Kyuubi and Naruto continued conversing throughout the night. They talked about Naruto's activities with Sakura as well as other things. Kyuubi explained in greater detail what happened the day she attacked the village. Well, it wasn't really more detailed, it was just said slower and with a calmer mind, allowing Naruto to understand it better.

Then they began to discuss the matter of the test that Kakashi was going to give out the next day. "You know, I don't think I'm going to help you." Kyuubi said. "Not this time anyway."

Naruto began to complain. "Why not? We're supposed to be partners or something."

"That is true. But I want to see what you can do if I do not aid you." Kyuubi responded.

Naruto glared at her for a second. His eyes narrowing and staring deep into her own red eyes. "Fine. But you better help me out after this time. I'm sure that you have more battle experience and stuff like that than almost anyone! I could really use that!"

Kyuubi was feeling a little arrogant now. "You got that right kit! I have more of that than any human. Not to mention that I have an abundance of Chakra. You have a lot for a human, but thats nothing compared to me!" She laughed smugly and kept boasting about herself. She seemed to have a huge ego, and Naruto just fed it.

The two kept exchanging remarks for some time before Kyuubi finally said something with some actual truth to it "I thought you might want to know that its five AM already. I think you're supposed to meet up with Kakashi now." She said.

"What?!" Naruto shouted "Already?! But I haven't even had a wink of sleep!" He was beginning to panic now, running around like crazy.

"Calm down kit!" Kyuubi said loudly. "You did sleep, the whole time we were talking, you body is out there resting."

When Naruto heard those words, he slowly came to a stop. "Really?" He asked cluelessly. Kyuubi nodded. A smile grew on his face and he cheerfully said "Great! Now send me back so I can get going!"

Kyuubi obliged and with a snap of her fingers, he was gone from the sewer. Naruto slowly opened his eyes to find that he was on his bed. He glanced at the clock on the wall, it read 5:03 AM. True to Kyuubi's words, it was time to meet up with Sensei. But how did she know the time? Whatever, Naruto needed to get ready, he was already late.

He remembered Kakashi's warning not to eat, and he decided to follow it. The blond charged straight into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He took a shower, not caring if he had taken one the previous night because to him, it seemed as if he spent the whole evening in a sewer.

He then put on some of the clothes that Sakura had bought for him. Wearing a pair of black sweatpants with a few details in orange on the hem and the bottom of each leg. He also wore a black T-shirt that had the Konoha symbol in orange in the center. It was amazing how Sakura had found the perfect clothes for him.

Naruto got his pouches filled with shuriken and kunai knives and strapped them onto his legs. He also tied his Konoha forehead protector to his forehead under his bangs and slipped on his new sandals. The young shinobi then ran out the door heading towards the training grounds.

Once he arrived, he saw that Sasuke and Sakura were already there. Sakura seemed pretty sleepy, while Sasuke was his usual self, showing only slight signs of being tired. "Good Morning!" Naruto said cheerfully.

Sakura replied "Morning." followed by a yawn.

The trio then waited. They watched the sun rise, and continued to wait. By then they were all fully awake, and starting to feel the effects of not eating anything. Naruto and Sakura had resorted to sitting down on the floor. Two hours had passed before Kakashi finally made his entrance.

"Hi fellows, good morning." He said.

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto screamed in unison. Sasuke didn't say anything, but he sided along with his team mates by giving their teacher a potent glare.

"I got lost on the path of life." Kakashi responded with some fake emotion. The three continued to glare at him and he cleared his throat. "Lets move on.." he said. He walked over to a tree stump and placed a timer on it. He messed with a few buttons and said "Alright, its set to noon" He pressed the switch that was on the top. The clock began to tick.

"Your assignment is very simple, you just have to take these bells from me." He said while holding up two silver bells. "Thats all there is to it." He added. He rang the bells once and then continued "If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch."

Naruto wanted to complain but he remained in silence.

