Chapter 5

Narrator Pov.

Hiding in a nearby tree Kakashi watched his genin turning their heads madly trying to catch a glimpse of him. He waited holding his breath to see if they would work out their differences. A few minutes later he noticed Sakura hitting Naruto who appeared to be shouting obnoxiously while Sasuke stalked away in a huff. Naruto made a rude hand gesture at his retreating back.

Watching this Kakashi really did hit his head against the nearest tree branch. Wondering what had set off his genin he saw Sakura gesture madly at Naruto before chasing after Sasuke's rapidly retreating figure and he observed Naruto drop dejectedly to the ground.

* 5 minutes earlier

"WHAT! Where did sensei go?" Naruto questioned his equally clueless teammates turning his head in both directions wildly.

"Hn, this is obviously a test on our ability to track and capture." Sasuke stated in a superior tone looking at the still clueless blonde.

"Do you think sensei wants us to work together?" Sakura asked Sasuke meekly.

"If he wanted that he wouldn't only have two bells." Sasuke answered roughly.

Sakura quickly took the chance to gain Sasuke's acknowledgement stated, "Well if we work together Sasuke-kun we can become a team!" Sasuke looked at her with contempt but was cut off from answering when their third teammate interrupted.

"But Sakura-chan! Why would you want to be on a team with that bastard!? I'm way cooler than he is!"

As Naruto narrowly dodged a fist to the head Sakura fumingly screeched, "Idiot! As if I'd ever want to be on a team with you! I'd rather be on a team with Ino-pig! Besides Sasuke-kun is way cooler then you and always will be!" She finished heatedly.

While his team squabbled Sasuke used the time to really think about the test Kakashi had given them. While the objective appeared straight forward he couldn't avoid the niggling suspicion that Kakashi was purposely trying to antagonize them and have them work against each other. One thing was clear to Sasuke, everything Kakashi had told them about teamwork contradicted this test. Which would mean it was a test within a test. Rubbing his temples in aggravation Sasuke wearily watched his teammates and sighed.

Just because Sasuke knew what he should do did not mean that was what he wanted to do. The mere idea of asking the idiot and the fan-girl to work with him was causing him physical discomfort. He watched Sakura once again release a glass-shattering screech as she dived for Naruto, Sasuke sharply turned on his heel and began stalking in the opposite direction in hopes of getting a bell and passing without his annoying teammates to slow him down in his quest to kill Itachi.

Seeing Sasuke storm off into the nearby forest Sakura quickly made one last ditch effort to give her hyperactive teammate brain damage before hurrying after Sasuke, regardless of Naruto calling after her.

Left to his own devices Naruto sat down on the grass crossed his legs and laid his head in his arms with a pout. He had just spent the last few minutes trying to convince Sakura to work with him and when all he got was hit for his troubles he even conceded that Sasuke could help too. But Sakura had just taken that as an insult towards Sasuke since there was no way 'MY Sasuke-kun would need help from a loser like you!'

Pouting Naruto forced himself to get up and stop pitying himself. Just because Sakura started trying to hit him again the second Kakashi was out of sight was no reason for him to be upset. 'In fact,' Naruto thought smiling, 'I bet that if Sakura-chan sees me capture a bell all by myself she will be so impressed she'll go on a date with me!' Nodding decisively Naruto headed off into the forest intent on confronting Kakashi and taking a bell.

Sighing to himself Kakashi ran his fingers through his gravity defying hair. It was times like these he was thankful for being naturally grey, otherwise he was sure he would be the proud owner of three new streaks of grey at the grand age of 26… or was it 32? Shaking his head to clear it from the irrelevant thoughts Kakashi had to admit that it was simply wishful thinking that had him believing team 7 would work well together after such a short period of time. Kakashi was sure that some of Naruto's optimism must have worn off on him over the years.

Taking a leaf out of his loudest students book Kakashi knew that he still had plenty of time to get his genin's teamwork skills up to standard. Since he had even been ordered by the Hokage to pass this team it didn't really matter if the exercise failed. Yet Kakashi knew deep down that if he just allowed them a free pass they would learn nothing and it would be detrimental towards their training in the long run.

Up in his tree Kakashi perched precariously on the upper branches and decided to have some 'fun' with his incredibly pig headed and stubborn genin. If they wanted to be difficult and ignore everything he had spent the last hour drilling into their heads that was fine. Kakashi would simply need to take a more physical approach to get the message to sink in.

