on certain missions with his strict moral code, but it made him a very good friend. ANBU would have destroyed Gai, and the taijutsu master knew it. He therefore had never pursued an ANBU position. Some had the audacity to think him weak because of it.

But, the bowl headed jônin had always been there to drag Kakashi out of whatever self-imposed hell he put himself in after a particularly bad mission. Even when Kakashi tore him apart verbally in a drunken stupor Gai never let him sink into the dark abyss that ANBU dragged many a shinobi. And it was Gai who helped him adjust when he finally decided to leave ANBU.

Kakashi owed Gai more than anyone knew, including the Green Beast himself. Now it seemed he owed him again. He clenched his fist in the grass. This softness had to go.

It wasn't just a matter of pride, but also necessity. For a while now he had noticed that something was amiss. There was a charge in the air outside the village. It was a tension, a smell almost, that he knew well. His body might have grown soft in his ANBU retirement but old habits die-hard. Kakashi had kept his ear to the ground. A storm was brewing. Konoha would not be ready for it when it hit.

Most believed that once the Copy Ninja left ANBU and allowed himself to fade almost to the point of obscurity, that he had stopped paying attention. His mannerisms certainly had encouraged this train of thought. Kakashi had watched in the shadows as the Village Council steadily chipped away at the Hokage's power. He watched as ANBU's funding slowly dropped to an all time low. The number of competent jônin was also incredibly low, with more and more special jônin, who were admittedly skilled at their area of expertise, but lacked the all around power of a full-fledged jônin.

Konoha had become a target, a lamb ready for slaughter. And there were wolves not only at the gates of the village, but sleeping inside the walls.

Staggering slightly to his feet, he looked down at his comrade, "Again."

Kakashi was going to make damn sure he was ready for when the wolves came.

Thinking back on it Kakashi couldn't help the way his body tensed at even the thought. Yes. He was going to be ready, and so were his students.

If Naruto turned out to be anything like his father or mother, he would be in the thick of things. Sasuke would probably be caught up in the mess too and had a good chance of ending bloody like the rest of his family. Sakura, if she was worth anything after he had trained her would follow both of them into the depths of hell.

It was how a team should be.

Sasuke dropped to the ground with his bento a little ways away from his two teammates and tried to push the anger and frustration he felt down enough to eat. He couldn't believe the stupid fan girl had figured out the test and not him. It was unacceptable. Tearing into his food he tried to block out his two teammates.

Teammates. How terrible was his luck? He got the dead last and one of his fan girls. He would have taken the blonde one over Haruno. At least she was from a shinobi family. Why couldn't he have gotten the Aburame and the Nara? They were at least intelligent. The Nara was lazy as hell, but an undeniable genius.

"What do you think the next test will be?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke didn't respond as the others deliberated between themselves.

"What do you think Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

The girl got a glare in response and Sasuke had to repress a smirk at her flinch.

"Oi, you don't have to be such a bastard all the time!" Naruto protested through a mouthful of rice. Sasuke sneered at his manners in disgust.

"He isn't a bastard you idiot!" Sakura shrieked, smacking Naruto across the head, causing the blonde to choke.

Idiots. Turning away as the two began to bicker, Sasuke returned to eating his lunch. All three of them finished after not much longer. Their sensei still hadn't returned.

The ripping of paper pulled the black haired boy's attention to the dead last. The other boy had ripped open the package that Sakura had retrieved from the top of the tree. Pulling away the paper the blonde revealed the package was a small scroll.

"Do you think anything is written on it?" Sasuke huffed at Naruto's idiotic question. What else did the dumb blonde think one did with scrolls?

"Kakashi-sensei said that he would give us our next task when we finished lunch. I don't think we should open it. He probably will come back and want it." Sakura said. There was hesitation in her words. Sasuke wondered if she was thinking similarly to himself. If they had to retrieve the scroll from the tree for the first task, why had the jônin left it behind with them?

"Pfft lets just take a peak." Sakura made a noise of complaint and tried to swipe the scroll from Naruto before he could crack it open. Naruto tried to dodge her swipe and the scroll slipped from his fingers and landed in front of Sasuke, who unceremoniously picked it up, cracked the seal and unrolled it.

He blinked at its contents as the other two held their breath. His jaw ticked as he silently held the scroll out for them to read.

