Greetings everyone! this is the next monthly update ! although when i started this fic, i totally didn't intend for it to be monthly . . . at least it's consistent!

alright, a couple things to go through before we begin:

Firstly, I hate this chapter . . . it has some nice character and some good stuff between some characters . . . but i hate this chapter, i just couldn't get the ball rolling, it didn't end up anywhere near where i had it planned before i started some time ago and just . . . yeah, i hate this chapter.

secondly, when the show says "Hell viewing technique" they showed sakura some image of a thing that was very easy to get over . . . in this instance it was Sasuke in pain and calling for her help . . . when I say "Hell Viewing Technique" . . . well, you will see.

hope you all enjoy, see you at the bottom.

Part 8

"This is usually my spot" came the voice of Kakashi as he moved to stand beside Minori, they were both standing in front of the memorial stone, not far from where the new team seven was supposed to be meeting.

"Yeah . . . but lately I can't help to just stop and stare" Minori said quietly, "Kushina-sensei keeps appearing in the form of apparitions . . . like she is still watching us from on high . . . and then there is the matter of him" the atmosphere between the two got tense at the mere mention of Obito

"What did the Hokage say afterwards?" the silver haired man asked

"I never told him it was Obito" came Minori's reply.

Flashback to four years earlier

"Minori-chan" said the Hokage as he found Minori by the memorial stone.

"So many new names that won't be added" was the woman's reply

"You know who it was that caused this don't you?" Sarutobi said quietly as he joined Minori.

"I'd say you but that's not what you mean . . . the answer is, I'm not going to tell you" Minori said, her eyes never leaving the stone. Sarutobi for his part, snapped his eyes to Minori.

"You would hold back vital information on a great enemy to the village!?" he growled

"Never . . . this isn't vital information and the only thing it will accomplish is causing you unneeded stress and anguish . . . you are already far to bad at your job for new distractions . . . don't worry, I have Itachi keeping an eye on the situation . . . the problem is that the person he is tracking has just fell off the face of the planet . . . but I know where he is to reappear so that isn't an issue and I can let you know when he does" Minori explained, never taking her eyes off the stone.

"You should still tell me" Sarutobi said quietly, returning his attention to the stone.

"You should have trusted me" was Minori's reply before she left the aged Hokage standing by the stone that, despite the massive loss, will be receiving no new names.

Present time

"You have a team to test don't you Kakashi?" Minori asked quietly

"I . . . I can't . . . not yet" he replied as they both stared at the stone. "Despite what you said . . . the Obito I knew is dead . . . he died that day and this new one? He is just a pale imitation" Minori shifted closer to the silver jounin until they were brushing arms.

"I agree, there is no way Obito would have done the things he did . . . I also suspect he may have been involved with sensei's death . . . and yours for that matter" Minori said before the two let out a synchronised sigh.

"Obito . . . what have you gotten yourself into" Kakashi said softly.

"Morning guys!" Naruto chirped energetically as he, Sasuke and Sakura all entered the prearranged meeting place.

"Morning" Sakura said tiredly, she looked like she had gotten up a touch too early but her hair and appearance were immaculate.

"Hn" Sasuke grunted and, despite clearing not liking the early start, he was keeping everything locked up under the famous Uchiha Stoicism

"Did we all remember to have a nice hearty breakfast?" Naruto asked knowing the answer would be a resounding no.

"Sensei told us not to eat breakfast Naruto-baka!" Sakura replied, drawing looks from both Sasuke and Naruto who were both wondering exactly what was going through the girl's head and why she was suddenly different from yesterday.

"Actually, Sensei merely suggested we don't eat breakfast . . . he didn't order us to and besides that, a survival exercise requires surviving . . . that's a little hard to do without eating anything" Naruto said with a sigh as he brushed a spot on his Obi and a scroll popped into his hand. Sasuke's eyes honed in on the occurrence and started drinking in details while Sakura merely widened her eyes a little.

"Dobe . . . what's with the scroll?" Sasuke asked, his curiosity getting the better of him

"Breakfast" Naruto replied simply as he rolled it across the ground and unsealed three packets.