It took him less than a minute to pick up Sasuke's trail, not that it was hard since Sakura had not even attempted to cover her tracks when she bumbled in after him causing Kakashi to smirk evilly under his mask.

Hearing a voice just up ahead Kakashi moved in swiftly for the 'kill.' He found Sakura calling out to Sasuke as she glanced around her surrounding wearily. Kakashi found himself thinking about the first bell test and how he handled Sakura. Kakashi mentally scowled at himself over his lack of care. After all the heart ache he went through with Rin and Obito he had no idea what possessed him to show Sakura a dying teammate so early on in her training. While he knew it was important to nip her Sasuke obsession in the bud, now was not the right time. In fact showing her a critically injured Sasuke most likely hindered her progress making her unsure of herself. The best thing he could do this time was to show her that she did not need to rely on Sasuke to be strong.

Dropping in swiftly behind her from the tree tops Kakashi stated in an overly dramatized stage whisper, "First lesson, Taijutsu."

Reacting on instinct Sakura swiftly twisted around with a silent screech, fist flying out automatically in an attempt to protect herself. Jumping swiftly to the side Sakura's punch sailed harmlessly past his chest and impacted heavily on a nearby tree trunk.

"Ahh, Kakashi-sensei?! I could have hit you!" Sakura said remorsefully, before swiftly pumping her fist angrily and demanding, "Why did you do that! You scared me, Cha!"

Rolling his eyes at his student's personality swings he answered, "Well like I stated earlier Sakura-chan this is a test to determine your worthiness at being made into a genin and in this instance it is a test of taijutsu. So prepare yourself!" Kakashi said getting into a basic taijutsu stance.

Sakura looked confused for a second before getting into her own stance she learned at the academy. Moving at minimal speed Kakashi began the spar with a jab towards Sakura's upper torso. Seeing the attack coming Sakura intercepted the blow with a textbook perfect block. Kakashi was determined to show Sakura that she had potential. Moving at a slightly faster speed he began to move forward pushing Sakura back against the tree line.

Over and over Kakashi knocked Sakura off her feet and yet every time she would drag herself back up. Kakashi could not be prouder of his pink haired student. This girl who had very little stamina and only very basic taijutsu skills was refusing to give up.

"Did you do any extra taijutsu training in the Academy Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked as he swiftly side stepped a kick. Sakura answered with a shake of her head, focusing entirely on their current battle.

"Then I'm very impressed with your forms. You have almost mastered the basic style." Sakura smiled pleased with her sensei's praise.

With no Sasuke around to see her Sakura was not nearly as self-conscious about her appearance. Her hair had leaves and tangles throughout and she had dirt on both her face and dress. Her breath was coming out in ragged gasps but she had never felt more alive. Normally she would be mortified, but at this moment she was too exhilarated to care.

After another few minutes Sakura was swiftly becoming frustrated with being constantly on the defensive. Giving out a vicious growl of frustration Sakura threw everything that she had into a punch that Kakashi allowed to graze his left arm. Kakashi was astonished at how much it hurt. Once again he realized that the first time around he had not even known yet alone acknowledged Sakura's strengths outside of textbook situations. Kakashi quickly grabbed both her arms and ended the spar before she could reach for a bell dangling from his pants pocket.

While Kakashi had a hold of both her arms he was inwardly cringing at the numbness swiftly moving from his shoulder all the way down towards his fingertips. Glancing over at the tree that had initially suffered from Sakura's powerful punch and seeing the cracked bark, he began to regret his decision to let Sakura hit him. Boosting her confidence was important but Kakashi thought there must be a less painful way to do so.

Sakura's strangely dejected voice broke the silence, "Ne, does this mean that I fail Kakashi-sensei?" She questioned with her head and eyes downcast.

"The timer hasn't rung yet. So no you haven't failed." Kakashi answered, releasing her arms. He prepared himself for a sneak attack and was shocked to see his female teammate looking very vulnerable instead of meeting the ferocious stare he had received not 5 minutes beforehand.

"But I didn't get a bell. I knew I wouldn't be able to get one, I'm too weak. Now I've let Sasuke-kun down." Inside Sakura's head inner was currently struggling under the weight of a giant boulder proclaiming 'failure.'

"Sakura. I do not want you to feel insecure about our spar. You have learnt the basics and with time and practice I am sure you will become a strong kunoichi of Konoha." Kakashi said with a lump in his throat. He did not like this shy little girl in his normally fiery student's body. He kept thinking about her future, a future where without his help early on lead her to being one of the greatest medical ninja in the world.

