Weak.
That wasn't a word that Sasuke ever thought he would apply to himself. Yet here he was, realizing just how far he had fallen behind. At the rate he was going, there wouldn't be a future where Itachi was struck down by his hand. He should have never let himself get this far down, to a point where even someone like Naruto felt that he needed help.
Naruto.
Naruto was an enigma to him. No matter how many times he shoved him away, put him down, he still considered him a friend. Sasuke would never understand him. Why was it hard to ignore the bond they shared? Pushing him away did nothing to deter Naruto, if anything it made him work harder to strengthen their bond.
Bonds. Useless. It wouldn't get him any closer to defeating Itachi and finally achieving revenge for his clan. The bond would only serve as a weight holding him down in the ocean that was his fear. Itachi expected this bond to form, and for Sasuke to sever it in order to gain the power needed to take him down. He wasn't going to give in to that easy temptation.
Maybe that's why he threw himself in front of what he thought was a killing blow in order to save Naruto? There was no doubt in his mind that if Naruto had died in that moment, it would have been his fault. That power could have awakened, and Itachi would have gotten what he wanted.
Sasuke was unsure if that was actually the truth, but it was easier to pretend that it was instead of facing his actual thoughts on Naruto.
If he had died there, at least Itachi wouldn't get to control his life any longer.
He was so tired of being out of control.
Even his thoughts weren't his own sometimes. There were days that Itachi's words were on repeat in his brain, like a siren constantly going off.
Those were the days it was hard to get out of bed, to even put one foot in front of the other was a strenuous task.
Sasuke never showed it but the memories of his clan still haunted him at night, suffocating him until the only thing that let him breathe was training until his body was forced to shut down. Sleep was never easy to come by when he was unable to shut his mind off.
Last night had been one of the rare nights that his dreams weren't plagued by Itachi.
Instead he had dreamt of standing alongside his team in a battle against an unknown assailant. Working in perfect harmony with his team, each one covering each other's weaknesses and playing to their strengths.
When he woke up, he realized that the dream wasn't so far-fetched. They would need training, lots of training, but they could do it. They could become a team that was worth his time and energy.
He couldn't let Itachi win and give up his entire life for the man. If he became what Itachi wanted then what was the point in revenge? Itachi would win. The battle between them needed to be on his own terms, he needed to be the one pulling the strings.
Sasuke needed to be in control of his own power and destiny.
Not only that, he needed to be able to make sure situations like their last mission never happened again. His team was depending on him and Sasuke wouldn't let Itachi win by letting them down and seeking his own path. The path was already laid out for him, he just needed to take it.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Sasuke reached for the scroll he had picked out from the library a few hours before. Prior to his visit at the library Sasuke had sought out some chakra paper in order to test for his element. Unsurprised, it had been lightning. Fire chakra had never come easy to him. It was time to learn something new, something that suited him, and once he devoured the contents of the scroll he would seek out his team. They needed to train as well, and Sasuke would make sure they didn't fall behind as well.
Sakura was currently curled up in her bed, mind racing with thoughts of the previous mission. She had done nothing to help her team, had stood back and let them put their lives on the line while she was unable to even snap herself out of her fear. Graduating from the academy had been so easy, she was sure she would make an amazing ninja. That she would be able to impress Sasuke and win his affection.
She didn't even want that anymore.
She just wanted to be able to stand by her team's side and let them lean on her when they needed it. Sasuke had almost sacrificed himself for Naruto. Kakashi-sensei had asked them to put their trust in him. Naruto had quite literally saved the day, saved them. Meanwhile, Sakura had stood shaking in fear with nothing but a lousy kunai between the enemy and their target. One kunai wouldn't have stopped Zabuza or Haku from taking out Tazuna. The only thing that kept them from completing their mission had been her team.
Sakura was tired of acting this way. For all her boasts about being smart and better than Naruto, she was no better than when she had started in the academy. Naruto had grown since graduating, as had Sasuke.
All she had accomplished was annoying Sasuke further and subjecting Naruto to her weak fists when he made a crude comment about something or another.
The mission had opened her eyes, forced her to see the reality of her life.
She hadn't deserved the praise Kakashi-sensei had thrown her way for protecting Tazuna. Even if it had been empty words, even if Kakashi-sensei had only said them to boost her confidence.
Sakura didn't need to be babied, she needed to own up to her faults. Without her team, Sakura would have died a thousand times over already. Her weaknesses were obvious and loud if one only looked at her.
She couldn't name a single thing she was good at.
