Kakashi looked down at his students, or would-be students. He had spent the last ten minutes fiddling with the bells in his pocket, thinking over his next move.

First, you had Haruno Sakura, the least interesting of the three. She had graduated at the top of the class due to her academic prowess and her excellent chakra control.

Then there was the last Uchiha. The rookie of the year showed promising abilities in ninjutsu and taijutsu. But that's not what made him interesting. While Kakashi had been assigned Sasuke purely because of the boy's Sharingan, it wasn't the only thing that which connected the two. Kakashi saw the same misguided attitude that he himself had in his own early life crisis. And he would do his best to help the young boy, just like Obito had helped him over a decade ago.

And lastly, the demon kid. Which was usually said in jest.

Uzumaki Naruto was born with some unfortunate features. On his head, he had two fully functional cat ears that blended in nicely with his spiky blond hair, despite Kyuubi being a fox. In fact, his normal ears seemed to be nonfunctional, as the lack of an ear canal on the side of his head could be clearly seen. From his back sprouted a similarly blond tail.

The Sandaime had feared that Naruto would be hated by the villagers and accused of being the Kyuubi, but none of this happened. The villagers trusted that their beloved Yondaime had killed the beast for good, and saw Naruto as nothing more than an adorable kid.

The boy showed abysmal results in taijutsu: he hadn't been able to mould any chakra yet and was as good at reading and writing as the average house cat. Academy reports showed that he was quite self-conscious about his uselessness. However, the council speculated that Naruto had the same abilities as a full sized Bijuu and could make up for losing their one Jinchuuriki 12 years ago. Thanks to Kakashi's reputation as a copy-ninja, he had been given the task to unlock Naruto's hidden powers.

"Are you going to test us or not?" Sasuke asked with a raised voice, startling Kakashi out of his musings.

"Of course. Run around the village once. The loser will be sent back to the academy," Kakashi answered.

"Stop joking with me!"

Kakashi smirked. "No, I'm not joking. And I'm sure Iruka will be glad to see you again. Sakura and Naruto are already on their way, so you'd better start to run if you want to graduate."

Naruto was the first to return to Kakashi, and the jounin was glad to see that Naruto at least excelled at something.

Despite the fact that if he were to just run away from his problems, he wouldn't last long as a ninja.

A short time after, Sakura and Sasuke approached the finish line as fast as they could, both of them fearing the extra year in the academy that was lying in wait.

"Get out of the way!" Sakura screamed, not wanting to lose, even to her dear Sasuke-kun. They were so concentrated on winning that they didn't notice who passed the finish line first in the end.

"Who won?" Kakashi asked Sakura and Sasuke blandly.

"Naruto, of course," Sasuke bit back. "Will you please stop mocking me?"

"When did I say the goal was to be the fastest? Why didn't any of you stop for a moment to ask what you were really supposed to do?"

"I…" Sakura tried to say before Kakashi interrupted her again.

"As a ninja, you will encounter leaders and orders that aren't always clear about the objective. Your commanding officer can be a traitor, a henged enemy-nin or simply a fool. Sasuke, while you did well in questioning my order, you didn't do it because you wanted me to clarify the mission, but rather to defy me.

"Sakura. You had the best test scores of anyone in your class, can you tell me how you could have completed this task without anyone having to go back to the academy?"

"I'm… I'm not sure," Sakura stuttered.

"What did I say before you ran off?"

"That the loser would be sent back." Her eyes widened in realisation. "Oh, I see."

"You get it now," Kakashi smiled. "For those of you that are too slow to get it yourselves, if you had all finished at the same time, I couldn't declare any loser, and thus, would have to pass all of you.

"While some might argue that the mission is the most important thing, I would disagree. Always find a way to not leave your team members behind."

Sakura was just about to let out a sigh of relief when the mood twisted suddenly, and it was as if the air in the clearing darkened as Kakashi continued talking, this time in a much more serious manner than before.

"I caused the death of two of my teammates. One because of my stubbornness and carelessness, and the other because I let her give up rather than looking for better alternatives. The enemy had captured her and sealed the Sanbi inside her, making her a ticking bomb ready to strike when she returned to Konoha."

"LIAR!" Naruto yelled out. "Bijuu are not evil, don't blame them for everything bad that happens. It's the Jinchuuriki that goes mad and abuses their stolen power."

"Naruto, will you let me finish?"

"It depends, are you going to tell more lies?"

"I could have saved her," Kakashi continued anyways, not even bothering to wait for Naruto to finish first. "Konoha had several proficient seal-masters: Danzo, two of the Sannin, and lastly, the Fourth and his wife. I could have saved her, and even given Konoha an advantage in the war."

"With the help of slavery," Naruto muttered.

Kakashi ignored the interruption and continued. "If we had another Jinjuriki we might have handled things differently, and neither the Fourth nor his wife would have had to die."

