AN: I've added my own twist to Genjutsu – the mechanics don't seem fleshed out. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what I did with it. Also I don't fully understand shunshin from the wiki or from watching the anime. I'm going to go with my own interpretation on what makes sense for a D ranked jutsu.

Chapter 5: Land of Waves!

Team 7 had just completed another D ranked mission. All of them were getting sick of them. Naruto especially had been vocal about it. Kakashi had put him on his back quick for his lip. Impressively enough the boy had blocked his first two attacks before Kakashi had put him down. He wasn't going at maximum speed but that had still been impressive.

"I know all of you are itching to prove yourselves but haste makes dead shinobi. These next lessons are going to be critically important. Teamwork is the key to all the great teams. Ino-Shika-Cho being the famous one of my generation. Individually none of them are inferior shinobi but they are not stand out fighters. Together they have taken multiple teams on at once and emerged triumphant."

'That famous group is actually the parents of Choji, Shikamaru and Ino,' Sakura realized.

All three genin looked ready and eager to learn. 'Ah motivation, what a beautiful thing it is,' Kakashi wryly thought to himself. "All right first up I want Sasuke to use Katon: Gokakyu (Fire Release: Great Fireball technique) and Naruto you will use Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)." Kakashi walked up to a tree and carve an x over the center of its trunk. "This is your target, oh and Sakura stand back a bit."

"Futon: Daitoppa" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Great Fireball technique)

The two ninjutsu collided together and blew the tree apart. The fire storm smashed the scorched the tree into pieces; it continued on to blacken the trees behind it. Kakashi had one of his clones use a water jutsu to put out the flames that had caught a few of the trees nearby. The genin merely stared with wide eyes.

"When you practice this technique don't use it on anymore trees, otherwise we'll lose our village name's sake," Kakashi joked.

Naruto let out a yell, "That was AMAZING! That attack could destroy anything." Kakashi's eye twitched. "Naruto there are plenty of defenses against the attack, who can name a supplementary jutsu that could stop this attack?" Sakura answered, "Kawarimi no Jutsu" (Substitution Technique). Kakashi graced her with an eye smile. "Correct, attacks like the one you saw can be defeated with minor chakra output."

Naruto squinted with his eyes. "Then what is the point? Why did we learn these jutsu if they aren't going to help?"

Kakashi answered, "Because sometimes there is nothing nearby that can be used to switch places with. Additionally if the shinobi is caught unprepared this attack can hit them before they realize the danger they are in. Or the shinobi is using their own jutsu on you, so not only do you counter their attack but crush them with this. Maybe your comrade put them in a Genjutsu, even if it only lasted a second it would be long enough for this jutsu to kill. And of course there is the ever present number one shinobi killer… arrogance. Surely a genin jutsu couldn't beat my defense a higher ranked shinobi might say. Well this will come as a big surprise and possibly a fatal one. Now do you see the purpose?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Sasuke had thought of some of Kakashi's scenarios but not all of them. The combination of the two jutsu's actually rivaled the destructive power of some A ranked jutsus. Sasuke once again reevaluated the benefit of having a team; he was starting to see several advantages to having strong allies at his back.

Sakura was impressed with the damage done by the jutsu and wished her chakra reserve was higher. Her sensei had said she only needed a little bit more reserves before she too could use the Katon jutsu. When that happened she could also be a valued member of the team. Sakura could also sense that Kakashi had meant the Genjutsu comment for her. Sakura was falling in love with the concept of being a medic-nin but would keep an open mind when Kakashi-Sensei taught her a Genjutsu.

"This is a kill move and should be used with caution if we need the target alive. Speaking of which lets talk about protocol for keeping enemies alive," Kakashi told his team. "If dealing with an unknown shinobi everyone should fight to kill. I've mentioned it in previous lesson but it bears repeating. Kill quickly – a wise shinobi knows that they are in danger until the opponent is dead."