But this was not that Sakura. This Sakura was still pining after Sasuke and fantasizing about dating. This Sakura was insecure about her appearance and abilities. This Sakura had not yet found her place in team 7.

Suddenly Kakashi felt entirely outside his comfort zone. Give him an S rank mission and he would complete it happily. However having to deal with an insecure 12 year old was not in something he knew how to do.

Feeling slightly more calmed after her sensei's reassurance Sakura gave a determined nod. 'I may not be able to get a bell, but that will not stop me from trying, Cha!' Sakura said and for once Inner was agreeing whole heartedly with her.

Knowing that Sakura was at least coping Kakashi planned his retreat. "Well in that case you still have about 2 hours left. But next time I won't be finding you. It will be your job to track me down. It will be hard, but I believe you can do it." Kakashi eye smiled before turning to leave, knowing he needed to find the boys before the alarm sounded.

Just before he took to the treetops he gave Sakura one last piece of advice, "Ah Sakura-chan, if you still think yourself weak, maybe you should examine that tree you punched earlier," before he jumped into the canopy. One last look over his retreating shoulder reveled Sakura's astounded face as she saw the cracked bark.

Moving faster through the forest it took Kakashi a little longer to pick up Sasuke's trail now that he didn't have Sakura's path to follow. After a short time longer Kakashi picked up on Sasuke's scent and noticed him hiding in a hollowed out log. Kakashi cautiously approached knowing not to underestimate Sasuke even at this young age. Sure enough mere meters from where Kakashi was standing he noticed a piece of wire connected to a kunai trap. Deciding to see how Sasuke would react Kakashi sprung the trap and immediately had to dodge the released kunai.

He did a front flip over the projectiles and had to turn it into a twist midair to escape the shuriken Sasuke threw his way. On his way down Kakashi's lone eye met those of the Uchiha and Kakashi saw death in them. They were cold and calculating, terrifying in their intensity. Kakashi felt panic began to overwhelm him.

Sasuke's eyes held that same lethal stare that Kakashi remembered so clearly from their last fight. He was no longer seeing a frustrated 12 year old but a cold, ruthless and maniacal 17 year old. He felt his breathing speed up and almost laughed at the thought of having 2 psychotic breaks within 2 days.

Kakashi was so distracted that he forgot to compensate for his slightly injured arm and found himself taking a passing cut from a stray shuriken on his already injured shoulder.

A gasp was heard and Kakashi was shocked to see Sasuke looking dumbfounded with his mouth gaping open. It then occurred to Kakashi that this Sasuke had never truly believed he could injure his sensei. This Sasuke was just following the shinobi guidelines of never showing emotion and using every situation to their advantage, he wasn't about to commit treason or mass murder.

It was this image of a gaping mouth Sasuke that allowed Kakashi to finally separate the two Sasuke's in his head. He locked away the older, insane Sasuke deep within the recesses of his mind and concentrated solely on the angry but young and mentally hurting Sasuke in front of him now.

Later on Kakashi would find it ironic that it took Sasuke injuring him to snap him out of his fear of what Sasuke would become. It did however dawn on Kakashi that he would need to act off his injury and make it seem intentional for three main reasons. The first being Sasuke was arrogant enough without the belief he could injure a Jounin. The second was having a break down in the middle of a genin test would not look good in his report and finally it was just plain embarrassing.

"I see that you managed to hit me. Good job!" Kakashi said with an eye smile hoping to play off the severity of the wound. Seeing his sensei act like nothing was wrong made Sasuke simply 'Hn' before he took a stance in preparation for a fight.

Following his gut instinct Kakashi decided that he needed to end this fast and bandage his shoulder before any major blood loss occurred and caused him to make yet another mistake.

"Second lesson, Genjutsu!" Kakashi's voice reverberated from all around. Sasuke quickly became confused, and it wasn't long before that confusion turned to anger. As Sasuke whirled around he began to get increasingly frustrated.

"Show yourself!" he demanded angrily.

"Psst Sasuke, behind you," Kakashi whispered. Sasuke whirled around and came face to face with a scarecrow. A scarecrow that swiftly began to reach towards him.

Sasuke went to run but during his distraction with the scarecrow Kakashi had placed a visionary genjutsu on the genin making everything appear further away than it truly was. Sasuke was caught be the scarecrow and he quickly lashed out but his attack widely missed.