Kakashi had to tread carefully here. While it was common knowledge that Minato had killed the Kyuubi, the council had decided that it should be kept secret for the new generation, in

order to stay on Naruto's good side should he ever get close to a real Bijuu in strength. The official story was that the Kyuubi just had disappeared. Kind of weak, yes, but the Sandaime had hoped it was enough to fool Naruto as long as he was fed the lie early enough.

"So in a sense, leaving my teammates behind caused the death of all of them and my sensei, including numerous other Konoha-nin due to a prolonged war and our losses in the Kyuubi attack."

"It was the Uchiha, people like him!" Naruto yelled and pointed at Sasuke. "With their evil eyes."

"Don't talk to my family like that!" Sasuke yelled back.

"You're all evil," Naruto grinned, eyes wild. "I'm glad your brother killed them all." Naruto's tail was wagging erratically as if he was about to pounce.

"That's enough!" Sasuke pulled out a kunai and ran towards Naruto.

'This is what I get for rejecting all my other teams,' Kakashi sighed to himself and hurried to solve the situation before another Konoha-nin died in his hands.

"As much as I want to fail both of you," -'I can't,' Kakashi added to himself- "the worst punishment I can see for you is to force you to learn to work together. Congratulations, you all pass." Kakashi interrupted Sakura's cheer to bring them back to Earth, raising a finger in the air. "But don't think that you deserve it."

"Now, why don't we get to know each other better." Kakashi clapped his hands together and brought back his smile.

"Why don't you start, Sakura. tell us about your likes, dislike, hobbies, goal, et cetera." He gesticulated towards Naruto and Sasuke. "Show the boys how to not act like animals."

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like …" Sakura looked at Sasuke. "I dislike Ino-pig. My dream is to…" she cast another glance at Sasuke, "and become the strongest Kunoichi in Konoha."

"I don't think I want to know your hobbies. Naruto, you're next."

"Hmm, I like tuna… and I like rabbits, squirrels, mice, rats… and don't forget about guinea pigs." Sakura found it cute, judging from her facial expression: little did she know that he was still listing his favourite food.

His eyes narrowed. "And I hate dogs."

"Oh, great," Kakashi couldn't resist blurting out, much to the confusion of the genin.

Naruto ignored that remark and continued. "My dream is to become useful and to find my father."

Kakashi could safely assume that Naruto didn't mean Minato, and it gave him another reason to keep certain secrets secret.

"Okay, Sasuke, tell us about yourself," Kakashi asked.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And... I can't really call it a dream... but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."

"You mean your brother. He is no big deal, he couldn't even kill the Uchiha alone." Naruto sneered. "He had help, you know."

"Enough Naruto," Kakashi told Naruto with a stern voice and went between him and Sasuke in preparation for another attack.

"No, continue!" Sasuke yelled and walked towards Naruto, only to be stopped by Kakashi.

"The ANBU didn't even bother to step in and-"

Kakashi stepped in. "Sasuke, Naruto is just messing with you. No Konoha-nin, and especially not an ANBU would let your clan be killed without doing anything to stop it.

"Naruto, I want you to apologise to Sasuke and admit that you're lying. Now! If I tell the Hokage that you're trying to blame the Uchiha massacre on the village and that you're bullying your teammate, you will never become a ninja. But I'm a nice person, so I'll give you one last chance." He bent over Naruto and looked him directly in the eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"And?" Kakashi prompted.

"I lied about the massacre," Naruto said reluctantly, facing away from both Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Good, I'd hate to lose a genin on my first day. Now get away from me, I need some rest," Kakashi said as he walked away.

They all left their own way, Sakura wouldn't even go on a date with Sasuke if he asked her, she was too tired of the day's events. And both teammates scared her a bit now.

Sasuke, however, had been given something to think about. As he laid on his bed, he wondered if Naruto had been telling the truth. Could everything he knew be false?

No, it couldn't be; the coldness from Itachi felt too real. And if Naruto had seen something, he wouldn't have lived to tell about it. If the village was up to massacring his clan, they wouldn't be above killing Naruto for seeing too much. And there would be no way Naruto could have seen Itachi without being seen himself. His brother was too good for that.

But why would Kakashi insist that it was a lie if it wasn't true? Sasuke sighed and rolled onto his stomach.

"I guess I just have to become friendlier with him, then I'll know if what he was saying is true or not," Sasuke said to himself. "But how?"

The next morning Team 7 had assembled at the Hokage's office.

"Let me see, you want a D-ranked already?" The third said with his pipe in his hand. "This would do, as no other team wants it." The Hokage handed Kakashi a scroll.

Kakashi led them out, and chuckled a bit to himself when I saw what it was they had been assigned.

"Sensei, what are we supposed to do? Hopefully not something too dangerous," Sakura asked.

