As early as the Bell Test the members of Team Seven showed serious flaws, so I got to thinking about how the major flaw of each of the team could be fixed at that early stage and I came up with this little scene a few weeks back. Didn't write it at the time, but after playing through Old World Blues [which used both the organ symbolism and Wizard of Oz ref I had in mind] I decided to write it up.

Another chapter, another attempt to entertain you all. I honestly do not have anything else to add, so on with the show!

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto .

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XX Third Training Ground XX

"You three pass!" Kakashi announced to the three genin. As the three showed their joy in their own way Kakashi looked them over. Each had the potential to be great, each had the potential to surpass him in the future. Each could become a legend, of that he was sure. "And you should quit now."

"Wha?" Naruto asked in shock. "You said we passed! Why are you telling us to give up?"

"Because I don't think any of you have what it takes right now." Kakashi told them bluntly. It was the truth, Kakashi could see the potential but doubted they would achieve that potential as they where right now. "You all lack something, something very important... And unless you find it, you will fail!"

"And what, exactly, do we lack?" Sasuke asked. "What's stopping me, us, from succeeding?"

"Thank you for volunteering Sasuke, I'll start with you!" Kakashi declared happily, turning to face the last loyal Uchiha. "You lack compassion. You don't care about others and if you see them as being weak or useless you just ignore them! That's what happened earlier right? You felt neither Naruto nor Sakura would be of use to you in completing your objective and so you ignored them."

"They'd of just gotten in my way." Sasuke said in defence of his actions. "They weren't good enough and my chances where better without them!"

"I use to think like you..." Kakashi said sadly as he raised his forehead protector, showing the scar that started just above his eyebrow and ended below his cheek bone. "... And it cost me an eye... It cost me my eye and even more importantly it cost me my first and only friend in close to seven years."

"I-I didn't... Sorry." Sasuke muttered, clearly shaken by the clearly worthless eye. To the Uchiha, and to any with a dojutsu, blindness was considered second only to death on the scale of things to avoid if at all possible. "W-Who was your friend?"

"He was a cousin of your father's." Kakashi answered as he opened his eye, revealing a blood red pupil with three black tomoe in a triangular pattern around his iris. "Obito Uchiha."

"Obito!" Sasuke repeated as he stared transfixed at the sharingan. He knew the name, his father had often compared Sasuke to his dead cousin whenever the question of if Sasuke would ever activate his sharingan.

"Yes, Obito." Kakashi said as he closed the eye and pulled his forehead protector back down. "Like me, you have all the skills and the will to make it as a shinobi... But Sasuke, without the ability to act out of compassion or to care for others you face a life of sorrow and regret."

"W-What was with his eye?" Naruto whispered to Sakura.

"And that is your problem Naruto." Kakashi said, cutting off Sakura's answer. "You lack the intelligence to make it."

"Hey! Don't call me dumb!" Naruto snapped, struggling to free himself from the thick ropes. "It's not my fault the academy sucked!"

"No, but it is your fault you skipped classes." Kakashi told him. "I know some of the instructors weren't fair to you, and that is something that I'll see is fixed, but you chose to skip classes to pull your little pranks. You chose to sleep during lectures instead of paying attention... They had there preconceptions but you did nothing to challenge them."

"Oh, I guess so..." Naruto sighed. ".. Eh, what's 'preconception' mean?"

"It means making a decision or forming an opinion on something before actually doing it." Sasuke told him, wondering what Kakashi was referring to. "In this case he's saying the instructors had already made up their minds about you before before they met you."

"That's right, they saw you as trouble and you just proved them right." Kakashi told him. "You have all this chakra and all this stamina but you don't have a clue how to use it. In our little fight, when you created your clones while in the river you ended up wasting nearly twice the energy you used to make them... Naruto you have a choice, you can either continue as you are wasting so much chakra and be only good for large and flashy jutsu but little else or you can study and train to make yourself a truly skilled ninja? You have the potential, the pranks you set show you can do well if you apply yourself."

"What about me sensei?" Sakura asked when it became clear Kakashi wasn't going to go on. "What do I lack?"

"Courage, will, a spine... lots of ways of putting it." Kakashi told her. "You had the highest grade for genjutsu out of the the three of you... And you fell for the one I used. You where the smartest student in your year and you thought Sasuke had been beheaded. You didn't even attempt to take a bell, you just ran around looking for Sasuke. What you need to do is toughen up and focus. Forget boys, forget diets and forget whatever silly little idea you have about what it's like as a shinobi because unless you focus on being a shinobi you and your team will die... It's as simple as that!"

With that said Kakashi moved to untie Naruto. As the blond rubbed at the rope burns he'd given himself earlier Kakashi thought about what he would do with the team, assuming they did decide to stay on as Shinobi.

"You all have a choice, you have three options before you. One, you take this chance and drop out... No one will think any less of you for not passing my exam. Two, you apply for a transfer to a different genin team. I've said I'll pass you and a pass from me looks better on your record then a pass from any other jonin active right now or three, you agree to what I'm saying and try to find what I feel you lack..." Kakashi told them as he turned to head back to the village proper. "I'll be outside the Hokage's office tomorrow morning at eight thirty, nine o' clock is the deadline for providing the results from these tests. If you are there before nine I will report you as having passed, if not I'll take it to mean you've chosen to drop out. If you show, let me know if you want to train under me... Or find someone else. See you then"

XX Outside The Hokage's Office XX

Kakashi arrived at eight twenty-five, the first time in over a decade he'd shown up early. Unsurprisingly, Naruto was there already leaning against the outer wall. Nothing was going to stop him from achieving his dream, even if it was study.

"I'm ready to take whatever you throw at me Kakashi-sensei!" He declared loudly. "I'll study anything you tell me too, I mean it! I'll learn whatever you tell me too and I won't complain."

"I'm glad to here that." Kakashi smiled at his new student. The pair waited in silence to see if either Sakura or Sasuke would arrive. Sakura was the next to arrive at twenty to nine.

"I'll willing to try my best." She announced. And so the trio waited for the final possible member of the team. At five to nine, Kakashi let out a soft sigh and moved to enter the building.

"So..." A voice called from atop the wall. "How, exactly, do you plan to teach empathy?"

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Original working title 'Insert Oz Reference Here!' but since I cut out the actual Wizard of Oz reference [it was the exact same as the one in Old World Blues] I decided to change it. Well, what do you think? Won't be expanding on it, it's just something I though of one day while doing some gardening.

I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading.