Disclaimer: don't own Naruto

As the skies started clearing, Naruto woke up. He looked around because the last thing he remembered clearly was Sasuke dying, and he knew that couldn't be right. His confusion was only growing, however, as he saw Kakashi-sensei and Sakura laid out unconscious. He didn't see Sasuke anywhere. He got up and decided to take a look around. He jumped when he heard the bushes rustle.

"Yo, kid" Tazuna shouted. "Hey, old man, what happened?" Naruto queried. "The last thing I remember was a really big pain in my head."

"... I am sorry to tell you this but your teammate, Sasuke, was killed during the match between Zabuza and your sensei." Tazuna said. "What? So it wasn't a dream after all." cried Naruto. "For what its worth, I am sorry this happened kid. So sorry." Tazuna looked away, not being able to look the crying kid in the face.

"What happened to Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as he walked over to the unconscious jounin. "Don't know, he fainted right after some guy with a mask came and took Zabuza away. What I do know is that we need to get these two to my house. Its only a couple of miles away." Tazuna said while going to pick up Sakura. "Ok," Naruto mumbled despondently, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu".

Two clones appeared and picked up Kakashi. The two slowly made their way to Tazuna's house deep in their own faults. Both were seriously going over what went wrong again and again in their minds. Then Naruto remembered, "What happened to Sasuke's body?"

"Crap, I knew I forgot something" Tazuna said. "Can you make some clones to go back and get him? I laid him out on the other side of the tree were I put you three." Naruto made another two clones and sent them back to get the person he had started to think of as a true friend.

They finally arrived at Tazuna's house after two hours of walking. They were greeted by a pretty young woman who was introduced as Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. She helped get everyone settled inside by placing each person in their own room.

Naruto went into the room she led him like a man condemned. His world shaken, his confidence shattered, Naruto knew pain and he knew loss. He cried himself to sleep that night. Tsunami was told by Tazuna about what happened on the mission. The only thing she could do was gasp in horror at the price those young children had to face.

The next morning dawned bright and clear as if mocking the sorrow that had descended down upon a certain house in the woods. Sakura had woken an hour ago and had not left her room since. The only reason the people in the house knew she was awake was because of the broken sobs coming from the room. Around lunch when Tsunami was trying to get the two young ninja to come down and eat was when Kakashi finally woke up. He immediately grasped that he had suffered from chakra exhaustion, and he was now probably at the client's house.

He called the his two genin into his room though it took Sakura a while to come. "I am not going to lie to you. Sasuke is dead, and he is not coming back." Kakashi started only to be interrupted by Sakura's sobs. Naruto moved to comfort her and in her grief she accepted his hug. Crying into his shoulder, "Why, why Kakashi-sensei. Why did he have to die!" she sobbed.

Kakashi looked at her pityingly before he replied, "We are shinobi. Our lives are forfeit to our villages, and sometimes bad things happen. This just happened to be one of those times. Maybe if I had trained you better this would not have happened." he sighed. "Anyway, we will move on. We have suffered a loss to our team and a loss to our village, but we will move on and become stronger. Sasuke would have wanted above all else for us to get stronger, for he always wanted to make himself stronger. Don't give in to despair or anger, but get stronger and stronger and make Sasuke proud."

His team was giving him a funny look. Sakura's face kept changing between firm determination and outright horror. Kakashi felt lucky that her face settled on the former by the end of his speech. Naruto... well he couldn't really read Naruto's face. So many emotions were passing by on his face to give any shrink a run for his money to figure them all out.

"Kakashi-sensei" Naruto said. "Yes, Naruto?" Kakashi replied. "Make me stronger." Naruto said while looking him straight in the eye. "I will" Kakashi told him. This was the first time teacher and student had felt so connected as that moment. This was also the moment that the real team 7 was born. Not in the peace of school and teamwork, but in the fires of battle and death. And oh how those fires would burn in the future.