Then the white haired jonin pointed at three tree stumps, the one in the middle with the clock on top "You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

'So thats why...' Sasuke thought. His expression dulled and idiotic.

'He told us not to eat breakfast so it's be harder on us' Sakura thought while holding her stomach.

Naruto had no particular thoughts, he was just holding his gut and thinking about how hungry he was feeling.

All three of the teenagers had never felt so hungry then at that moment. It wasn't because of actual hunger, but the thought of not having any food since their dinner, and still have to fight a full fledged jonin was blood-curdling.

"Wait a minute, theres three of us, how come theres only two bells?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi smiled. "So that way, at least one of you will be tied up to a post and be ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy."

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were beginning to hate their sensei more and more with each passing second. Every word that exited his concealed mouth was meant to simply piss them off. Of course, Kakashi was just getting a kick out of it on the inside. The priceless looks on their faces was so comical, it'd even make Gamabunta laugh.

"Then again, all three of you could flunk out." Kakashi continued. Aggravating the members of squad seven even more. "You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells." The masked man continued. He rang the bells once more, placing them in his grip while doing so.

Sasuke put on a look of determination, mirrored by both Sakura and Naruto.

"When I say start, you can begin." Kakashi said. He paused, allowing each to take a stance. "Get ready and..." he drew out that word, building the tension. "Start!"

After that word was said, all three genin jumped into the air. Sakura hid under some bushes, Kakashi was quick to locate her. Sasuke had hidden in the tree tops and was also identified by Kakashi in an instant.

"Shinobi must know how to conceal their movements, and hide effectively." Kakashi recited aloud. He was overall satisfied with the way that Sakura and Sasuke were able to hide themselves. He wasn't as content with Naruto however.

Different from the other, he was standing right in front of the jonin. Arms at his sides, ready to react to any attack from any angle, a determined glow in his eye.

The first thing that came into both Kakashi's and Sasuke's minds was 'Fool.' But then Kakashi analyzed better. Perhaps this boy's fighting style wasn't well suited for ambush. Or maybe he wasn't so good at detecting openings, so the best fighting choice would be to go head on. His stance didn't seem that bad, and the emotion in his eyes was adequate for the situation, so maybe he wasn't all that stupid.

Naruto charged with full force and speed at the jonin. Kakashi reached into his side-pouch and began to speak. "Shinobi Battle Techniques, Part One: Taijutsu. The physical part." After that short recital, he pulled out a book from the pouch. Naruto didn't stop for an instant and continued his assault. He punched, his hand being caught by Kakashi's free one, the one that didn't have the book.

The blond then attempted to kick Kakashi, but he ducked making him miss. The exchange continued like so, Naruto continuing to miss and to be blocked. After a few minutes of this continuing, Kakashi got bored, and he decided to go on the offensive. He tried a low kick and managed to get Naruto unbalanced, then he proceeded to punch him in the gut. This action sent Naruto skidding across the grass into the water.

While under the water, Naruto heard Kyuubi laugh. She was really enjoying this. 'You alright kit? Need some help?' She said mockingly.

'Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate. And I know that even if I asked for your help, I wouldn't get it.' Naruto retorted.

After sending Naruto into the water, Kakashi continued reading. Sakura felt slightly bad for Naruto. He was trying his all, but his opponent was on a totally different level. Sasuke's opinion on Naruto was starting to go on a better light. Sure he was getting his ass handed to him. But this was a jonin he was fighting. The dobe still had the guts to go up against him, and he did show a few good moves.

Refusing to give up, Naruto decided to attack from the water. He sent two shuriken from the water. They spun and curved their paths and headed directly to the reading man. Kakashi just caught them by raising his hand and making his fingers enter the holes of the small star-shaped weapons. All this without lifting his eye from the book. The two shuriken slowly stopped their rotation after then.

