Chapter Twenty Seven: They're My Idiots
It started off as a joke. If they were to be technical, and if anyone figured out what was going through the mind of an enigmatic Kakashi Hatake, then they would have to get technical.
So it actually started off as an A ranked mission.
Gai had recently been promoted to jonin status upon his performance in the most recent jonin exams. It was known to the entirety of the village that one of Gai's goals was to become a jonin sensei. Now that he was promoted to jonin, he made sure to announce that fact to everyone.
Yet his inexperience in leading a team kept Hiruzen from putting him in the pool as a potential jonin sensei. Perhaps next year, Gai would have enough experience to be a capable jonin instructor.
Upon hearing that his name hadn't been put in the pool, Gai had demanded to be given an opportunity to remediate his deficiency in leadership skills. Under normal circumstances, Hiruzen wouldn't have obliged to his request, because if he obliged to every shinobi's demands then he wouldn't have any authority anymore, but with the youthful man barging into his office everyday to demand a mission, Hiruzen couldn't get any work done either.
And might as the Anbu try, they were no match for the youthful man's seemingless endless energy.
So Hiruzen came up with a solution. It had been perfect in his mind, but of course he should have counted in Kakashi's resistance to his proposal. It had taken a little badgering on Hiruzen's end, "a lot" was probably a more accurate description, but in the end, the deal was exchanged.
On the next ten missions that Kakashi was assigned to, Gai would act as their leading squad commander, with Kakashi to watch him and take over if needed. He would report back to the Hokage on Gai's progress, from which Hiruzen would determine if Gai needed to be sent on more missions as leader. In that case, Kakashi adamantly protested that he refused to take Gai on any more missions and he had done his deed.
The first few missions were some solo missions that Kakashi had lined up for himself, now turned into duo missions. One of the first of many requests was that he would receive the entirety of the mission's pay and Gai's portion would just have to be taken out of the Hokage's funds.
Hiruzen was hesitant to agree to that, since it would show blatant favoritism, but when Kakashi began to make up excuses about not having any money to feed his dogs, or buy gifts for Naruto, or take his girlfriend out on a date, he agreed to just stop the bullshit spewing out of the Copy nin's mouth. After all, it was well known that Kakashi made one of the highest salaries in the village due to his notorious reputation.
The second request was simple enough. He wanted himself and Rin to have access to the Hokage archives once more. Something about needing the invaluable information to help him finish creating his new jutsu. That, Hiruzen could believe if the burn marks on his hands were any indication. He agreed. It wasn't like they weren't privy to the sensitive information in there as they had open access to the archives for years.
To Kakashi, it had seemed like a good bargain at the time, but as he slowly embarked on these missions, Kakashi wished that he hadn't agreed in the first place.
Infiltration mission? Completely botched by Gai's lack of stealth and incompetency to give suitable orders. What kind of ninja suggested making a dynamic entry in a mission that required secrecy?
Escort mission? The formation that Gai proposed was sloppy, left too many blind spots for the enemy to attack and kill their client. Even the chunins on the mission had been skeptical of Gai's orders that they chose not to follow it. And while Gai did single handedly take out all of the attackers, Gai had jumped into fighting. No orders given to his teammates, either in the moment or beforehand.
The third mission had been slightly bearable because Kurenai served as a buffer between himself and Gai. She was the more patient of the two, carefully explaining to Gai the flaws in his plans and formations, while Kakashi couldn't really be bothered.
No one ever said Kakashi was fit to be a sensei anyways.
By the end of the fourth mission, Kakashi recommended Hiruzen to reconsider making Gai a jonin sensei. Sure, Gai had the capabilities, skills, and on occasion, the smarts necessary of a jonin, but his tactical knowledge and analytical skills left something to be desired.
From there, Gai was temporarily taken off of the missions with Kakashi - much to his delight as Rin turned out to be his replacement - and placed on various teams so that Gai could observe and learn how to lead a team.
The progress was slow, but it was working, marginally.
By the next time it was time to submit jonin names into the pool, Gai's leadership skills still weren't up to par.
It started off as a comment that Asuma proposed in passing, but the idea had some merit. Kakashi was Gai's self declared eternal rival. At this point in time, Kakashi did reciprocate that notion and their current score was an even 31 to 31.