"Do you yield?" The scarecrow droned. Mentally Kakashi was applauding himself because after his question the small amount of fear that had appeared in Sasuke's eyes disappeared and he was once again filed with confidence.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha from the Uchiha clan. I may not know many genjutsu but I refuse to be beaten by a jutsu that my clan specialized in!" Sasuke then sent out an uneven and slightly waving surge of chakra in an attempt to dispel the genjutsu. Kakashi decided to let him have it.

When the technique wavered Sasuke could clearly see that the creepy scarecrow had simply been his sensei under an illusion. Sasuke then formed hand signs for his signature great fire ball jutsu at an impressive speed for a genin.

Kakashi easily maneuvered himself underground to avoid the blast and just like last time he pulled his arrogant genin under.

"Now Sasuke-kun, I thought we were having a lesson on genjitsu ne?" Kakashi grinned, bending down so he could make out the Uchiha's dark expression.

As Sasuke struggled to get free Kakashi turned to leave the clearing determined to test his final genin.

"Wait! I'm not through with you yet!" Sasuke yelled struggling to free himself from the dirt.

"In that case you have just over an hour to come and find me again and retrieve a bell. Oh and maybe while you try to figure out a way to escape you could also think about the true meaning of this test. You are clever, I have no doubt you will figure it out."

"I refuse to work with weaklings!" Sasuke shouted at Kakashi's rapidly retreating back.

Stopping mid stride Kakashi turned and observed his angst ridden student and stated, "Just so you are aware, earlier when you managed to hit my arm. That was because your weakling teammate managed to hit me so hard I lost some feeling in it."

"So the idiot was quick enough to get you." Sasuke spat out.

"Actually it was Sakura-chan."

With that declaration Kakashi turned on his heel and went off to find Naruto. His last glance back in the clearing bared a speechless Sasuke.

After doing brief first aid on his injured shoulder Kakashi made quick progress hunting down his final genin. Kakashi was annoyed to find the blonde sound asleep, lent up against a tree trunk absorbing the evening sun.

He was about to jump straight in to scare the hell out of Naruto when he remembered the importance of never underestimating your enemy. Kakashi scaled the perimeter looking for traps of any kind. Not being able to find any Kakashi began to feel paranoid. He edged closer to the sleeping blonde, nervous sweat trailing down his neck.

Then Kakashi remembered he was dealing with a 12 year old Naruto, not a 16 year old one and he face palmed at his own stupidity.

He had no doubt Naruto would become amazing. But not yet. At this point if Kakashi couldn't see any traps it was likely because Naruto had not set any traps. It was likely Naruto was sleeping with no worries in the sun during the biggest test of his life.

Not for much longer. Kakashi ran through hand seals before sinking into the ground.

Kakashi exclaimed breaking out of the ground below a stunned, semi-conscious Naruto's feet.

"AHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed jumping away from his clearly annoyed sensei.

"So Naruto-kun, I'm curious. Why exactly were you sleeping?" Kakashi questioned the still shaking orange clad ninja.

"Hehe," said orange clad ninja giggled nervously. "Ah, Kakashi-sensei I tried to find you but when I couldn't I decided to wait for you to find me then I decided to try and set some traps for you but then I remembered that I forgot most of my supplies and all I had was some kunai so then I decided to wait and ambush you but that was so boring and the sun felt so nice and warm that I ended up falling asleep waiting. So you see it wasn't really my fault. I just got bored waiting." Naruto exclaimed rapidly. Kakashi was still too busy trying to understand how all that was said in one breath that he momentarily forgot he was supposed to be testing the knuckle head. However something in that rant did cause Kakashi to pause.

"You forgot most of your supplies?" Seeing Naruto's guilty face Kakashi continued on in a gentler tone, "After today do you see why it is so important to be prepared Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded his head eyes cast low shamefully. Sighing Kakashi did understand that Naruto never had anyone to explain the importance of this before. Just like his experience with the out of date milk. Well that was from his last life but Kakashi new if he looked in Naruto's apartment he would likely still have it in his fridge. A conversation with Naruto about being prepared, eating well and staying healthy was suddenly added to his mental to-do list, along with talking to Sakura about her confidence and gaining Sasuke's trust. Kakashi realized he wasn't going to have a day off for some time.

Now was not the time, now he was completing a test so Kakashi decided to take a leaf from Naruto's book and jump straight in.