Sakura snatched it from his grasp and read aloud "To my cute little students, your next mission, or test if you prefer, is to obtain a particular package from the Library of Records. You have until two o'clock to complete this objective. You must not be caught. Return to this training ground when you have completed your task. Failure means being sent back to the Academy." A winky face and the location of the package they were supposed to retrieve finished the message.

"It's already half past noon!" Naruto yelled, rocketing to his feat and upsetting his bento in the process.

"Watch it idiot!" Sasuke growled as the blonde's lunch nearly spilled onto his lap. Naruto was about to respond violently when Sakura came between them.

"We don't have time for this. The location of the package is in one of the off limits rooms in the Library of Records. Only chûnin and up with special permission can get in."

"So we steal it," Sasuke grunted, the answer being rather obvious. Idiots the both of them.

Sakura let out a scandalized gasp, "But, we can't steal from our own village, if we're caught we could get in serious trouble."

"Don't worry Sakura-chan we're not going to get caught. Besides, this is a test even if we do I'm sure Kakashi-sensei can bail us out." As soon as the words left his mouth though Naruto felt a seed of doubt creep into his mind.

"I won't get caught," Sasuke said arrogantly. Uchiha's don't get caught he added in his mind.

"Oh and I suppose you think we can just waltz in there and take it," Naruto laughed sarcastically. "Whose the idiot now? Those rooms are guarded and booby trapped with anti-theft seals."

"How do you know that?" Sakura asked slightly surprised by the loudmouth's knowledge.

Naruto shrugged, "Wanted to see if there was anything good in there for a prank but the Records area is just full of boring books, ledgers and old junk."

"You've been in the off limits rooms before?" asked Sasuke skepticism dripping from every word.

Naruto glared at the obvious disbelief, "Think what you want asshole, but we need to get into that room or we're all going back to the Academy and we're going to need a plan to do it."

"Ok, Ok," Sakura said putting her hands up to stop what seemed to be another imminent fight. She bit her lip not believing she was going to say this but they didn't really have a choice, time was short. They had little over an hour and a half to obtain the package and get back. She had the amazing luck to be put on Sasuke's team this time around she highly doubted it would happen again if she were sent back to the Academy. "Naruto, what should we do?"

Naruto blinked, surprised that his crush was asking his advice but he quickly recovered. "Well," he started, running a hand through his spiky blonde hair, "we're actually pretty lucky. The room that our package is in isn't on the level that is heavily guarded. There should actually only be a single chûnin librarian in that section. But, there will be alarm seals on the entrance-way to the room. When an unauthorized chakra signature passes through, the alarm goes off, activating a seal at the librarian's workstation as well as building security."

As he explained the security system he failed to notice the complete and utter surprise colouring both his teammates' faces. Sasuke was having a hard time believing Naruto's information to be accurate, but the other boy seemed to know what he was talking about.

Sakura pulled out of her astonishment to point out a problem. "But the seal can't be keyed to recognize all the chûnin and jônin in the village."

"It isn't," Naruto answered. "The floor librarian keeps wooden togs that have seals that give off the correct chakra signature. You have to check in with them and get one of the togs before entering the room. When the tog crosses the room's seal it's recognized and other chakra signatures are allowed to pass through without setting the alarm off."

"So what we really need to do is get a hold of one of those togs," Sasuke finished, somewhat impressed with the blonde though he would never admit it. Sasuke also realized that this knowledge had probably been acquired by causing mayhem.

"How are we going to get the tog?" the only female of Team 7 asked. She felt it was pretty hopeless. The librarian would never give them one since they were only genin and stealing a tog didn't sound any easier than breaking into the room itself.

Both his teammates felt a slight shiver run down their spines as Naruto's face split into a mischievous grin. "I can think of a thing or two that might get us one."

Naruto took a breath as he prepared to begin the first phase of his plan. He had been having a whirlwind of a week. First he had failed the Academy test. Again. Then he had been tricked into stealing a forbidden scroll and found out that Mizuk-sensei, that bastard, was a traitor and inadvertently graduated to become a genin. Which was negated when he later found out from that asshole, who was supposed to be their sensei that they weren't really genin.

During the encounter with Mizuki he had also finally been told the reason why everyone in the village seemed to hate him.

The demon that nearly obliterated Konoha over a decade ago and killed the Fourth Hokage in the process was sealed inside him. Well now things started to make a bit more sense. When he sat down to think about it though, he wondered why the villagers were outright hostile. Everyone called him stupid, but being downright cruel and even physically violent to someone that you thought was demon, who had slaughtered hundreds of your people didn't seem very smart.