"Don't say that! An old lady has some trouble with some terrifying monsters in her basement, and we need to drive them out," Kakashi said, doing his best to sound serious.

"What…?" Sakura stuttered. "We've just graduated! We're not prepared for that."

"I believe in you. I estimate that at least two of you get out there alive." Kakashi had to look away to not expose his chuckle, especially when he saw Naruto shaking and hugging his tail.

They walked in silence to the house in question.

"So what kind of monsters are we talking about?" Sasuke asked. If he were to defeat Itachi, he couldn't let himself be scared with this.

"Rats," Kakashi said.

"Rats? You made us terrified of rats?" Sakura said with a murderous look on her face.

"Do you know that rats can become up to 20 cm long? They are almost as dangerous as squirrels, and I've lost many good friends to those."

"Calm down Sakura, I doubt they'll give us a new one if we kill Kakashi." Sasuke took hold of Sakura to prevent her from drawing any sharp objects.

"Finally some fun," Naruto interrupted, clearly relieved by the news as he was no longer shaking.

As they reached the house in question, Kakashi knocked on the door and an old lady greeted them. "Welcome! Please come in. What could I do without cute genin like you?"

"Thank you. This is Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke," Kakashi said as he pointed to each one respectively. "Why don't you three start while I keep the client company?"

"So you're not going to do anything?" Sakura asked.

"You shouldn't talk to your superiors like that, but yes," Kakashi replied.

The trio walked down into a small basement crawling with mice.

"Look, Sasuke! Aren't they cute?" Sakura squealed.

"Not really," Sasuke answered.

"We should carry them out and let them free," Sakura said as she looked away to see a small pink tail sticking out of Naruto's mouth.

Naruto slurped it in as it was a wet noodle and said "What?" when he saw Sakura's shocked expression.

"I thought you liked small animals!" Sakura yelled, and forced Naruto to cover his delicate ears.

"I do... they taste delicious," Naruto said as he was shivering out of fear.

"You monster!" Sakura yelled again and sent a flying fist towards Naruto. The boy closed his eyes and winced, covering his head with his hand.

Naruto waited and waited, but nothing came. Beyond all imagination, Sasuke had grabbed Sakura by her wrists and stopped her from hitting him.

"Get off him," he told Sakura.

"I'm just doing what you wanted to do yesterday," Sakura replied.

Sasuke just ignored her and turned his attention to Naruto.

When Naruto saw what had happened he had trouble forming a coherent sentence, but after few seconds he had calmed down enough to speak. "I didn't need any help!" He fought his way out of Sasuke's grasp. "And why are you helping me, I thought you were evil?"

Sasuke just stared at him for a few seconds as he thought about this response. Finally, he reached a hand up and scratched one of Naruto's furry ears. "I just thought you were cute. I don't like people who abuse animals, even if it's a scaredy cat like you."

It might have calmed Naruto down a bit more, but not Sakura. She knocked him down with her bare fist after hearing him call Naruto cute.

"Ha ha ha, I seem to be a bit clumsy today," Sakura said, trying to excuse herself. "I'll carry Sasuke back up to Sensei." She didn't like to leave Naruto alone to his little massacre, but reckoned that she would be in much bigger trouble if she didn't take care of Sasuke. Besides, it wasn't like that didn't give her any perks in return. She had to thank her inner self for giving her this opportunity.

"Sensei, Sasuke ran into my fist, what should I do?" Sakura asked when she presented Kakashi with their knocked out team-mate, the boy slung over her shoulder.

"Put him on the couch and make sure he lies comfortably and prepare a cold damp piece of cloth to dampen his pain," Kakashi suggested to her and she followed suit.

"You don't have an easy job, I see," the old lady said to him.

"I had an easier time during the Third War," Kakashi said. "Those three will kill me someday."

While Sakura was busy with Sasuke, Naruto came up the stairs with a rat in his mouth and walked towards Kakashi. With a plop, he dropped it into his lap.

"Ehh…" Kakashi responded, and Naruto was just looking at him at it was the most obvious thing in the world. Naruto's tail moved faster and faster and Kakashi just raised an eyebrow, turned back to his conversation and put the dead rat down on the floor.

Before Kakashi was back in his chair, Naruto ran his claws across Kakashi's face with a grouchy snarl.

Kakashi grimaced and watched him as he ran out of the room. "What did you do that for?"

"I hope they pay you enough," the old lady commented and laughed at Kakashi's misfortune.

Kakashi had sent Sakura and Sasuke home, and as he was not in a mood for any more missions or training he went to drink at the jounin bar.

"So how is your team?" Asuma asked, when he had settled into a seat in the far corner near the other jounin-senseis. "And what happened to your face?"

"Oh, we had a bit of a rough mission. We were fighting a tiger, and I got a hit when I was defending my cute little genin."