"Third lesson, Ninjutsu! Show me what you've got!" Kakashi shouted forming hand signs for a weak earth style justu that caused the earth at Naruto's feet to shift sending him off balance.

Quickly stumbling away from the moving ground Naruto exclaimed with gusto, "Wait ninjutsu? Cool I have a new one, kage bunshin no jutsu! With this techniques we'll definitely get a bell!" Abruptly just as Kakashi had predicted the entire area was covered with smoke. When it cleared the previously empty clearing had around 20 grinning blondes in it. "Pretty cool, huh Kakashi-sensei," Naruto cockily stated.

"Mah not bad, I can see why you beat Mizuki. But you will soon see the difference between a chunin and a jounin." Kakashi used a henged into a Naruto clone and he used kawarimi to swap places with another clone. That was all it took for all hell to break loose.

"GET HIM!" The masses shouted.

"I'M NOT SENSEI!"

"OW MY LEGS!"

"WHERE IS HE!"

"OVER THERE!," "WAIT NOT ME!"

A few minutes later Kakashi had watched all 20 Naruto's kill each other.

In one way Kakashi knew that Naruto would actually be the easiest to train. Yes he liked Sakura but he wasn't obsessed with her. He also didn't have an attitude problem or issues with authority like Sasuke. But as much as Kakashi loved the kid there was no doubt he could be an idiot 98% of the time. Kakashi realized his struggle with Naruto wouldn't be physical but rather mental. In his last life Naruto would often charge in with no plan and very little thought to the consequences. How many times had Naruto survived due to sheer dumb luck? It was a risk Kakashi was not willing to take. Yes Naruto could be a fighting genius but only sometimes. Kakashi would have to teach him how to best turn any situation to his own advantage. Naruto would never be book smart but Kakashi was determined to make him fighting smart.

Kakashi dispelled his henge revealing his location to the loud mouth blonde, "If you expect to get a bell you're going to have to try a lot harder than that." Glancing at the sun Kakashi continued, "I'd say you have about 40 minutes before times up. Come find me in that time to try again, and maybe think about why genin are put into teams." Then Kakashi jumped away leaving behind his confused genin.

Moving away a safe distance Kakashi waited for his genin to locate him. This time he really hoped they used teamwork. Otherwise it will be all the more harder to get them to cooperate together.

Sasuke had spent the last 30 minutes trying to escape with limited success. He could move his head more freely but that was about it.

While he was trapped Sasuke actually took Kakashi's advice and began to plan a way to capture the bells. He was also wondering if Kakashi's was telling the truth when he said Sakura was the one to originally injure his arm.

He suddenly heard distant footsteps and swallowing his Uchiha pride for all of two seconds called out, "hello?"

That was all it took and mere seconds later a slightly dirty and sweaty Sakura stumbled into the clearing and almost tripped on Sasuke's protruding head.

"Uh Sasuke-kun why are you just a head?" Sakura questioned wearily, while quickly running her fingers through her messed up hair in a vain attempt to bring it under control. An hour ago she may have screamed, but now she was tired, sweaty and in need of a descents night sleep. She also figured that if Sasuke was able to call out he couldn't be that injured/dead.

Sasuke's eyes began to twitch uncontrollably. Finally he sighed in defeat and admitted, "Sensei caught me off guard." He then resumed his struggle to break free.

Sakura watched from the sidelines unsure about whether or not her help would be appreciated or wanted.

After what felt like eternity Sasuke glanced at the sun and took note that they might have only twenty minutes left to complete the test. His thoughts then turned back to the academy and he shuddered when he thought of the fan girls waiting for him there.

At least if he passed he'd only be stuck with one fan girl and the idiot.

However all of that would be redundant if he couldn't break free. A light bulb went off in his head and he remembered Kakashi saying Sakura was stronger than she looked.

Not that she looked overly strong he thought with a disgusted shake of his head.

Yet desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Hn, Sakura," he stated blandly, "can you help me get loose?" He refused to say free because that would mean he was stuck and stuck meant that somebody had trapped him in the first place… Well that's just how the Uchiha pride worked.

Sakura looked at him with stars in her eyes and Sasuke was suddenly very afraid being trapped with her so close.

'Cha! Sasuke-kun needs our help! This must mean he likes me!' Sakura thought with a big smile.

However out loud Sakura simply said, "Of course Sasuke-kun," and as if she was simply picking out a flower she pulled him from the ground.