"I don't want any . . . I'm on a diet" Sakura said as she turned her head away from the food. Naruto stopped what he was doing to stare at Sakura while Sasuke was doing the same. "What?" the girl asked.

"Why are you on a diet?" Naruto asked simply

"To keep my figure of course!" Sakura answered without hesitation

"Who told you that? Whoever they are don't like you very much, not eating breakfast is how you get unhealthy . . . I bet you don't eat any good red meat do you?" Naruto asked.

"It's what my mother said . . . I need to look good in order to get a husband and should avoid eating things like red meat because that's the food of soldiers . . ." Sakura stopped talking and hung her head a little. "What's for breakfast?" she said with a heavy sigh and it was clear to Naruto that she came to the same realisation as he did.

"Oats, nuts and a couple bits of fruit, that style of food is light while providing fiber and other energy giving nutrients for a long day, it's standard issue in field rations" Naruto said before tapping a seal on the bottom of each packet, pulling out three spoons, ripping open the packets and handing the a packet to both Sasuke and Sakura before digging into his own

"Where did you learn to do sealing? Asked Sasuke after the three had finished their quick meals.

"Nee-chan taught me of course . . . now we need to come up with a battle plan" Naruto replied

"Wait" Sakura said, cocking her head to the side "Why do we need to come up with a plan?"

"Because there is no way three genin are gonna beat a jounin and Kakashi is a war veteran so it's likely three chunin wouldn't be able to either" Naruto replied and both Sakura and Sasuke grimaced.

"Still, this is IF what you say is correct . . . I think we wait and see and if you are right, then we plan" said Sasuke, as he studied Naruto.

"Fine, let's at least exchange skills while we aren't being observed" Naruto said, sighing heavily as he did so.

"You first dobe" replied Sasuke while Sakura nodded.

"Fine, my Ninjutsu is almost non-existent save for the the substitution jutsu and the transformation jutsu but added to that I have shadow clone jutsu and form shift jutsu" Naruto explained to his two teammates.

"Shadow clone? Form shift?" Sakura asked, cocking her head to one side while Sasuke studied Naruto intently.

"Yeah, shadow clone is an infiltration jutsu that creates a solid copy of yourself and transfers memories back to the original upon destruction. Usually only Jounin use this Jutsu and it's classed as a Forbidden Jutsu due to the extremely high chakra cost of it but I have extremely high chakra reserves . . . to the point where I can't use most standard Jutsu" Naruto explained, sticking his arms behind his head in a resting posture. "Form shift however, is my first original jutsu"

"Wait!? You created your own jutsu!?" Sakura asked quickly, not quite believing what she just heard. Even Sasuke looked like he was surprised.

"Yup, wasn't that hard to make it actually . . . Now while I can't teach you guys Shadow clones . . . I can teach you Form shift" Naruto said, a smirk on his face at the two's reactions.

"What does it do?" Sasuke asked cautiously.

"Exactly as the title proclaims . . . you can change your form. Like a transformation cept you actually become what you transformed into . . . completely solid, no blurs, not an illusion" Naruto explain and watched as his two teammates' eyes bugged out "For instance, Sasuke, throw me at that tree" Naruto said before slamming his hands together in the ram sign and turning into a Kunai. Sasuke picked up the Naruto kunai and weighed it in his hands, noticing that it felt exactly like a standard issue kunai. He even ran his thumb along the edge and noticed that he had drawn blood.

"This is real" Sasuke said at last before standing up and throwing it at the tree Naruto had pointed out. Before the kunai had gotten far though, Naruto popped back into his original form and grinned at Sasuke and Sakura.

"So . . .wanna learn the Jutsu?" Naruto asked them cheekily

"Dammit dobe! Don't look so smug!" Sasuke growled at the grinning Naruto. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura had met up in a secluded spot after Kakashi had told them to start. It had come to no surprise to Naruto when Kakashi had brought out the two bells but now that he had, the team had no idea on what to do.

"Yeah well, if you two had listened to me the first time, we could have had a plan by now, maybe even trapped the living daylights out of this forest" Naruto replied to the scowling Uchiha.