In the slightly uncharitable vein of that thought, Naruto came to the conclusion that people were idiots. He wasn't a demon. If he was he definitely would have snapped and at the very least killed those assholes that had set his apartment on fire, while he was still inside, when he was eight freaking years old.

The revelation of the reason behind everyone's hatred had caused him to lose a bit of faith in the one person he had always looked up to. Why hadn't the old man told him? Why hadn't he done anything to protect Naruto from the uncalled for malice? Keeping it a secret had obviously done very little to deter people's hostilities. The new generation, his classmates had simply learned the behaviour and attitude from their parents. It would be better if they at least had a reason to act that way.

To be fair some of his classmates weren't like that. Shikamaru and Chôji had always been decent to him and could even be talked into a prank or two. Shino was a loner but was always polite. Dog breath had no manners, but didn't treat him any differently than anyone else. There was also that one girl who barely spoke to him, but Naruto wasn't even sure if she could speak.

Sakura-chan had always dismissed him, but that was the bastard's fault. Now, though that was changing. Sakura-chan had actually asked for his opinion on something. Even the bastard agreed to go along with his little plan. He hadn't know really what to think when he had been placed with them. Naruto had been ecstatic to be with Sakura-chan, but that was completely overshadowed by his third teammate's presence.

Shaking himself from his reflection Naruto forced his mind to focus. It was really difficult sometimes. Sakura-chan had gotten them through the first test. This test hinged all on his plan and he needed to pay attention. He wasn't going to fail Sakura-chan and he sure as hell wasn't going back to the Academy. The blonde counted down in his head. His timing needed to be perfect once the bastard played his part.

It was too bad they had to make sure they weren't caught. He had to go with some of his least potent explosive tags. The stronger ones he had altered himself made a much more satisfying bang.

Kakashi watched as his young students dashed back into the training ground clearing. They were sweaty and in both Naruto's and the Uchiha's case slightly singed but they were on time. Ten minutes early in fact, which was like being hours early in Kakashi's book.

"Ah my students, you made it! Did you get my package?" He was only slightly surprised when it was once again Sakura that held up the package and handed it to him.

"So we passed right?" Naruto asked again, this time not quite so confident that their trial was over. Kakashi didn't acknowledge him though. He carefully peeled back the protective brown paper covering to reveal a beautiful vibrant orange book underneath.

His single eye widened in excitement. The rumours had been true. Kakashi repressed a giggle of delight as he pulled the paper off to reveal a first edition of Icha Icha Paradise. Five extra full colour art pages and a sneak peak at the next novel. The best part…it was all his. To think he had been sitting on this treasure, not knowing it was within his own village. He would have to find a way to repay Genma. The man's information had been accurate.

"Wait, we risked our necks for a porn book!" an annoyingly loud voice that was beginning to become all too familiar cried. The silver haired jônin's attention was rudely ripped back to his students. The Uchiha glowered at him and his fingers twitched slightly as if itching to wrap around a kunai and do some damage. Haruno was turning beet red and her eyes snapped with fire. Naruto on the other hand looked torn between crying out in anger again and laughing at the entire situation.

"Not just any porn book my ducklings, first edition porn," the jônin corrected patting the book with a loving hand.

"That doesn't matter you pervert! We could have been stripped of our hitai-ate if we had gotten caught, or worse be branded traitors!" Sakura yelled. Well, so much for being the polite one. The anger was now taking over and Kakashi was a bit afraid if her face got any redder her head might burst.

"Now, now lets not get carried away. You make it sound like you actually have any right to wear that hitai-ate to begin with." There was a chill to Kakashi's voice that made his students pause. "Did you have fun playing shinobi today?" They all looked slightly flabbergasted at this question. It was quite an amusing look to see on the sullen Uchiha. "Because that was just a taste of what you will actually do for a living."

"Whad'ya mean sensei?" Naruto asked with trepidation. The genin was getting whiplash at his sensei's continuously changing attitude. One minute the man was laid back to the point of apathy and the next he could make even the stoic asshole look concerned.

"Next time you're asked to steal something or obtain information it won't be in a safe environment. Getting caught won't earn you a slap on the wrist or a half-hearted scolding. If you're lucky it will mean a quick death. If you're not lucky it could mean spilling your guts both literally and figuratively in a slow and painful way." A shiver passed through the genin at the very obvious allusion to torture. "When you fall there might not be someone there to catch you. The good news is you will very rarely be alone."