What better way to help speed up Gai's process by putting Kakashi's name among the pool? Surely when Gai saw that his eternal rival had the possibility of getting a genin team before him, Gai would work towards his goal with a new vigor.
The idea sounded great in theory, but the real problem was the man in question. Everyone knew that Kakashi didn't have any desire for a genin team and probably wouldn't be that suited as he was notorious for his unorthodox teaching methods and he was still a bit jaded from all of his traumatic experiences.
The only kids that Kakashi got along with were Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. The latter was practically a child prodigy, just like Kakashi himself, so it wasn't hard to get along with the sole Uchiha survivor. As for Naruto, they only got along because Kakashi kept dangling the prospect of teaching him a cool jutsu, but kept making excuses to push it off much to the boy's annoyance.
And as far as anyone knew, not every Academy student fit the mold of being a child prodigy or downright gullible, so the chances of Kakashi getting genin that he wouldn't get along with were...high.
So Asuma merely brought up the idea to the white haired man trying to pass it off as a joke, but he was really testing the waters, never in a million years did Asuma expect to get the response that he did.
"Okay."
Asuma blinked twice and even pinched himself on the arm to make sure he wasn't under a genjutsu. "Okay?"
"It's not like they're going to pass anyways."
And that was how Kakashi Hatake found his name on the list to become jonin instructors. Many parents were displeased at the prospect that their child could be assigned to Kakashi, knowing his reputation, there was less than a 1% chance of their child passing. On the other hand, the jonins had mixed reactions. Some were mildly amused, even starting a betting pool to see how many teams Kakashi would fail with his unorthodox teaching methods before a team managed to impress him. Others were worried that his ruthlessness on the field would translate into teaching, thus unnecessarily failing the genins before they were even given a chance to prove themselves. A small portion simply believed that Kakashi flat out had no teaching capabilities.
And Kakashi himself would say that their worries were unfounded...but they were probably true. Teaching had never been his forte, much less teaching genins. He simply didn't have the patience nor the energy to patiently explain every single detail. He was the type to gloss over the major points and allow the other party to figure it out themselves.
What he would argue though was that Kakashi believed himself to be a fair man. When he saw his name printed on top of three genins, Kakashi instantly knew that he was going to use the bell test. Unorthodox, they say? Well that was too bad.
He had to keep Minato sensei's legacy going after all.
And a fair chance? Kakashi would say that the bell test gave the three genins more than a fair chance. All they needed to do was figure out the meaning of the exercise. Simple.
Or so he thought.
The first year he gave the bell test; he had high hopes for his new team. According to the files, all three of them weren't exceptional in the Academy, but above average with a good work ethic. There were no mentions of their dynamic, but it was noted that they had gotten along relatively well with the other students and didn't cause any trouble. Average intelligence, but Kakashi could work with that.
If Kakashi didn't have ridiculously high standards, this would be his dream team. Not too troublesome, not too stupid, not too aggressive, not too lazy. Everything seemed to be falling into place.
Until he introduced the bell test.
His hopes for them waned slightly, but still remained intact at the beginning when all three boys attacked him individually. That was expected, heck if history were to repeat itself based on his time on Team Minato, the three would attack individually until they realized they couldn't defeat him alone.
Then, it could go one of two ways. Either two of them form an alliance to get the bells or all three of them would work together. Kakashi secretly hoped for the latter, but the former wouldn't be a bad start.
And then those stupid, idiotic genin had to go and shatter all of Kakashi's hopes by turning on each other.
Fight each other to determine who goes back to the Academy, they said.
Save Kakashi sensei the trouble, they said.
They were all idiots.
Before the three genins could rush at each other, Kakashi threw a smoke bomb straight in the middle of their circle. The impact was more than enough to knock all three of them flat on their backs. With a steely look in his eyes, Kakashi announced that all of them were going back to the Academy.
The three genins didn't look too pleased at being stripped of their newly acquired status, but Kakashi couldn't give a damn.
Of all of the scenarios, he hadn't expected them to turn on each other.
When Kakashi reported that his team failed, it didn't escape his notice that there was some money being exchanged behind his back. The gossip started up again, but if Kakashi let words get to him, well he would have been dead over two decades ago.
At the end of the day, Kakashi went home and Rin naturally inquired about his genin team. Kakashi only had one response.
"They're a bunch of idiots."