"Guys! Now isn't the time!" Sakura stated as she looked back and forth between the two boys "So what do we do Naruto?" she asked.

"Ummmm . . . I don't know . . . I mean, I'm good but I'm not that good" Naruto said, suddenly a little self conscious when his two teammates were looking at him for leadership

"Fine, then we just charge at him and see what happens" Sasuke said as he made to get up.

"That won't work, we can't just fight a jounin let alone an elite jounin" Sakura said as she put her hand on Sasuke's arm to stop him.

"So then what do you suggest?" Sasuke asked, almost glaring at Sakura. For her part, Sakura bit her lip in thought.

"Naruto" she said, looking back at the blonde "How many clones can you make and how long can they hold their transformations for?"

"Erm . . . a couple hundred and if I did that many, they'd be able to hold your jutsu for twenty minutes give or take.

"Make twelve and have them shift into caltrops then Sasuke, you take those caltrops and get ready to use them" Sakura commanded as she looked between the two boys who both blinked at her and then nodded and twelve caltrops suddenly appeared in view which Sasuke collected. "Come, I'll show you where to use them and when"

"Hey, what about me?" Naruto asked cocking his head to the side and folding his arms across his chest.

"I need you to go fight Kakashi, see how long you can draw his attention for" Sakura replied causing Naruto to nod. "When we are ready to spring the trap, I'll make my presence known and Kakashi will no doubt try and mess with me afterwards"

"You are pretty weird . . . you know that right?" Kakashi said to Naruto who was grinning in front of him.

"You and me right here, right now, fair and square!" Naruto said with enthusiasm while Kakashi merely sighed and reached for his book. "Hey! Are you reading?!" Naruto asked indignantly

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked up from his little orange book "Yes, I wanted to know what happened next, don't worry, with your weak attacks, it won't really matter if I'm reading" Kakashi said, now visibly diverting all of his attention to his book. For his part, Naruto just grinned.

"Cleaver, excellent way to rile up the opponent and get them to make foolish mistakes" Naruto thought as he looked at the silver haired opponent. "So you don't know what happens eh?" Naruto asked, his grin turning malicious "Would it interest you to note that I've read that book?" this grabbed Kakashi's attention.

"I don't believe you" he said "you only just became a shinobi therefor you couldn't have bought it before now" Kakashi returned his attention back to his book.

"Then you don't mind me saying that Michiko decides to choo-" Naruto tried to say when a hand suddenly appeared over his mouth from Kakashi who had appeared behind him

"Shhhh, no need for those nasty spoilers now is there" Kakashi said with an eye smile before finally taking note that Naruto was giving him a truly malicious grin even with his hand on the boy's mouth.

Naruto turned into cloud of white smoke in that instant and all of a sudden, six naruto clones were surrounding Kakashi.

"Well, credit where it's due, nice timing on the clone and replacement jutsu Naruto but I'm afraid, these copies don't scare me" Kakashi said and was about to return to his book when he noticed that the clones were forcing the grass down. Kakashi had that split second of time to block a kick from one clone to his left, duck under a kick from behind and sweep all six clones off their feet. "Or they could be shadow clones . . . this just got interesting" he said as he tucked his book away and studying the field in front of him. There was Naruto, out in the open and obviously a trap now that Kakashi knew what the kid was up to but, before he could sweep his attention across the field and see what else was in store, Naruto charged right at him, a brace of Kunai speeding ahead of him.

Kakashi grabbed the leading kunai and used it to deflect the others before turning that kunai onto Naruto who turned into a puff of white smoke, taking the kunai that Kakashi had just used with him. Before he could think about this, several dozen more kunai appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the spot Kakashi had been in before a Naruto appeared in front of him. Moving with speed, Naruto struck with a rapid fire combo of punches, kicks and forward progress, whenever Kakashi struck back, Naruto would pop into smoke and be immediately replaced by a clone from nowhere in particular.

The fight raged for what seemed like minutes to the two combatants but to those watching, it had only been a few seconds before what everyone assumed was the real Naruto was pulled underground by a hand that suddenly appeared below him.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out, revealing her position in the tree line.