The three genin looked at each other. Kakashi nodded. "Sasuke," the jônin addressed, causing the boy's head to snap up to meet his gaze, "though you might have figured out in the end a way to get that scroll, you wouldn't have succeeded in the time limit." The boy grimaced and his pride pulled at him to deny the statement. "Sakura, without the information and plan Naruto provided you would have never been able to retrieve this book from the Library." Sakura flushed but nodded. "Naruto, though you came up with the plan you would have never gotten off scot-free without the help of both Sasuke and Sakura."

"Yeah we kicked ass together! I've never had a prank go off so well and get away with it!" Naruto exclaimed. A smile lit Sakura's lips at this and something clicked in her mind. Sasuke scoffed but inwardly couldn't help but admit the overactive blonde was right. Together they had pulled it off quite seamlessly.

Kakashi chuckled at the blonde's statement. Maybe they could learn to be a team after all. "Before we begin the last phase of my test," cries of indignation fell on deaf ears, "I want you to think about something. What does it truly mean to be shinobi, what do shinobi truly do?"

"Kick all kinds of ass!" The blonde's mouth was really going to get him into trouble some day.

"Shinobi lie cheat steal and kill," Sakura mumbled. After she had said it she slapped her hand over her mouth, as if she couldn't believe she had let the words slip out.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried in dismay at the rather grim outlook on their chosen career.

However, their sensei nodded at the girl's simple and accurate answer. "That is correct, and we do it all for anyone with the right amount of money." Kakashi reached out and solidly rapped the blonde's skull. "Get all of those foolish romantic notions out of your head." Naruto scowled up at his teacher and rubbed at the abused spot. "Now I will teach you to do it all. I will teach how to become competent shinobi that are worthy of wearing the symbol of Konoha. It," he touched the symbol on his own hitai-ate, "is the only honour you have. A shinobi's honour comes from his or her loyalty to the village, and it's Hokage."

He looked at them all sternly in turn. "As your sensei I promise to do my utmost to help you become the shinobi you ought to be. I will push your bodies to the edge and then I will throw you over the cliff," Kakashi paused, wondering if they realized he was being absolutely literal. It was important to know what to do when you toppled off a cliff. "I will make you strong." Kakashi noted Sasuke's almost thirsty look at this. "If you don't think that is something you want, leave now." None of them moved, but a sharp grey eye caught a waver in Sakura before she set her jaw and stood tall. Kakashi smirked. Is this what it felt like to be proud of a student? "All that I ask in return is that you remember your loyalty to Konoha, the Hokage and to each other." He let this sink in for a moment before returning to his slouched posture and crinkling his eye. "But before we get to that you have to pass my final test."

Putting some distance between himself and his students, Kakashi tossed them all a single kunai. "You have to make me bleed before the sun sets."

His students all looked down at the kunai in their hands having varied reactions to his words. Sakura's knees were shaking. Naruto looked slightly disturbed. Sasuke was smirking. This test was finally in his wheelhouse.

Kakashi watched them as they found their resolve. Naruto nodded to himself and caught Sasuke's eye. Sakura gripped her kunai tighter and looked toward both her teammates for direction. They understood. His previous lessons seemed to have sunk in for the moment.

The jônin smirked under his mask while bringing his new Icha Icha book out of his back pocket. Let the games begin.

A/N: Let me start off by saying I love strong team 7 fics. I have read a lot of them and they inspire me. I am not a great writer, but I was tired of this sitting on my computer.

So whether it is awful or enjoyable it is now out.

I was pushed to post this after watching the most recent Naruto movie. I watched it only in Japanese so I got only about 60-70% of the story, but I absolutely hated it. I also hate how most of the characters' stories ended.

So that was my best effort on our four main characters. The characters are going to be a bit off from their original selves. Kakashi, for example is motivated. Naruto is disillusioned because my version of him is not a complete idiot. Sakura will be more heavily affected by her family situation. Sasuke while hell bent on killing Itachi and arrogant as ever but will not be quite as mmmm how should I put it, unyielding. He is still a twelve-year-old kid. They all are even if their society views them as adults.

I apologize for any typos and not knowing how to use commas.

Leave a comment tell me what you think.