Her taijutsu was atrocious, she barely had a speck of muscle on her frame that would allow her to even deal damage towards someone with her fists. Ninjutsu was out of the question, she barely had enough chakra to perform the academy three. She had been told she had an affinity for genjutsu, but had failed to recognize one in the test Kakashi-sensei had put them through.
Weak. Useless. Nothing.
Why would they pass someone that could hardly be called a ninja?
Unless they expected her to fail. They weren't at war, it wouldn't matter if she passed or not. There was nothing at stake by putting her on the field, they probably never even expected her to end up in the situation like in Wave. She was just another genin that would fade from view and eventually find a desk job somewhere in the village.
A placeholder in a team consisting of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.
Forcing herself to sit up, Sakura shoved her blankets to the side and looked over at the scroll sitting by the stack of books on the floor. The scroll that Sakura had checked out over a month ago, that she always told herself she would read when she had the time.
She would make the time. Her team needed her, they needed a third teammate they could trust with their lives.
Someone that could stand by their side instead of in their shadow.
Slipping to her feet, she stepped over to the pile and scooped up the scroll. Easily settling down into a comfortable position on her floor, she rolled open the scroll and placed it down in front of her. The scroll would be memorized and ready to test before their team meeting tomorrow.
She would make them proud.
Naruto had never considered himself to be the best ninja in the academy. For all his boasting and screaming, he knew he had several weaknesses that would drag him down in a real battle. His false confidence was a way to shield himself from failure, to pretend that nothing could bring him down. It had gotten him as far as the battle with Haku.
When Sasuke threw himself in front of that blow, something inside him had snapped. What happened after was a blur of pure rage and loss. Anger at Haku for hurting Sasuke, for putting them in the position they were in. The feeling of Sasuke taking what he thought was his last breath pushing him further into his own mind. When the Nine Tails chakra took over, he had been running on those feelings. They fueled his movements and thoughts, there had been no time to properly process what had happened.
It had only been Haku's face that stopped him, that cleared his mind of the Nine Tails influence.
Haku's version of purpose was not the way he wanted to live. He didn't want to live for others, to only protect and serve them.
Naruto wanted to live for himself, and live with those he loved beside him. He wouldn't be only a tool for his village. His memories and thoughts would be his own while his strength and abilities would serve the village. Being Hokage was more than just living and dying for the village. It was being strong enough to protect those inside, to give others the means to live. It was living life to the fullest in order to show the village that he was worthy of leading them. The acknowledgement that came with being Hokage was something he craved.
He wasn't oblivious to the looks the villagers and shinobi gave him. Their hatred for him was plain as day, and he now knew why.
The Nine Tails inside him was that reason. This beast sealed inside him was the source of all his issues, but he knew that way of thinking would only harm him. It was a part of himself that he needed to accept.
Would his team accept him though?
Their acceptance was the only thing that mattered to him when it came to his seal. The villagers' love could be won when he became Hokage, they didn't have a choice but to accept him at that point. His team however, needed to trust him in order for his path to Hokage to even be possible.
They needed to get stronger together and trust each other for all of their goals to become a reality.
Hopefully Kakashi-sensei would be okay with taking a break from missions to train, or at least only do a few missions a week. He needed to get stronger, and he was certain his team felt the same.
With or without their approval, Naruto would drag them into training with him. There was no point in getting stronger if his team wasn't with him. Plus they would trust him more if they spent time cultivating their bonds.
With that thought, Naruto jumped down from the tree branch he had been sprawled on. He quickly straightened his clothes out before forming the tiger seal and creating two clones.
"You, find Sasuke." He said to one before turning to the second one and saying, "Sakura. Got it? Meet back here with them, even if they say no."
With a nod and thumbs up, they both ran off in separate directions, leaving Naruto by himself.
Easily sinking into a fighting stance, Naruto began going through some basic katas he learned from the academy.
It was time to get started.
Kakashi had told himself that it didn't matter whether the genin failed.
He hadn't planned for the team to even pass his initial test. Just like every other team he had been given, he would find some reason to fail them. He stood by his motto, and his team would too. That was the only way he would be willing to train genin.
Naruto Uzumaki was the son of his sensei, of the Fourth Hokage. He was the container of the Nine Tails, the village's pariah. He would most likely never make it to jounin and the instances of him leaving the village would be rare. In the council's eyes, he was nothing more than a weapon.