Kakashi gave Naruto a look, "Naruto here will be calling out our opponents based on the bingo books I've had him memorize. If the enemy is chunin or lower, it is safe to attempt to capture. If you recognize a jonin level foe, let us know and we will fight to kill. Capturing an enemy is significantly harder then killing one but information is life, sometimes the added risk is worth it."

Kakashi took a deep breath as the next point hit close to him. "If the goal is to capture someone alive but your comrade will perish unless you unleash a deadly jutsu then unleash the deadly jutsu," Kakashi commanded. His tone took one of reverence, "Those who don't follow rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

The infamous copy-cat nin looked carefully in each of his genin's faces. All of them had acknowledged what he had said. "All right moving on, subterfuge is a basic shinobi art that isn't used often enough. Due to Naruto's mastery of the Kage Bunshin we have a wonderful tool to use." Sasuke thought about some of the tactical implications and smirked, having that many extra bodies had lots of advantages.

"Naruto when a battle begins you should attempt to flood the area with another 20-30 Kage Bunshin. Henge a few to make them look like us, while you do this Sakura will make regular clones to make it more confusing for the enemy. They won't be able to Henge but will add to the distraction. At that point Naruto you are to call out if you identify the enemy. We don't need fancy code words, just identify the threat."

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "What type of information should I provide?" Kakashi responded, "Rank primarily, any known tactics or specialties. Remember if chunin or lower we go for the capture, if it is a jonin we kill." Kakashi turned to Sasuke, "Meanwhile you will activate your Sharingan and determine if our attackers are using any illusions, you will do this even if we are facing bandits, ronin or samurai. It is easy for a shinobi to pretend to be something they are not. I knew an ANBU operative who assumed the bandits were just bandits and he lost his life when the hidden shinobi blew his head off."

Sakura shivered. She could only imagine what kind of jutsu did that! She rubbed her arms a bit, Kakashi was serious. The life of a shinobi was life and death when they entered the battle. "If everything is as it should be then no need to call out anything. If it is a jonin then Naruto's clones will engage the enemy, feel free to add ranged weapons and jutsu as you like. Killing the enemy before they get close diminishes the risk you face in the battle."

Kakashi eyed Sasuke, "I'll repeat this for you Sasuke, shinobi battles are not the place to "test" your abilities. That's a good way to get killed and where will your ambition be then? You will electrocute burn and pierce enemies from a distance."

Sasuke frowned but responded with a, "Hai Sensei!" Sasuke paused, "But only against jonin threats – otherwise I can get close correct?" Kakashi nodded.

"Time your attacks so they work together. Not just with a jutsu combination but with any move. If you throw a kunai with an explosive tag the shinobi will probably jump in one direction. As soon as you determine that direction unleash your attack. Because the Sharingan allows you to see even minute muscle twitches and glances, you are the clean up Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura will make them move and then you will finish it."

Sasuke understood his role and was pleased with it. He was the executioner, it seemed fitting for an avenger like himself. They drilled various combination moves and attacks – they also discussed what to do when faced with certain situations. Kakashi drilled the tenets that he operated by over and over. Teamwork first. Never assume you've won. Don't talk about your abilities. Kill quickly.

Kakashi was pleased with how the team was coming together. Towards the end of the day he started Naruto and Sasuke on the water walking exercise with his clone and started working with Sakura on Genjutsu.

"The Genjutsu we will be learning is the technique I used on you. It is not a powerful Genjutsu but it will be a great starting point," Kakashi explained. "The technique is called Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu." (Demonic Illusion – Hell Viewing Technique) Sakura's eyes widened, "That's a basic Genjutsu? The one that made me see Sasuke dying in front of me?"

Kakashi eyed the genin, "Yes. The Genjutsu is pretty basic, for a variety of reasons." Kakashi held up his index finger as he said, "One, it doesn't change what you see, it only adds to the victims senses. This means unlike other Genjutsu that completely obscures the victims five senses and replaces it with their own version of reality this one just adds one scene." Kakashi held up a second finger and continued, "Two, it only effects two senses, sight and hearing. Your sense of taste, touch and smell were not impacted. This makes the jutsu quite easy to detect and why I was not surprised that you fell for it so easily." Kakashi raised a third finger, "And finally it does not reveal the victim's greatest fear, instead it reflects the victim's most probable recent fear."