Not two seconds after, five Naruto emerged from the water, all directing themselves at Kakashi. They went all at once with the intent of killing their sensei. Using only taijutsu they attacked. One clone went for the legs, managing to get the jonin slightly off balance, another managed to clash his fist against the masked man's face. And a third managed to lightly graze on one of the bells with his hands.

Reacting to that, Kakashi extended his leg and preformed a spinning kick. Causing four Naruto to disappear into clouds of smoke, and the fifth to go flying into a tree. And before the eye could blink, Kakashi went up close to Naruto and tied him up to the tree.

Naruto struggled and tried to free himself, but he found that impossible, he was too tightly bound. "That was a very nice try Naruto. I'm impressed. But sadly, it wasn't good enough." Kakashi said.

'Like that guy said kit. Not bad, but you could do better.' Kyuubi added.

Naruto sighed in defeat. He decided that it would be best to just stay bound like that for a while and try to think up a strategy.

Sasuke saw that Kakashi's back was turned to him. The jonin was staring at Naruto, so this must be the perfect opening for him to strike. Upon realizing this, Sasuke immediately threw a series of shuriken at his target. They hit, only to reveal that Kakashi had used a substitution jutsu. Sasuke was quick to change location, knowing that his sensei now knew where he had been hiding.

Sakura had witnessed it all, and she now began to go on the move. She was afraid that she had also been found because she had gasped when she saw the fake Kakashi being hit.

Naruto had convinced Kyuubi to at least tell him what was happening. Since Kyuubi, unlike Naruto, could sense and detect Chakra with extreme precision over a large area, she was able to tell her host the exact positions of Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura, and what they were doing.

Sakura came to a halt when she spotted Kakashi in a small clearing, still reading his book. Then she head "Sakura, behind you." in a whisper. It was Kakashi. She screamed in surprise. The next action that the white haired man took was to place Sakura in a genjutsu. She saw all her loved ones dead, covered in blood.

She saw her parents. They were dragging along on the floor, reaching out to her. She saw Ino, leaning against a tree, dozens of kunai knives stabbed into various parts of her body. Her other friends from the academy were all there, also harmed by something. She also saw Naruto there. He was in a worse condition that anyone else there. Sakura let out and ear-piercing scream, and then fainted.

Kakashi hid behind a bush. "Maybe I overdid it. I wonder what she saw." he asked aloud. "Shinobi Battle Techniques, Part Two: Genjutsu. The mental part." he recited.

From a clearing just a few yards away from where Sakura now lay, was Sasuke. Sasuke was thinking of how stupid his new teammate was for falling for such a simple genjutsu. "I'm not like Sakura or Naruto." Sasuke said in a low, deadly voice.

"You can say that, after you've gotten one of these bells." Kakashi pointed out in his usual tone. He turned to Sasuke and watched him take a stance, the whole while, not letting go of his book. Both stared each other down for a few moments, then the battle began.

Sasuke took the first move by throwing four shuriken at his target. Kakashi easily dodged while saying, "Theres no point using normal attacks." Sasuke then threw one more kunai knife and cut a rope that was up in a tree. "A trap!" exclaimed Kakashi as a barrage of more kunai knives hit the spot where he was just at before dodging once more.

The Uchiha then continued by dashing to Kakashi's location while the jonin was still distracted. He launched a side-kick aimed at his opponent's masked face which was barely blocked by his forearm. Kakashi instantly took a hold of Sasuke's leg and caught the following punch in his hand. Sasuke continued by attacking with his free leg, which was also blocked.

That instant, Sasuke saw the bells. He grinned as he reached out to grab one. Kakashi was astonished at this kid's speed and strength, and jumped back before he could get any closer to the bells. 'He's fierce.' the jonin thought. 'I won't be able to read Itcha Itach Paradise now.'

Naruto was still tied to his tree. He had his eyes closed and a serious expression on his face. If he were seen by anyone, they could have concluded that he was sleeping and not having that much of a pleasant dream. But that would have been incorrect. The truth was that he was listening intently to Kyuubi. She was sensing the Chakra of Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura, retelling all the events that were happening to her host.