The second year that Kakashi Hatake's name was in the pool to become jonin instructor was a combination of many things. First, Gai was finally on par with his leadership skills, enough for Hiruzen to trust him to lead a genin team, so his name was placed alongside Kakashi's. Second, Gai challenged Kakashi to see who would train stronger genins and Kakashi accepted just for the heck of it. After all, he was almost certain that either him or Gai or both wouldn't pass their genin this time, so he would get out of a challenge with little effort required. Third, Kakashi had simply been too lazy (and missed the deadline) to withdraw his name from the pool.
After the first...disaster, to put it lightly, Kakashi didn't come in with any hopes or expectations this time. He glazed over their Academy profile with disinterest. He didn't even care that the three genins were all brothers, who got along. He didn't care that one of them was the top of their graduating class in terms of intelligence. He didn't care that they were relatively trouble free. He didn't care about any of that because it would give him hope and hope was a dangerous thing.
With hope came disappointment.
When Kakashi signalled for them to begin, the three brothers retreated into the covers of the trees. Most likely to plan and Kakashi happily obliged them by choosing a spot under a tree to take a quick nap. Of course, his senses were still on high alert.
They had taken a lot longer than Kakashi anticipated, but that was easily amenable. Kakashi was even marginally impressed that the three of them coordinated their attacks, one from above, and the other two at his sides. Leaving a clone in his place, Kakashi took off towards the trees to observe their dynamic.
Kakashi may have tricked Minato sensei into thinking that they were working as a team back then, but he was going to make extra sure that these kids weren't fooling him. That was his responsibility, as shinobi of the village and a potential jonin sensei.
In just thirty seconds, Kakashi figured out their problem. Their teamwork was flawless, textbook style, but it became abundantly clear who was the spearhead. When the other two were at a loss of what to do, they automatically turned towards the oldest brother, who would give them instructions.
Stupid instructions, Kakashi would claim, that the younger ones should have protested against. But they stupidly followed their elder brother's cue and earned a kick to the chest by clone Kakashi, sending them flying back a good few meters.
Their reliance was unsettling. Any capable ninja needed to be able to make split second decisions of their own accord. In battle, the two younger ones wouldn't have time to turn to their elder brother for instructions. That moment of hesitation would be enough to get them killed on their first C ranked mission.
And as a jonin of Konoha, Kakashi couldn't let that happen.
On the account of their teamwork, Kakashi opted to give them a second chance. He tied the eldest to the trunk of the tree, ordering the younger two to eat lunch. They weren't allowed to give their oldest brother any lunch or they would all fail. Then he left, silently watching them from the trees.
Another trap, but a shinobi needed to be able to see underneath the underneath.
There was promise in the three genins as Kakashi spied them in a heated debate. The younger brothers were tempted to feed his brother lunch, even moving his bento box closer to the older brother.
There was hope...until the blasted older brother opened his mouth and told his brothers to follow the rules. There was hope until the younger brothers obediently listened to their brother.
There wasn't hope.
All of them were sent back to the Academy.
And so when Rin inquired about his genin team for the second time, Kakashi could really describe them as one thing.
"They're a bunch of idiots."
The following year, it seemed that Asuma and Kurenai, who was recently promoted to jonin, had taken an interest in leading a genin team as well. Kakashi chalked it up to mostly Gai's influence, who constantly bragged about how great his team was or told them of all of the wonderful times that they had together.
Kakashi was more concerned that one of the boys on his team had turned out to be a carbon copy of him. At least the Hyuga and the kunoichi had some sense to not follow Gai's footsteps as well.
At this point, Izumi had become a jonin as well, with her expertise in genjutsu and poisons courtesy of both Kurenai and Rin's influence, as well as her previous aptitude in taijutsu. When asked if she wanted to become a jonin sensei as well, Izumi promptly declined, stating that she hadn't had her fill of freedom like they had.
Most of the missions that she took were limited to inside the Land of Fire as she had Sasuke to look after and couldn't be away for long periods of time. Now that Sasuke was due to graduate this year, Izumi was free of the burden. To put it simply, Izumi wanted to explore the freedom that long term missions had to offer.
Rin warned Izumi that the appeal of long term missions quickly wore out after the first few, but Izumi was insistent. Guess Izumi would find out soon enough.
As for Rin, she declined a second time, stating that she already had her hands full with the program she started at the hospital to train medical ninjas.
"I'd rather train people in my field of expertise," Rin told them. "Among my jutsu arsenal, there's not much I can teach those kids unless they have exceptional chakra control."
And it was true. As far as Kakashi knew, the only thing that didn't require decent chakra control to learn were the water jutsus that Rin possessed and a handful of wind jutsus. That was about it.
Even to learn the Hiraishin, Kakashi had spent a great deal of effort to refine his own chakra control. Part of it was due to the higher demand of chakra control in regards to using fuinjutsu in battle. The other part was because Rin had found a way to help increase his chakra reserves, but demanded higher chakra control to be able to pull it off.
A work in progress, but he was almost there.
As for why Kakashi kept his name in the pool this year, well it was simple. A small part of him hoped to have either Naruto or Sasuke assigned to his own genin squad. In a perfect world, he would have both of them on their team and another person, preferably someone with a Rin like personality, to balance the two clashing forces.
It was almost reminiscent of his old team. An homage even.
But of course, even if Kakashi did get either of them, he would remain completely partial. Teamwork or no teamwork, it was that simple.
Worst case scenario, Kakashi would be saddled with three unknown genins, but that was fine. As long as they showed teamwork.
That, and Kakashi resolved this would be the last time he tried to become a jonin instructor. If the third time wasn't the charm, then he'd rather not bother anymore. After all, there seemed to be an abundance of volunteers from other jonins who were eager to have a team of their own. Kakashi wasn't one of them.
Except fate seemed to have other plans.
The first sign was when he received his new genin team. Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura Haruno. The odds of getting either Naruto or Sasuke on his team had been low to begin with. The odds of getting both were even lower. For him to receive his dream team…
Well, it wouldn't be a dream team until the three kids showed some teamwork.
The second sign was when Rin had that knowing look in her eyes after she read over their files.
"You harp on and on about your dream team," Rin began with a light chuckle. "Isn't this it? Sasuke and Sakura are the top of their class in terms of intelligence, so you can just pawn off explanations to Naruto on them. Naruto and Sasuke are two of the most ambitious, hard working ninjas in their generation and they're already friends. Sure they have a rivalry going on, but isn't it just like you and Obito?"
"Maa, sounds like a headache with Sasuke and Naruto on the same team," Kakashi lamented, burying his face in his hands.
"And who was the one who secretly hoped that you would get to teach them?"
"Hai, hai, you're always right. But the kunoichi has no particular talents and according to the files, she's not particularly close to either of them."
"And wasn't I the kunoichi with no particular talents on our team?" Rin retorted. "Give her a chance. Maybe she'll end up surprising you."
"Right, right. Regardless, they'll still have to pass the bell test."
Contrary to what the three genins believed, the bell test began right at eight o'clock, just like Kakashi instructed. For the first time in a long time, Kakashi hadn't been late. Instead, he hid himself in the trees, with three quarters of his face buried behind a book, while his lone eye set out to observe his genin.
Naruto and Sasuke's dynamic was just like it always had been. Since the moment Naruto stepped foot on the training ground, Sasuke made some remark that set him off. Insults were traded back and forth, though no malicious intentions were behind it, until the boys decided to take their pent up energy into training. Under Sasuke's guidance, Naruto's aim had immensely improved since they first started and now, all of their throws hit every mark.
The surprise factor on the team was Sakura. She was the first to arrive at the training grounds, even earlier than Kakashi himself, which gave him the impression that the girl was a stickler for rules. When each of her respective teammates arrived, Sakura uttered a greeting, but made no effort to socialize with them any further. She had taken solace under the shade of a tree, a textbook cracked open on her lap.
Kakashi was too far to make out the title of the book, but from its thickness and the way that Naruto had scrunched his nose upon seeing the content of her book, he'd wager it was some sort of book on jutsu theories or something related to being a shinobi.
A bookworm, as her files had painted her as. But knowledge was an asset. Something that Naruto had no patience to acquire, so Sakura was the perfect addition to the team to balance it out.
From first impressions, it seemed like they were the team that Kakashi had been looking for. There was only one way to find out.
Two hours after observing them from the trees, Kakashi poofed into the clearing. Naruto had been startled, turning his shock into rage by pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi for being late. Sasuke wore that same impassive look on his face as always, with his arms folded across his chest, but Kakashi's observant eyes didn't miss the slight jump that the kid made when he appeared.
