Chapter 1

"You're such a loser."

"I am not, teme!"

"Don't call Sasuke that, Naruto!"

"But, Sakura…"

Kakashi sighed. His genin team, as much as he adored them, drove him insane. Always bickering and arguing. You'd think that being on a team for two years would make them closer. Kakashi snapped his book.

"I think that's the end of training today. You guys better go home and rest." Kakashi took off, leaving behind a puff of smoke for a dismayed Naruto, disgruntled Sakura, and a pissed off Sasuke to deal with.

Kakashi really did love the three. Sakura was the heart of the team, trying to prove herself better than Naruto. Naruto was the goofball, and worked hard. And Sasuke? Sasuke was the leader. He kept Naruto and Sakura in top shape. The three were perfect as a team. But, like always, something happens, and that perfect teamwork is shot to pieces.

Take, for instance, today. It was a simple training exercise. Protect a scroll from Kakashi. The first part went well. The team substituted the scroll, so each had what looked like a copy. A simple trick. And Naruto was given the real scroll. Then, he lost it.

Not to Kakashi. Naruto put down the scroll, and then he just couldn't find it. That's when everything went to hell. The second part was spent, not on keeping the scroll from Kakashi, but trying to find it. When they couldn't, all of the arguing began.

Kakashi sighed. Poor Naruto. Neither Sakura nor Sasuke were supportive of him. When he told them he had lost the scroll, they flipped out on him. None of them thought to look up the tree, where they would have found a squirrel, with the scroll in its paws. Nope. Naruto was too busy trying to make amends, and Sasuke and Sakura were too busy blaming Naruto.

"Hey, Kakashi!"

Kakashi looked up. Though he had pulled out his book, he wasn't reading it. It was good for musing, and he had read the story hundreds of times. People left you alone if they thought you were busy reading. Well, except for Iruka Umino, who knew Kakashi way too well. And that's who was running up the street.

"Hello, Iruka. How are you today?" Kakashi asked pleasantly.

"I'm good thanks. What happened during training today? Naruto wasn't too happy when he came home, and didn't even want to go out for ramen!"

He was that miserable? Kakashi figured Iruka would ask sooner or later. Iruka had a soft spot for Naruto, and last year, he even took Naruto into his house. He figured that if he was the closest thing Naruto had to a dad, he might as well be his guardian. Iruka wouldn't ask Naruto what was wrong. Naruto wouldn't tell him if he did, so he came to Kakashi. The last year, the two of him had grown close.

"Naruto lost the scroll the three were supposed to protect."

"Sasuke and Sakura got on his ass for it?" Iruka guessed.

Kakashi nodded. "The three of them are driving me insane. They work great as a team, when they aren't jumping down one another's throats. And its Naruto's throat they jumped down in."

"Why do they gang up on Naruto?" Iruka asked sadly.

Kakashi knew why. Sasuke Uchiha, the last of the Uchiha clan, thought he was so superior to Naruto, and Sakura was a fangirl of Sasuke. Sasuke's word was gold. Naruto was stuck on a team where one person sees him no better than dirt, and the other worshipped the first. Naruto went on defense, and now, it was habit.

"If there was only a way to teach them true teamwork." Iruka added quietly.

Yes. If there was only a way… Kakashi stopped walking. What if there was a way? A way to teach the three of them to get along? A training in which they would dictate its end.

Kakashi grinned behind his mask.