For a solid minute Sasuke stared at her in disbelief. There was no way that this useless fan girl could actually be useful… Was there?

"Hn, let's get moving," was all Sasuke said out loud dashing Sakura's day dreams of a deeply felt thank you, a hugs and maybe even a kiss.

"Right," she stated taking off after Sasuke.

"Uh Sasuke-kun do you have a plan on how we can get those bells?" Sakura meekly asked her crush.

Sasuke looked like he had swallowed a lemon but answered her all the same.

"Yes I have a plan." After a dramatic pause he continued, "and we're going to need the idiots help."

Kakashi was leaning against a tree enjoying the feel of the sun when he first sensed the approach. He smiled glad that they found him in time but that soon changed when he only sensed one of his students coming. Just as Kakashi predicted Naruto was by himself when he entered the clearing.

"Found you sensei!" Naruto yelled his childish voice drilling holes into Kakashi's brain.

"That's great Naruto, but I still don't think you understand the true meaning of this test."

Naruto said nothing, instead he pulled out a kunai and threw it towards his sensei. Kakashi blocked it with ease and ducked the kick Naruto was trying to aim at his head. As Naruto twisted on his way down from his high kick he made a reach for the bells. Kakashi felt slightly insulted that Naruto thought it would be that easy.

Kakashi tilted to the side, foiling Naruto's pitiful attempt only to jump at the last second to avoid being impaled by shuriken. Kakashi spied Sasuke out of the corner of his eye as he came back down to the ground.

"Hn, idiot go with plan B." Sasuke called loudly. Much too loudly to just be talking to Naruto Kakashi thought with a smile.

"Huh?" Naruto said, "Oh right plan B gotcha," before diving at Kakashi again.

Sasuke quickly joined the fight and together the two boys fought Kakashi with taijutsu. On its own Kakashi had no issues countering Naruto's wild and undisciplined style but with Sasuke's help he had to actually pay attention. Maybe it was due to some left over paranoia but Kakashi was still weary to not underestimate Sasuke, ever.

Kakashi caught sight of Sakura briefly before she disappeared into the surrounding trees. What Kakashi failed to see as he dodged Sasuke's strike was where exactly his third student went. His third student who suddenly dropped from the tree above their heads carrying a massive club improvised from a tree branch. Kakashi's eye widened comically as he stepped back from the scary Sakura wielding a make shift club.

"Cha, we have you now sensei!" Sakura exclaimed as a war cry moving in.

"Bring! Bring! Bring!"

All three genin froze in place. The alarm had sounded and they had failed.

"Well then that was fun," Kakashi chuckled at his depressed genin.

He received nothing but glares in return, even from the normally cheerful blonde.

"Before you all go all depressed on me I just want to say that I'm proud of you all. You moved past your individual differences and in doing so worked together." Kakashi said placing his hands on his hips he continued, "And so, you pass" Kakashi said leaning towards his stunned team.

"Wha?" Was the confused reply.

"Sasuke-kun, would you like to fill everyone in?" Kakashi asked the raven haired boy.

Sasuke sighed in aggravation but complied with his sensei's wishes. "We passed because this test was never about capturing the bells, it was all about working as a team."

Wonder fell over both Naruto and Sakura's faces. Kakashi was unprepared when he found himself being squeezed to death by the hyper active blonde.

"Yatta! Sensei you're the best! Ninja, Ninja I am a Ninja!" Naruto shouted releasing Kakashi and jumping around in excitement.

More reserved than her blonde teammate Sakura smiled and nodded her head at Kakashi. Then deciding she didn't care what Sasuke thought for a minute she jumped in excitement and pumped her fist in the air.

Even Sasuke made a semi-pleased grunt. Although that may have just been because he was right about the true meaning behind the test.

Once his genin had calmed down Kakashi lead the way out of the forest and up to the entrance of the training ground. As they walked Kakashi looked up at the sky which was turning orange as the sun set. He observed his genin out of the corner of his eye and was pleased that Naruto and Sakura appeared to be having a normal conversation and even Sasuke was contributing with grunts at appropriate intervals.

The trees swayed peacefully in the evening breeze and for the first time in a very long time Kakashi felt peace.

A/N: I just wanted to make it clear that Sakura and Sasuke are not super powered. Kakashi let Sakura hit him on purpose and his issues with the future Sasuke cause him to drastically over estimate his ability. :)