'That kid Sasuke is pretty good. Seems like you have yourself a rival kit.' Kyuubi said to Naruto through their newly discovered mental connection.

'Yeah, maybe.' Naruto responded. 'Anyway, hows Sakura-chan doing? Is she okay?' It was obvious by his tone of voice that he was worried.

'Well, let me check.' Kyuubi said. There was a slight pause before she was able to respond. 'Looks like she is finally waking up form the shock that that genjutsu gave her.' Naruto smiled at that statement.

Sakura slowly sat up. "What?!" she shouted. She looked around furiously, searching for any sign of blood or anything of the sort. Then it hit her, "It must have been a genjutsu! How could I have missed that?" she said aloud. The girl then stood up slowly.

"Well, you are different from the other two, I'll grant you that." Kakashi said.

Sasuke grunted, he then did a series of hand signs. He then said "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" While shaping his right hand into a tube-like form and placing it over his mouth. He then blew from it and out came a massive ball of scorching fire.

"What?!" Kakashi exclaimed. "Genin can't do fire jutsu, takes too much Chakra!" just after he said that, the flames engulfed the whole area in which he was previously standing. It was a while before Sasuke's flames began to die down.

It was only then that he noticed that he hadn't hit Kakashi. 'Where did he go?' Sasuke thought in surprise. 'Behind me? Above?' he continued. He looked up, down, left, right, forward, and behind him. But he didn't find the white-haired man.

"Where?" Kakashi's voice rang. Just then his hand reached up from under the ground and took Sasuke from his ankle. "I'm where you least expect me..." As he said that, he pulled the boy down into the ground. His voice was heard shouting in surprise and disbelief.

"Right under your feet." Kakashi finished to the now submerged Sasuke. His whole body was underground, only his head remained over. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu." The jonin stated. "Can't move right? That was Shinobi Battle Techniques, Part Three: Ninjutsu. The elemental part. You have talent, and you were right. You are different from the others. But, different isn't always better. They say that the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down."

After those words, Kakashi left. Time went by and Sasuke managed to squirm himself out of that whole. Sakura was able to get back to the original clearing, and Naruto decided to finally get a kunai from his bag and cut himself loose. Once the trio was all gathered up in the clearing, the timer on the tree stump rang. Each person felt different about that.

Sakura felt upset. She wanted to become a strong kunoichi so that she could find a new reason for living. She had been so happy that she managed to graduate from the academy, and she was even put on a team where she liked the people. Her would-be sensei wasn't that good of a teacher so far, but it was still better than Iruka at the academy.

Naruto was disappointed in himself. Maybe if he threw away all his pride and begged Kyuubi to help him out, he might have been able to beat the jonin. He probably couldn't be stopped if he had even a fraction of the Kyuubi's Chakra, along with her advice and guidance. They had had two hours of wait before Kakashi got there, so he could have used that time productively and attempted to convince her to help. But no, he just had to be stubborn and try it out for himself. What an idiot.

Sasuke was the most affected by this. He knew that he needed the training from a jonin to be able to get the power to kill Itachi. But now, he lost the chance. He would have to deal with another whole year of academy and waisting his time. He didn't have any time to spare. Itachi wasn't going to wait. And time wasn't going to slow down. He missed his chance, and there wasn't any solving it.

Kakashi walked up to the trio and said "Well, I've decided. I won't send any of you back to the academy."

As he said those few little words, hope filled in each one of the young teenagers. It was as if their despair was all about to end. Naruto would get another chance to fight Kakashi, and beat him with Kyuubi's help. Sakura would be able to find a dream and follow it. She would be able to be with her friends and would be able to give that bastard Kakashi a good beating some day. And Sasuke would be able to train. To get stronger. Strong enough to complete his goal.

"You mean...!" Naruto managed to say in his upcast feeling of joy.