Sakura scrunched her brow as she thought about it, "Can you explain that a little to me a little bit more thoroughly?"

Kakashi complied, "If I had used this jutsu after having dinner with your family you may have seen your mother or father dying. It all depends on the emotional bond you have with individuals. The jutsu isn't even specific to that; it could be failure to realize a dream or desire, either way it is not necessarily the deepest or darkest fear someone has."

"Thank you Kakashi-Sensei. How do I make the Genjutsu work?" Kakashi explained how Genjutsu worked, how it attacked the enemies chakra and took over their senses. Triggers were most frequently sight but some shinobi even used sound or smell to initiate them. "In theory I suppose it can be done by taste and touch but I have not seen a Genjutsu function that way." Sakura eagerly drank up all of the knowledge that was given to her.

Kakashi showed her how to infuse her chakra into her victim's chakra network. With Sakura's excellent chakra control it wasn't difficult at all. Kakashi also used it on Sakura again, this time she saw Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi dying before her eyes. Knowing how it worked she was able to ignore the effect. She decided to test it by walking up to Sasuke and touching the image; it wavered as she did so and then dissipated.

Her sensei taught her how to break Genjutsu as well. "Knowing you are under a Genjutsu is half of the battle. After that you can flood your chakra system with your own chakra breaking the effect, or you can cause physical pain to yourself. Neither method is full proof but a skilled Genjutsu specialist should have an easier time breaking out of one."

After Sakura tried a few times they called it a day and Sakura went home to complete her evening exercises. Sakura was an intelligent kunoichi; after the teamwork exercises she could see the advantage of Genjutsu. If she could pin an opponent in place for even a second or two then Naruto and Sasuke could hammer them with their jutsu combination.

'Perhaps I should focus on Genjutsu, but if Sasuke-kun or even Naruto ever got injured I'd just hate myself forever if I couldn't heal them because I passed up on medical-nin training!'

Sakura tossed and turned that night. Medical training or Genjutsu? Medical training or Genjutsu? Both had their advantages. With Genjutsu the team's jutsu combination kill combo would be quite dangerous. If they could kill the enemy before anyone could get injured wasn't that better? Sakura shivered when she thought about killing. Kakashi talked about it a lot and it was now her biggest concern.

Killing someone that was trying to kill you was one thing. But Kakashi talked about how the best way to kill someone is end their life before they even knew it was in danger. Could she really kill in cold blood? Sakura continued to toss and turn as she wrestled with that question for most of the night.

**BREAK**

At the three week mark Kakashi finally allowed them to take a rank C mission. The final jutsu he wanted them to master before taking a higher ranked mission was the shunshin. With it they had a powerful tool to escape with if they needed to.

The shunshin was a misunderstood jutsu. To a civilian it looked like a teleportation jutsu. In reality it was just a shinobi moving incredibly fast using chakra to boost their speed. The jutsu had its weaknesses, while the speed was great it did not allow a shinobi to move their limbs faster, it essentially just pushed a tremendous amount of momentum in a single direction. It could even be dangerous to one's self if used improperly.

The Sharingan wielder has taught his students the dangers and when to use it. Sasuke, using the Sharingan had learned it the quickest, next was Sakura but Naruto wasn't too far behind when he created a dozen clones to help him learn it. With that in place Kakashi felt the time was right to give his team a 'real' mission.

Team 7 reported to the Hokage tower with Naruto literally jumping up and down with excitement. Kakashi stopped the team, "Naruto if you want to go on the mission settle down. You are embarrassing the team." Naruto forced himself to calm down.

"Sorry Kakashi-Sensei!"