As for Sakura, to her credit, she didn't even flinch, but at the same time, Kakashi didn't land that close to her. Add on to the fact that Kakashi suspected that she had been too absorbed in reading to have noticed anyways.
From there on, it was routine for him. Kakashi set down a clock on top of one of the three wooden posts, setting the time for noon. The rules to the bell test were explained, to which Sakura was quick to point out that there were only two bells. Smiling under his mask, Kakashi proceeded to tell them that the one who didn't get the bells would be sent back to the Academy. Sakura frowned upon receiving that piece of news; no doubt, her mind already whirling with all kinds of thoughts. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances, seemingly challenging each other to get the bells first.
He had a vague notion of how the situation would play out, but he hoped he was wrong. To have such high hopes for this team...Kakashi didn't want to be let down a third time.
Rash as always, Naruto decided to charge at him before Kakashi even motioned for them to start. With a loud battlecry that would have alerted enemies of his presence many kilometers away, Naruto jumped up into the air, ready to swing a punch at him.
Only for Kakashi to duck, allowing the blonde boy's momentum to carry him flying forward face first into the ground. The fall sounded painful, but that was his fault for being so hasty in the first place.
"Ah, I didn't say start yet." He paused, eyeing each of the three genins before smiling. "Begin!"
The three of them, or rather two of them scattered into hiding. Sasuke had to come back and drag Naruto into the trees, much to Kakashi's amusement.
If he actually passed this team, he had his work cut out in front of him. To have to teach Naruto about stealth was a daunting prospect. The Fourth had been the epitome of stealth at the height of his career; how had the apple fallen so far from the tree?
Kakashi continued to muse about the similarities between the boy and his father, then moved on to compare him to his mother, while he casually dodged the perfectly aimed shurikens. The glint of the wire tipped him off on Sasuke's trick and Kakashi pretended to go along with it, having already swapped with a substitution. His substitution allowed himself to get caught in Sasuke's wires while Naruto burst out of the trees, aiming a packed punch to his face.
A log was revealed in his place, much to Naruto's annoyance.
So far the scenario had played out exactly like Kakashi predicted. Naruto and Sasuke would team up together due to their previously formed camaraderie, but the question remained whether they would let the kunoichi in on their plans.
Or had they fallen for Kakashi's trap?
Kakashi jumped back down into the clearing, where an agitated Naruto was awaiting him. Forming a familiar hand seal, dozens of Narutos littered the training ground. Lazily, Kakashi began to fight them, putting minimal effort into doing so. Two minutes into engaging a taijutsu fight, if it could even be called a fight, Kakashi casted a simple D rank genjutsu. That had done the trick, now the Naruto clones began to gang up on each other, while Kakashi escaped from the orange mass.
Hmm, what was Sasuke up to now? Kakashi did expect him to barge in while Naruto kept him occupied, so it was slightly surprising that he didn't appear.
Well that was a problem for later as Kakashi easily pinpointed the kunoichi's hiding spot, although it was a better attempt than most genin. In fact, Kakashi would daresay her chakra suppression skills were chunin level at least.
He mirrored her level of chakra suppression as he snuck up behind Sakura, who was sprawled on the grass, watching the battle of Naruto clones. Except…
Kakashi cocked his head to the left as a kunai whizzed by his ear, piercing Sakura's back. That Sakura exploded into a puff of smoke as Kakashi lazily turned around to face the real Sakura, who was standing behind him with a kunai drawn.
As a bookworm type, he had expected that Sakura would have an excellent grasp on all of the Academy level jutsus. Sakura didn't disappoint, but what would she do with it? How would she use it to her advantage?
Except Sakura simply stared at him for a minute, before she tossed three shurikens in his direction, which he dodged with ease. And promptly made a tactical retreat. At least, Kakashi assumed it to be a tactical retreat.
Hmm, being able to recognize when you are outmatched and retreat is good, but what will you do now?
Well, it was time for him to find Sasuke now.
And the boy in question just happened to be in the vicinity, no doubt watching Sakura and Kakashi's skirmish to analyze his moves.
When he appeared in Sasuke's line of sight, the younger boy's hands began to move to form the hand seals for a fireball jutsu. Slipping underground with his headhunter jutsu, Kakashi dug a tunnel, pinpointing where Sasuke was standing, then proceeded to bust through the earth and yank the boy down.