"Yes, all three of you are being dropped from the program, permanently." Kakashi responded with a smile.

Those words sank the hearts of the three faster than a two ton bar of diamond in the ocean. "Dropped from the program?!" Sakura exclaimed. "You said that if we failed we'd be sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and never allow us to become real shinobi!" She finished.

"I did it because you don't think like shinobi." Kakashi explained. "You think like little kids. Like Brats."

That final word angered Sasuke. He was not a brat. He had been through too much to be called a brat. His emotions took over him and he charged at the jonin. Before the eye could blink, Kakashi sat atop of Sasuke, he foot over the boy's black hair and his body restraining his arm along with the rest of the corpse.

"You think its all about you." Kakashi went on, as if nothing had happened. Sasuke groaned in pain. "You don't know what it means to be shinobi. You think its a game, huh? Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment? "

"I don't know what you mean!" Sakura said, surprised at how fast this man was able to trap the academy's top student.

"I mean, you never realized what this exercise is all about." The sensei continued. "Not even close."

"What its about?" Naruto echoed. He could faintly hear Kyuubi laughing. She knew exactly what was going on, but it was clear that she was trying her best to not let herself be heard by the blond. It wasn't working much though.

"Yes, its what determines wether you pass or fail." Kakashi said.

"But thats... I mean, I wanted to ask you about that from the beginning." Sakura said quietly. She had lost all the courage she had.

Kakashi sighed. "Use your head. Three people on a squad. Why do you think we would do that?"

Naruto was becoming impatient with this guy. "How are we supposed to know why you picked three people?! We didn't make the rules." He shouted in a low, serious tone.

"Its so basic." Kakashi said. He paused for a moment. "Teamwork!"

This hit all three of them by surprise. They never even tried it. Kyuubi was now laughing out loud, with no restraint. 'Couldn't even think of that one, huh kit?' she laughed on. Naruto made a mental note to hit her the next time he was in that sewer place.

"The three of us working together, is that what you mean?" Sakura said. It was rather obvious since that would be the definition of 'teamwork' in that context.

"Thats what I mean. Its too late now, but if all three of you would have come at me, then you might have been able to take one." Kakashi said, referring to the bells.

"You set it up with three people but only two bells! That would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up!" Sakura reasoned.

"Exactly. I purposely pitted you against each other. I wanted to see if you could overcome that, and put the squad over yourselves. A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But you, it never even crossed your mind." Kakashi explained. Then he paused for an instant. "Sakura! You went on the defensive and didn't attempt to help either of your comrades. Naruto! You're impulsive and overconfident, you do everything on your own. And you, Sasuke, thought the others were so far beneath you that they were worthless. Arrogance. Shinobi missions are carried out in squads. Of course you need individual skills, but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. On every mission your life is on the line."

As he finished his speech, he finally stood up off of Sasuke. He groaned painfully once more. Kakashi looked intently at each one of his students. He saw the pleading in each of their eyes. He sighed. "I'll give you one more chance. Eat now, and you'll have three hours to get the bells afterwards."

Hope shined again on team seven. They were being allowed a second chance! There was no way that they would blow it now. "However," Kakashi continued. This couldn't be good. "Sakura, since you did absolutely nothing other than fall under a genjutsu, you will not be allowed to eat and will be tied to this stump."

Both Sakura's and Naruto's jaws went slack. "Thats not fair!" Sakura whined, but she was not completely against this. It was true, she had done nothing to help. At least both Naruto and Sasuke had tried.

Naruto was about to argue, to get Kakashi to pin him up instead. Sakura placed her hand on his shoulder and shook her head. She had known exactly what he was thinking, and she knew that Naruto would be of more use than she was. His shoulders stiffened and his eyes shined. 'This is not smart kit.' Kyuubi warned.

"Kakashi!" Naruto said firmly. "Pin me up instead. I was the first to get caught so its only fair."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "You sure you don't want to eat?" He questioned. Naruto nodded with his serious expression. "So be it."