Kakashi was handed the mission folder. "Hmm we will be escorting an architect to Nami no Kuni Kakashi scanned the paperwork. "Our client is concerned about increased bandit activity preventing his workers from completing a bridge. This should be a simple C ranked mission – bandits will be no match. But remember arrogance can get you killed so I want everyone to be on their toes." The three genin nodded and Kakashi motioned them to follow. It was time to meet their client.

The Hokage was there and Naruto had to avoid saying hi to his jiji. Kakashi had been very firm with Naruto on how to act around a client. The client stepped out drinking from a bottle. He took a swig and said, "What? I paid for bodyguards and all I get are little kids?" Naruto scowled, "Who are you calling a little kid?" Kakashi's eye twitched. The Hokage merely chuckled. "Tazuna-san, you have one of the leaf's best shinobi, an elite jonin with you. You will be more than safe in his capable hands."

Naruto pointed his thumb at himself. "And me! I'm going to be the next Hokage and then you'll have to respect me!" Hiruzen attempted to suppress his mirth at Kakashi's expense. With his crystal ball he had seen exactly how hard Kakashi had trained team 7. He had also seen how hard Kakashi had worked to get Naruto to act like a proper shinobi.

Kakashi's frosty tone was not lost on Naruto. "If you are done Naruto it is time to prepare for the mission. Meet at the front gate and prepare for travel, since we are escorting a civilian the trip to Nami no Kuni should take two days." Naruto suppressed a groan, he had already made his sensei mad and the mission hadn't even started! 'I'm going to do better; Kakashi-Sensei is going to be proud of me for the rest of this mission!' Naruto made this silent promise and intended to keep it.

Two later they were all at the front gate. Tazuna looked impatient to be on his way. Kakashi eyed him; something didn't feel right about the mission. Kakashi decided to let things go – it was doubtful that anything on this mission would pose a challenge to a shinobi of his caliber. Furthermore his team had dramatically improved with his training. All the same he would be on his guard; over confidence was the sure path to death.

"All right Naruto since we are leaving Konoha I want you to create eight clones. Have them fan out at variable distances within a mile of the group. If one of them sees something have it dispel so you can then inform us. Try to have them be a least a little stealthy," Kakashi ordered.

"No problem Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto quickly made the required number of shadow clones and sent them on their way. Tazuna did not know much about shinobi abilities but that one sure looked useful in keeping him safe. He felt a bit bad about lying to the shinobi especially with the fact they were just kids but this was his countries only hope.

During the first hour of the journey Naruto was keeping a sharp eye out for any sign of danger. In fact he was a bit too jumpy as he twitched and prepared for battle every time a woodland creature moved. Kakashi cautioned Naruto, "Naruto while it's good you are taking it seriously, it's important that you stop sounding false alarms." Naruto flushed all of the talk about death and killing and battle tactics had made him a bit jump. Kakashi added, "And keep in mind even if you did spot an enemy coming it's not always a good idea to sound the alarm, if they feel they have the surprise when they don't t it can be a nasty surprise. So calm down a bit."

"Hai Kakashi-Sensei."

The journey continued for another couple of hours when Kakashi saw a puddle of water. It hadn't rained in a few days so it was quite out of place for his finely honed senses. Without changing his movements in the slightest Kakashi reached out with his senses and determined that there were two enemy shinobi hiding. 'Unlikely a jonin level enemy would make that mistake. I'll be ready to step in if things go poorly but my team needs real shinobi combat,' Kakashi thought to himself.

Sure enough after a few moments as the group walked by the puddle two shinobi each wielding a large gauntlet attacked. They struck at the most dangerous target first. Kakashi completed an undetectable replacement jutsu right as a chain that connected the two gauntlets and shinobi together was wrapped around him. Kakashi stayed hidden off to the side, as he watched what his team would do.