Except the boy poofed out of existence. One of Naruto's clones.
When Kakashi made his reappearance on the surface, Sasuke and Naruto immediately pounced at the opportunity to attack. Their genin level taijutsu skills were no challenge for Kakashi, but he was satisfied to see that there was some level of coordination in their attacks, however sloppy.
Hopeful, but ultimately disappointed.
Sakura tried to jump into the fray, dispelling the genjutsu that Kakashi had casted on Naruto along the way, but it became abundantly clear to him that Sakura wasn't let in on the plan. Sasuke's sighs of frustrations as he attempted to not fry his own teammate with another fireball jutsu was made evident. At one point, Naruto even elbowed her out of the circle, hollering an apology, but not even caring to help the poor girl up.
It hadn't even been a full hour but Kakashi decided to end the bell test right then and there. Then proceeded to start a round of arguing between Sasuke and Naruto, blaming one another for the mistakes that they made during their attempt to retrieve the bells. Sakura's green eyes flickered back and forth between the arguing boys, but ultimately kept quiet.
At that point, Kakashi just wanted to go home and forget that this disastrous attempt even happened.
Sakura was the only one who fell into step beside him on their way back to the tree stumps. Sasuke and Naruto lingered behind, still bickering about who knows what. Kakashi was too tired to even follow their argument. It was barely ten o'clock, but it already felt like a long day.
"Individually, there was no way that any of us could have won against you," Sakura said quietly from his left side. Kakashi's interest peaked, gesturing for her to continue. Sakura took a deep breath before she continued her train of thought. "I realized that when I was facing you one on one. When I felt your chakra coming towards me, I left a clone while I hid so that I could observe your skills. When you dodged my kunai so easily, I knew that there was no way that I could win against you, so I retreated.
"I evaluated my options. At that point, I considered the importance of the task, to get the bells. If we were met with a shinobi that outclassed us in the field, with no feasible way to win, a tactical retreat would be the best option until reinforcements arrived. In the meantime, the best option is to tail the enemy, if possible.
"But if we were separated as a team and can take on the enemy shinobi in the first place, then the best thing to do would be to momentarily retreat, regroup, form a plan, then execute an ambush, provided that the enemy shinobi doesn't chase after me.
"From what I have observed, you didn't really care to come after us and only did to force us out of hiding. The way you are fighting suggests that you are merely humoring our attempts. If you have already set it in your mind that it will be practically impossible to get the bells from you, meaning that the task itself isn't important, then you must be expecting something else."
"You wanted us to fight as a group," Sakura finally concluded. "The task itself isn't of importance; in fact, the contingencies regarding the task was only to throw us off."
And finally, at least one of them gets it.
Kakashi would have summarized it in one simple word "teamwork," but Sakura's analytical abilities weren't to be underestimated. It had been such a roundabout way to reach the purpose behind his exercise, but Kakashi supposed that it was good she was already applying low risk situations to real life or death situations.
If he could pass a one man team, he really would pass her right then and there.
"That's correct; however, it seems that your teammates are a bit...dense." Being in the presence of a twelve year old genin reminded Kakashi to tone down his language a bit.
"So I guess we'll all be sent back to the Academy, then?" She definitely took the news way too calmly. If it was Sasuke, he most definitely would have scowled at the idea and thrown a tantrum, Uchiha style, all the way back to the Academy. Naruto would shout insults at him, accuse him of being unclear about the rules, declare that he'll become Hokage one day, and then refuse to go back to the Academy.
At least one of them was proving to not be a pain in the ass.
"Ah, I'll give you another chance. Hope those two knuckleheads use it wisely."
And he commenced the next part of the test, lecturing the two boys on the importance of teamwork. Naruto had a guilty look written on his face as he turned to Sakura, apologizing profusely for leaving her out. It was just as Kakashi thought, Naruto and Sasuke had taken his instructions sending one person back to the Academy quite literally. Sasuke merely ducked his head in shame. His keen ears didn't miss the very quiet apology that Sasuke uttered at Sakura.
Maybe there was hope after all.
"Well, I have two bento boxes. Since Naruto and Sasuke did most of the fighting, you two will get lunch, while Sakura won't have any. If you attempt to feed her, then you will be automatically disqualified. Eat up before the next part of the exams."