Now standing over the head of Naruto, Kakashi dusted himself off and cast a glance back at the genin.

"You really shouldn't stay still so much and having your hands in that sign ready to cast the shadow clone jutsu was just a dead giveaway, better luck next year" Kakashi said nonchalantly even as he was surprised that the boy had put up so much of a fight. "Then again, he did beat Mizuki in hand to hand combat . . . Mizuki was almost at tokubetsu jounin level" Kakashi thought and then cast his attention to the rustle of leaves and foliage that indicated Sakura trying to shift positions now that she had given hers away. Kakashi merely sighed as he leisurely made his way after her.

Sakura felt dizzy for a second and could swear she was seeing leaves just flying across her vision and realised it was genjutsu. "Genjutsu! How do we dispel that? They never taught us how to dispel Genjutsu in the academy!" Sakura thought as she looked around and her vision started to shift, all of a sudden she was at home and it just felt right that she should be there even though it was a Genjutsu and she knew it. Sakura walked through the building she lived in, it was a largish two story house and right now it was completely empty save for a cold chill in the air. Without her will, her hand pulled out a Kunai as she opened the door to the living room and that's when she noticed the house wasn't empty, it just had her parents in it, and their maid and Ino, Sasuke, Naruto, all of her friends.

"Sakura dear? What's the matter?" her mother said to her as she walked into the room, still holding the kunai. Sakura tried to put the kunai away but found herself unable to do so. Next, she tried to speak, even one word and maybe one of the others would know how to dispel Genjutsu but she couldn't speak, all she did was walk up to her mother.

"What's wrong dear?" her mother asked again, a frown on her face. Sakura now found her mouth opening.

"Die" was the one word Sakura said as she thrust her kunai right into the stomach of her mother while, mentally, she was throwing every ounce of her will at her body in a desperate attempt to stop herself but to no avail. Out came the kunai with a sickening squelch and right back in it went, making another squelch while her mother made a strange gurgling scream as pandemonium broke out.

Sakura's mother began trying to ask "Why?" to her daughter but Sakura couldn't answer, she stabbed until the light in her mother's eyes faded and then turned to her father, pounced on him and slit his throat before turning to sasuke who was backing away in fear. Sakura was desperate, she was screaming at herself to stop but instead, she walked forward, thrusting the bloody knife right into the underside of Sasuke's jaw and ripped it back out again. Naruto tried to make a break for it but the kunai whistled and slammed into the back of his neck, leaving him to slide across the blood drenched floor. Finally, all that was left was Ino as sakura pulled out a fresh kunai and walked over to the girl who was now on the floor in the corner, screaming something that Sakura couldn't hear. Sakura raised her kunai but this was finally where her will overrode the Genjutsu as the she held her arm there, Ino was still screaming something but now Sakura was locked in battle with her own body, adamant that Ino would live, adamant that she wouldn't kill her. The kunai wouldn't take no for an answer and insisted on moving, it had to go somewhere, it had to kill something and it wanted Ino but Sakura wouldn't let it she wasn't going to kill her best friend, not under this silly Genjutsu. All the fury of Sakura's will came crashing down on her arm, if the weaponed wanted blood, it would have her own and Sakura brought it to her throat, ready to draw it across and end this but something stopped her. Sakura's arm wouldn't move and so she struggled.

"No! Let me kill myself dammit!" she cried out as she tried desperately to free herself and enact the final blow.

"It's a Genjutsu!" came a voice that sounded so much like her own

"I know that, but I won't kill my best friend!" Sakura said to whoever was holding her back.

"This isn't real! None of it is real!" came the voice and that stopped Sakura finally, this wasn't real and suddenly, that one admission reminded her of where she was and, with that force of will she had earlier used to break the Genjutsu's intent to kill Ino, she forced herself to stop seeing it. She forced the Genjutsu out and slowly, opened her eyes that she had no idea where closed.