Naruto shouted, "Chunin level! Missing-nin from Kirigakure (Hidden Mist), affinity with water and they use poison! He had shouted this information as he performed the Kage Bunshin deploying over a dozen shadow clones. Sakura created regular clones that dashed forward attempting to distract the two chunin level opponents.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and saw Kakashi hiding off to the side. 'Hnn guess he thinks we can handle them.' Sasuke smirked as he threw a few shuriken at the pair of shinobi racing for them. The shuriken were avoided but right behind them came in the Naruto horde. The first wave had raced forward while the 2nd had paused to Henge to look like Sakura and Sasuke. The missing-nin used the chain to good effect, catching two of the clones right away.

One of the clones attempted a flying kick that the enemy on the left ducked. Another clone attempted a strike at the torso of the one on the right. A quick jab made the clone poof into smoke. The final clone of the first five came in right behind the clone that had just been dealt with and kicked him in the knee cap. The blow was strong and Gozu's leg buckled underneath him.

The second wave of clones had arrived mingled in with Sakura's images. The mass of opponents they were suddenly faced with surprised them. Gozu had to released the chain and quickly defend himself as multiple clones attacked. Several more went poof but Naruto just grinned and made more.

Sakura fired off a pair of kunai further distracting the two. Sasuke choose that moment to strike. As Meizu blocked the kunai with his gauntlet Sasuke dashed forward with surprising speed. His fist slammed into his opponent's ribs, Meizu grunted and tried to bring his poison tipped gauntlet around but with the Sharingan spinning it was telegraphed and easily avoided.

A Naruto clone kicked the back of Meizu's calf sending him to the ground. Sasuke took full advantage and grabbed the gauntleted arm and snapped the enemy shinobi's arm. A kunai appeared in his hand and was held at the demon brother's throat. Meizu was beaten and he knew it. Gozu was favoring one leg while the Naruto clones rushed him. He could not get free of the clones to come help his brother.

Naruto saw one of his clones jump in the air and he knew his next move. Gozu was popping clones left and right but since they were only coming in two or three at a time he had several to deal that were always easily replaced. The clone that leapt into the air was quickly hit with a Kawarimi from the real Naruto who was now in the air and in perfect position to use his jutsu. He flashed through the hand signs in mid air.

"Futon: Daitoppa" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

The blast of air crashed down at an angle on Gozu. The blast destroyed several clones but that was just fine by Naruto. The gale force wind slammed Gozu into the ground with tremendous force. Because it was at an angle he slid a good 15 feet, the abrasive ground cut through his clothing and ripped up skin. Even before he finished sliding several clones landed next to him and pinned him down. One held a kunai at his throat. "Move and you die," the Naruto clone said in a calm voice.

Sakura had been defending Tazuna after throwing two of her kunai. She was relieved and happy that the battle was over. It had been their first shinobi battle and it was won without any injuries! Kakashi congratulated them and quickly secured their two prisoners. He attached a chakra seal and secured them tightly enough not even a jonin could escape.

He then turned to the bridge builder, "We need to talk about what is really going on." Tazuna looked around, "What do you mean?" Kakashi raised his killing intent and Tazuna backed up as the oppressive pressure bore down on him. The jonin's voice took on a cold and ominous tone. "You lied about the mission parameters, that could have gotten us killed. Were you in league with this shinobi? Was this a trap set for us?"

Kakashi did not think that was the case at all but fear could be a powerful motivator in making someone talk. As he suspected Tazuna stumbled over himself trying to explain himself. "I'm not working with them! I swear." Tazuna held his hands up as he backed away. "They were trying to kill me to stop me from building the bridge!"

Sasuke smirked, 'Sensei is good.' "Hai Tazuna-san I never doubted they wanted you dead, but why are there shinobi trying to stop you from building the bridge?" Kakashi asked the question in a more conversational tone and Tazuna relaxed. The architect sagged. The jonin believed him but he had given it away he was expecting the attack. "All right I'll tell you everything. It all started when a despicable man by the name of Gato came to our land."