He disappeared in a swirl of leaves, hiding in a nearby tree. Normally, Kakashi would have tied up Sakura, but he felt like that would have been too heartless of him to do, especially since she was the only one who figured out the purpose of the exercise.
Now...he had an hour to kill, mmm.
The kiddos were certainly interesting. Sasuke and Naruto simply sat there, with the bento boxes open, but for the past ten minutes, neither of them made a move to eat.
"Ahhh, I'll feel really bad if I eat and you don't, Sakura chan!" Naruto exclaimed so loudly that even Kakashi could hear him from the trees.
In other words? He was really loud.
Sasuke appeared to be saying something back to Naruto. Sakura interjected into the conversation and Kakashi was pleased to see that both boys were listening to what she was saying.
Probably sprouting one of her long winded theories.
The three genins yammered for the entire hour. By the time the hour was up and Kakashi appeared in front of them once more, he eyed both of their untouched bento boxes. Had they been too busy plotting how to take him down and forgotten to eat?
A loud growl emitted from Naruto's stomach. The boy had the decency to look sheepish.
"Why didn't you eat?"
Naruto had an answer ready for him. Leaping to his feet, Naruto pointed a finger at Kakashi. "If one of us isn't allowed to eat, then all of us don't eat!"
Kakashi blinked. That was foolish, but at the same time, heartwarming.
"But now you won't have the strength to fight me."
"That's where you are wrong," Sasuke said. "Each of us individually with a full stomach is no stronger than all of us together on an empty stomach. Besides, only the dobe was stupid enough to not eat breakfast."
Naruto's indignant "Hey!" could be heard kilometers away, Kakashi was sure.
"I think the purpose of the test was for them to break the rules and share their lunch with me," Sakura added. "But just as a precaution, we decided to go the other way around. After all, all of us not eating is teamwork, right?"
"Those who break the rules are considered to be scum, but those who abandon their comrades are considered to be worse than scum," Kakashi recited sagely, closing his eye as he recalled the boy who once taught him that lesson. "Have each other's backs at all times, don't leave anyone behind. Remember, the team is only as strong as the weakest link."
"Meet me here tomorrow morning. By the time I arrive, I expect you all to get to know each other's fighting styles, strengths, and weaknesses. From there, we'll officially start training. Good job, Team Seven."
When Rin came home that day, Kakashi wore a stupid smile on his face. At that point, Rin didn't even need to ask how it went, but she did it anyway for routine's sake.
"So how was your genin team?"
"Maa, they're still a bunch of idiots. But, they're my idiots."
A/N: Hi again!
The story of how team 7 came to be, figured a little bit of humor would be a good addition to the story. Here, we start the canon timeline. Some events will overlap, so I will be skimming those parts - I'm sure we've all watched/read Naruto enough times to know what happens.
If you missed it last time, I just wanted to mention again that Team 7 personalities will not be canon. Naruto is mostly the same albeit more skilled at this point in time. Sakura is not a fangirl. Sasuke isn't all that hung up on revenge for reasons I explained in the last chapter A/N. Naruto and Sasuke have a rivalry going on but they're friends.
To answer the Guest reviewer: Yes, Obito sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto. I never specified the seal so I'm running off the assumption that Obito learned some tailed beast sealing technique under Madara's tutelage to complete the plan. I don't think I ever mentioned if it was all or half, so I'm going to go with all (although I think there was some contingency regarding why Minato split the sealing in half in canon that I can't remember). So yes, Naruto doesn't have any of his parent's chakra in the seal and there is no key because Minato wasn't the one who sealed him this time. As for Minato being reanimated, what you said is true. If you look around chapter 16? (the part where they confronted Orochimaru for murdering the Fourth), he already reanimated Minato once, so it is entirely possible to reanimate him again in the future. I honestly don't remember anything about the scarf (was this during the Chunin exam evasion? I'm sorry, it's been a good 5+ years since I've watched Naruto). If you're reading this, please do me a favor and leave the episode number if you know it!
I hope that helps to answer most of your questions!
I know some people wanted Rin to have her own genin team but her skillset is so niche and heavily based around chakra control that I would find it hard for her to teach anything beyond basics so the team would be shortlived. But don't worry! She'll be mentoring Team 7 too.
Next chapter is called Team Seven. Shocker, I know.
Thanks for reading and until next time!
-MM