Asuma took a swig from his drink and looked at him. "Isn't that a bit too much for their first D-rank?"

"I thought my students could handle it. But I guess they are not ready for tigers."

"You're not going rusty, right? You normally come away from quite strong opposition without a scratch."

"Are you calling me old?" Kakashi raised his visible eye.

Asuma started to cough. "Of course not."

"So how is your team? Are they working well together?"

"Ino isn't very cooperative, Shikamaru is more interested in the clouds and Choji only thinks about food. Though I think I can use that to my advantage."

"Mine work well together. After Sasuke got injured in the fight, Sakura tended to his wounds. And Naruto took over their tasks. I'd say I'm already inspiring them."

"I'm surprised you take this job seriously," Asuma said, crossing his arms. "The rest of us thought you were just going to read in that book of yours and not be very involved in their training."

Kakashi donned a look of mock hurt. "It pains me that you don't believe in me."

"We should have a bit of a tournament between us four jounin, what do you say? Then we can decide who's the better sensei."

"I thought I'd won already?"

"You might have a bit of a head start, but none of us is giving up without a fight. You're not afraid, right?"

"Of course not, I'm in."

"Let meet back in a month, then, if the rest are in."

"Sure," Kakashi said as he saw Kurenai in the corner of his eye.. "I'll have to go, see you later." He might be able to fool Asuma, but Kurenai was another cup of tea.

Sasuke had no idea where Naruto lived, so he found himself on his way to Iruka's to see if his former sensei could help him out.

"Good to see you, Sasuke," Iruka answered him when knocked on his door. "Do you want to come in?"

"No, I just want to know where Naruto lives."

"Why don't you ask him directly?"

"I feel that would be weird."

"Weirder than asking around for it?"

"Can you just give me his address?"

"I don't have it on me right now," Iruka said. "You should go to to the academy to look. You'd have better luck there."

"Thanks for nothing."

"Don't be like that, Sasuke," Iruka frowned. "You know what? I'll follow you there, and I can look it up in the records for you. And in return you say hi for me. Sound like a deal?"

Sasuke was standing in front of Naruto's front door, his hand inches away.

'What should I say?' Sasuke thought to himself. 'Maybe I should just invite him out for some food. That's how people make friends, right? I hope I didn't weird him out too much earlier, or that he felt offended that I called him an animal.'

After maybe a half minute, Sasuke had gathered enough courage to knock on the door: first lightly, and then a bit harder when he got no response. But Naruto didn't come out, so Sasuke tried the door handle. It was open, and Sasuke walked him into a dark room. The ceiling lamp was off and the curtains were closed, making it pitch black. With help of the bright daylight from the outside finding the switch wasn't too hard, right behind a cardboard box which he pushed away with a bit of force.

Soon after, a rather messy room was revealed. The only clean item in the room was the currently unoccupied bed.

On his desk, he saw a framed picture of the nine-tails. Besides them, some simple reading books made for children, covered in food stains, blood and dirt, not exactly new anymore.

'At least he is trying to improve,' Sasuke thought when looked at the content. 'But it doesn't seem like he's getting anywhere.'

He began to check through the drawers, starting at the top.

Locked

'What kind of ninja let themselves be locked out by that?' Sasuke smirked and bent down on his knees to pick it open when the light went off.

How?

Sasuke frowned in the dark, looking around carefully. No one had entered the room, which meant that Naruto was there the entire time.

'Shit, the box,' Sasuke realized at the last moment, as a feeling of dread crept over him.

Too late. He felt Naruto's claws dig into his face, and in anticipation of the next strike Sasuke ducked down and ran for the small stripe of light from the door. But Naruto jumped at his back and knocked him down as he fell, digging his claws into Sasuke's back. They rolled around for a moment, before Sasuke got the upper hand and was able to throw Naruto off him.

This was much worse than the fights in the academy. Even Ino won against Naruto. But now that he couldn't see anything, and Naruto seemed to have a much stronger drive to fight, he was in a bad spot. And he couldn't exactly light the apartment on fire to turn the fight in his favour.

Another strike came, this time pushing him further back, forcing him onto his back. He tried to push Naruto away, just to be bitten in the arm. Was Naruto toying with him? He was the cat, and Sasuke was the mouse? 'Should I call for help?'

Another slash hit his face, half an inch away from his eyes. Sasuke tried to punch Naruto, only to miss and get a pair of claws into his neck in return.

Time was slowing down around him. The wound on his neck wasn't too bad - he had been lucky. Out of pure instinct he reached out and managed to grab Naruto's hand before another strike hit his face again, and with a proper grip he threw Naruto away, and from the sound of it into the wall.

Sasuke ran to the door, opened it, shot out into the light and ran away as quickly as he could, fearful that Naruto might just chase him down.

Author's Note(s): I want to thank EndoplasmicPanda for betaing this chapter.

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