"Where?" Sakura asked as she looked up, she was on her knees and holding a kunai in her lap. Vivid memories of her slaughtering her family shot through her mind, the blood, the smell, the screaming. Sakura closed her eyes and forced it all down, tears streaming down her face and her knuckles holding the blade in her hand were white. Sakura looked up, sheer determination in her eyes, she might be no match for Kakashi, but she would fight, if only to protect those precious to her from being killed.

"I'm not like the others" Sasuke said with a smirk as he stood across from Kakashi who stood in the middle of a dozen caltrops.

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked with a bored tone of voice "prove it" he said in a more serious expression. "Good plan with these caltrops but, that doesn't mean anything . . . still, better take this more seriously" Kakashi thought to himself.

For his part, Sasuke's smirk just got a little wider and suddenly Kakashi had a thought that maybe he was caught in a trap. This thought was confirmed when the caltrops suddenly turned into a dozen Naruto clones and several simultaneous attacks were made against Kakashi who was suddenly forced to duck and weave through a complex series of Taijutsu manoeuvres that looked well practiced. It was after a couple seconds of this that Kakashi realised Sasuke was still there and firing off a jutsu he hadn't seen the hand signs for but it became immediately obvious when a fire ball came hurtling towards him. Kakashi fired off a quick replacement jutsu and found himself standing in a tree that had once occupied a clone, or so he thought as now a blast of pink was right in the way of the fireball jutsu and Kakashi had no time to try and get her out of the way. The Jutsu slammed home and Sakura screamed long and loud before the screaming died away and all that was left was a blackened crater and a badly burnt Sakura who wasn't moving at all. Sasuke was visibly panicking as he rushed over to Sakura frantically searching for any sign of life and shaking her, hoping she would wake up. Kakashi was watching from less than a foot away, sadness filling his heart as he realised that his actions had just killed one of his genin.

It was at the moment that Kakashi turned his back on the corpse of Sakura and the panicking Naruto that a jingling was heard and a hand was felt on his hip where the bells were kept. So distracted by Sakura's supposed death, Kakashi didn't notice that she had gotten up, ran over to him and lifted the bells right off his belt and was now standing there grinning with bells in hand.

"Wait . . . what?" Kakashi asked, he had seen Sakura take the hit and she was badly burnt, he could see it . . . until, with a bit of white smoke, Sakura's appearance changed back into her normal self, her normal unhurt self.

"I think we win Kakashi" Said Naruto from a branch in the trees, his arms folded across his chest

"Well . . . that was interesting to say the least" Kakashi began "Now Sakura, who do you want to take through with you?" he asked and Sakura threw a bell to Naruto without hesitation. "Oh? And why Naruto? Didn't he score last in the class? Wouldn't you have rather prefered Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, wondering if they already got the meaning of this test or not.

"No need, daddy's on the council so I know they ordered you to pass Sasuke which means he has a wild card, all that was left was me and Naruto. Now that we have the bells, we both pass and Sasuke has his wild cards sooooo" Sakura explained, leaving the sentence open for Kakashi to end.

"Clever . . . well, you all pass then . . . congratulations" Kakashi said with a sigh and at the same time noticing that Sakura's smile was very much forced, her eyes haunted. "What happened to her I wonder? Was it that Genjutsu I cast on her? But all she did was collapse to her knees and stop responding, if she past out . . . she didn't pass out, she has been stuck in her own private hell for who knows how long" Kakashi thought, analysing the situation in the space of a couple blinks of an eye. "Right then, meet me at the bridge just outside of this training ground tomorrow morning at nine and we shall perform our first real mission" Kakashi "oh and Sakura, if you don't mind, I'd like a word" Sakura was just about to leave when Kakashi said that.

"So what happened?" Kakashi asked, he and Sakura were both on the bridge he had asked them to meet at and Sakura was sitting down with her feet dangling off the side of the bridge.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked although Kakashi had the feeling she knew exactly what he meant.

"The Genjutsu" Kakashi said and he saw her stiffen "was a simple D-ranked Genjutsu that you should have been able to dispel" Kakashi studied the girl sitting there, her back to him and ramrod straight.

"They never taught us how to dispel Genjutsu" came the girl's quiet voice. Kakashi sighed, this was worse than even he could have imagined, she probably knew it was a Genjutsu but didn't know what to do about it.