A few minuted later, Naruto was tied to the center post by a thick rope. Sasuke and Sakura were sitting on each side of him with a small boxed lunch along with some discardable chop sticks. "Now you aren't allowed to feed Naruto under any circumstance." Kakashi warned with a deadly look in his single eye. And then, he was gone in a small poof of smoke.

Sasuke opened his lunch and began to eat slowly. Sakura was a little hesitant but an encouraging glance from Naruto pushed her to eat. They remained in silence for a little while. The only sound was the light breeze blowing through the leaves along with a few birds chirping.

The silence was soon interrupted by Naruto's rumbling stomach, loud, hollow, and craving food. Naruto, the knucklehead that he was, blushed at the sound erupting from the pit of his belly. Sasuke sighed and extended his left arm, leaving his half-eaten bento in front of the blond.

Naruto looked at the lunch, then at Sasuke. "Have it you dobe, we're going to need your strength if we want to beat that jonin."

His gaze didn't waver from his new teammate. "But–" Naruto began, but was cut off.

"Wait!" It was Sakura's voice that produced the sound. "Sasuke, keep your lunch, he can have mine. Your much more valuable to the team than I am, so Naruto should take mine. It was supposed to be his anyway." Sakura looked down at her half-eaten lunch and then left it in front of Naruto. "Go ahead."

Naruto smiled. His eyes tearing up from the joy of the moment. "Sakura-chan..." he said in a low whisper. He was reaching for his leg to get a kunai to cut the ropes. He wanted so much to break free and hug that pretty girl with pink hair. But then Kyuubi's voice brought up a new plan.

'Stay where you are kit, let her feed it to you.' The smug grin was visible in her face even though he couldn't really see her. Naruto grinned to himself as well.

'Might as well make the best of this moment.' He responded to Kyuubi in his mind. Kyuubi approved. "Sakura-chan, I'm sort of tied up right now." Naruto did his best to sound modest, it seemed to work.

"Ah, right." She blushed a little. "Open wide then." She said as she fed him a bite of rice. Naruto gratefully opened, closed, chewed and swallowed the small bite.

Sakura remembered that she had just been eating from those chop sticks 'Indirect kiss.' She thought, and blushed even deeper.

Before anything else could happen, storm clouds and strong winds came from nowhere, along with Kakashi. A very pissed off Kakashi. If looks could kill, well it didn't matter, with the sight Kakashi was giving the three, it made them feel as if they never wanted to have been born.

"You!" He shouted, more emotion in his voice then there ever had been. "You disobeyed me! And now..." He lowered his open hand making it almost touch the ground. It stiffened, and he held on to his wrist with his other hand. There was a blue spark, and then it burst into Chakra so brilliantly that it appeared as if a thousand sparks of lightning were in the palm of his hand.

The whole time the trio was trembling in fear of their teacher. Was he really going to kill them? The three of them kept throwing out reasons why they should be forgiven, but it seemed as if it were no use.

"But you said that we had to work as a team!" Naruto yelled. He was about to beg Kyuubi to help him protect Sakura from any attack that this silver-haired, masked monster would lash out. But he noticed that Kyuubi wasn't at all worried. She didn't even seem the least bit disturbed by this. She was just quietly observing.

Maybe this was what she had wanted all along. For Naruto to get killed and her to be free. Well, wouldn't Kakashi get a surprise then.

"Kakashi-sensei! We are a team, I cannot let one of us be incapacitated for my foolishness when I have means of helping them!" Sakura said. Determination glistening in her jade eyes. She had pulled out a kunai knife and was standing in a defensive pose.

Sasuke was in a similar state. He grunted. "I agree with Sakura and Naruto." He said in a low, angry voice. It was a surprise to all of them to hear the prodigy agreeing with his inferiors.

Kakashi's expression did not waver. There was thunder in the background and the wind picked up. But then his single eye shifted to depict one of a smile. "You pass."