Tazuna proceeded to tell the story of the suffering of Nami no Kuni. The four leaf-nin listened to his story. Naruto in particular wanted to save them from Gato who reminded him of the bullies in the village who had mocked him and tried to take away his will to go on. Gato was doing the same thing, demoralizing and controlling an entire land simply because he had the resources to do it. Naruto shouted out, "We are going to save your country and kick out this Gato guy. Believe it!"

Kakashi interrupted, "Naruto not so fast. This was supposed to have been a C ranked mission. Any mission that involves enemy shinobi is automatically at least a B ranked mission. Genin do not take B ranked missions."

"Hn," Sasuke responded.

"But we have to help them," Naruto shouted.

Sakura remained quiet, she wanted to help the people of Nami no Kuni but shouldn't this be handled by a more experienced team? Yes Tazuna had said that they couldn't afford to pay for a B ranked mission but what if Sasuke-kun or Naruto got hurt?

Inner Sakura screamed, "Coward! You're afraid, if you want to be a shinobi you have to be willing to fight! So go out there and fight! Show Sasuke-Kun what you are made of! Cha Cha Cha!"

Sakura bit her lip and then quietly but firmly said, "We can do it. We are a team and look at what we have accomplished. Please Kakashi-Sensei; please let us continue the mission!" Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at her, Naruto grateful and Sasuke was appraising her in a new way.

Kakashi looked at his genin team and thought about the situation. Likely they would face another threat this time it would probably be a jonin. If a jonin was their opponent Kakashi was confident he could handle the threat however battle was never a certain thing he would have to be on his guard.

'Is my team ready? Perhaps but I'll need to test how far they are willing to go. Sasuke would have no qualms and I'm confident about Naruto. But Sakura…'

The leader of team 7 told his team, "I have decided how we should handle this. Sakura it will be your choice. If you wish to continue this mission you must prove you are fully committed." Tazuna looked on hopeful. Naruto was confused, "What do you mean? Sakura already said she wanted to continue."

"It's simple; I know you and Sasuke have the killer instinct to fight with the intent to kill. I don't know if Sakura does. In order to prove to me that she does have that instinct she must kill one of our prisoners."

Everyone tensed at the announcement. Sakura froze, her eyes widening in horror. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and tried to think of a way around Kakashi's test. 'This might work,' he thought. "Kakashi-Sensei these two might have information. We should keep them alive." Kakashi laughed, "Nice try Sasuke. I appreciate you trying to work as a team however both of them probably have the same amount of information. There is no point in leaving both alive. Sakura will have to past this test."

Sakura's mind shrank away from the task. In the middle of combat she felt she could kill if it meant saving Sasuke-kun's life or that of another leaf shinobi. But in cold blood? After the battle is finished? It was unthinkable. But if she didn't do it the people of Nami no Kuni would continue to suffer under the tyrant businessman's boot.

Sakura looked at the two missing-nin and swallowed thickly. She looked at the faces of her teammates. Naruto looked shocked at the turn of events. Sasuke looked pissed, likely because he thought she wouldn't go through with it. Tazuna looked at her with pleading eyes. Sakura's hand was shaking. How could her sensei make her do this?

Kakashi raised his voice, "Did you think being a shinobi was glamorous? We are assassins, thieves, spies and infiltrators. If you aren't willing to kill you aren't going to be on this team. Don't mistake my meaning Sakura; if you don't kill you will remain on team 7 I will give you future chances. However at some point or another I will require that you kill someone – if you can't do that then drop out and work at the Konoha hospital."

Sakura didn't want to let her team down. She didn't want to let the people of Nami no Kuni down. She pulled out a kunai. Her hand trembled. Tears welled at her eyes. This was the moment of truth. A heavy weight pressed down on her chest. If she did this her path in life would be different then she had ever dreamed it could be. Would she walk the killer's path?

AN: I couldn't resist ending on a cliff hanger! And yeah – Kakashi might be a genius but he's also a highly efficient assassin. He is not a harmless teddy bear who likes porn; he's a straight up killer.