"Disrupt your chakra flow, or cause yourself physical pain" Kakashi stated as he looked at her again. "What did you see?" he asked.

"The Genjutsu made me kill . . . everyone" she said quietly, barely louder than a whisper but Kakashi heard and understood what she meant by everyone. "I have an exact memory . . . I don't forget anything" was the next piece of information that slammed into Kakashi meaning now, she had the experience firmly ingrained into her mind thus preventing her from properly recovering. "I don't want to go home . . . If I do . . . I will see my parents and . . . the blood, hear the gurgles . . . smell the death" Sakura whimpered as her silent tears threatened to spill over into full blown sobbing. Kakashi stepped forward and placed a hand on her head, unsure of what to say.

"I don't think I'm the best person to talk to about this . . . I still haven't gotten over some of the things that happened during the war . . . and the Kyuubi attack" Kakashi said as he sat down beside the girl and ran his hand through her hair. "But I'm here if you need to talk"

"Thanks sensei" Sakura said quietly, leaning into Kakashi. "Do you mind if I work with a man named Gai? He apparently trains his own apprentice early in the morning" Sakura asked and she heard a snort of amusement from Kakashi.

"Gai . . . he has proclaimed himself my rival, no I don't mind . . . you probably won't be going for another one of his training sessions though, they are . . . brutal" Kakashi said before giving Sakura an eye smile. Sakura developed a small smile as well. "I need to go report that the team passed . . . get a good meal and some rest . . . you are going to need the energy" Kakashi said before standing up and looking down at his student. "Well . . . bye I guess" he said awkwardly, raising a hand in farewell before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"So Kakashi, did team seven pass?" Sarutobi asked the scarecrow who didn't even have his book out.

"Yes, team seven passed the test" Kakashi replied even as the gasps of shock were heard from the Jounin sensei in the room.

"You finally passed a team huh Kakashi?" Asked Asuma, the ever present cigarette stuck in his mouth.

"Yes . . . even I was surprised, the made use of a loophole in the system and outsmarted me by making me believe I had accidentally gotten one of my students killed . . . of course that's when I found out that the Academy never taught them how to get out of Genjutsu . . . at all . . . so the hell viewing technique I used on the mastermind of this strategy . . . well, she is scarred for life now but what can you do" Kakashi said, shrugging at his last comment and making all the other Jounin very quiet.

"Teams eight and ten . . . do your teams also pass?" Sarutobi asked, breaking the silence

"Team eight passes" Kurenai said in her soft, melodic voice.

"Team ten also passes" Asuma said with a smirk.

"Good, everyone but Kakashi is free to leave" Sarutobi said and as one, the Jounin in the room snapped to attention and walked out save for Kakashi who continued to slouch in front of the Hokage.

"Something you need Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked looking very bored but his one visible eye showing that Sarutobi had his full attention for as long as he wanted it.

"Yes, I need your team ready for C-ranks . . . as soon as possible, preferably right after you hit the minimum quota of D-ranks necessary" Sarutobi said, pulling out his pipe and lighting it with fire chakra "this means that I want you to train Sasuke every chance you get and figure something out for your other two students" he said passed his pipe.

"Hokage-sama . . . I would prefer teaching Sakura right now . . . she is the one in most need" Kakashi replied. He didn't want to admit it, but Kakashi saw something in Sakura's eyes that made him see himself in there looking back at him, a genius throne onto the battlefield too early.

"You will still have your team training but you are the only one capable of teaching the Uchiha now . . . find someone to teach her in your stead . . . you can have her as an apprentice after the chunin exams if you so desire" Sarutobi said, his tone hard so that no mistake could be made that this wasn't an order.

"As you wish . . . Hokage-sama"

And here we are at the end of another chapter . . . as you can see . . . my version of the hell viewing technique is a bit more hellish than before . . . also I'm purposefully writing sakura as the genius she theoretically is . . . someone with a very good memory is very capable of remembering facts that they can then use to formulate plans and such.

in any case, let me know what you liked, disliked, what you thought could use improvement and what you'd like to see more of. Take care