Sasuke Uchiha was one of the last living Uchiha members, and would be considered a prodigy and be given special training if the council didn't consider him a flight risk. He would be given enough training to help him take Itachi Uchiha down, and then he would most likely be watched very carefully by ANBU afterwards to make sure the last sharingan was kept in the village and out of harm's way. He was nothing more than a tool to be used until his purpose was fulfilled.
Sakura Haruno was a civilian and wasn't expected to be anything but a genin. Regardless of Kakashi's protests, the academy chose to pass those that didn't deserve to be ninja as long as they passed the silly, weak test they held at the end. Sakura had more weaknesses than strengths and was only placed on team 7 to give the other two a third teammate. It was expected that she joined them in the chunin exam and helped them pass, but wasn't expected to pass herself. She would fall behind quickly once the other two were promoted before retiring to a desk job where she would be out of sight and out of mind.
Then he watched both Sakura and Sasuke willingly give up their food to Naruto, despite his warnings of failing them if he caught Naruto eating.
Past teams he had been given just accepted his word for what it was and refused to look underneath the underneath. Why would they be put in a team of 3 if they only passed two?
They really didn't teach them to think in the academy.
The spark he had been looking for was there, much to his dismay.
It was easy to lose himself in his team after that.
The team reminded him of his own genin team, though he always shoved those thoughts into the deepest part of his mind when they appeared. Kakashi didn't want to imagine Obito's face every time he laid eyes on Naruto, didn't want to see the image of his fist through Sakura's chest.
They weren't his old team, and they never would be. Thinking of them in that light would only hurt them. The memories of his past would weigh down on his actions and they would suffer the consequences.
After the initial bump, Kakashi was able to separate them from his old team on the good days. Seeing them in a whole new light made the days go by easier.
Naruto was more than just the weapon. He was bright and brought life to every situation they found themselves in. His comedic timing was never lacking, even if it was always in the wrong situations, and he was even able to make Sasuke smile at times.
Sasuke, beneath his cold exterior, actually seemed determined to make the team work at times.
If you ignored the threats and insults he threw Naruto's way at least. Even Sakura had seemed to be growing on him.
Sakura was a lot more than her weak fangirl personality she seemed to have. If you watched closely you could see just how much smarter she was than both the boys, and how she skillfully maneuvered through situations in order to diffuse Naruto and Sasuke's arguments. Kakashi was sure that she could be just as strong if she really focused on training.
Then Wave came and absolutely destroyed his previous feelings about teaching a team.
Their first encounter hadn't caused any alarm, his genin had stood their ground for the most part. He should have turned around the moment they were attacked by those two ninja, but he couldn't bring himself to disappoint his little genin.
Zabuza's first attack had been what he was afraid of.
His team wasn't prepared for a battle like this. This was why he truly believed they needed to be harder on academy students, missions go wrong so often for him that he really should have been prepared.
The battle should have been easy. Kakashi had fought stronger and faster opponents than this. Having a team of genin to protect however, forced him to play it safer and he couldn't fight like it was only his life on the line.
Then the inevitable happened.
The terror that had ran through his body the moment he had gotten trapped in the water prison was familiar. The cold, deep dread that rushed into his veins was not unlike the fear that plagued his dreams. This was just another memory to add to his already draining nightmares.
Watching his genin ignore his orders and devise a plan to get him free had been hard. The screeching of bells going off in his head were loud and clear.
Why aren't they running? I can't watch this, fuck. I failed, why do I always kill everyone-
Then they went and proved him wrong, somehow managing to free him despite the odds being stacked against them.
Kakashi was tired of people giving up their lives and dreams for him. His genin continued to prove time and time again that he needed to trust them. He needed to let them be a team and stop shouldering all the blame for everything.
Not that he would ever admit to them that they had changed him.
Teaching them how to climb trees had been rather easy given the circumstances.
Sakura was a natural, no surprise there. She only needed minimal instructions before figuring out how to manipulate her chakra in order to walk up the wood.
Naruto and Sasuke took longer, but Kakashi let them fuel each other's competitive side in order to get the best results. He knew that Naruto probably wouldn't understand how to apply the instructions he gave, while Sasuke's expectations of himself would hold himself back. Failing wasn't something Sasuke was good at, while Naruto failed constantly. Their determination to one up the other would be enough to give them the push they needed in order to learn how to properly mold their chakra in order to climb the tree.
Letting his genin focus on training, and in Sakura's case, watching over Zabuza, allowed him to properly rest up for the battle ahead.
The second time Zabuza struck he was prepared.
He wasn't prepared for Haku's abilities.
Leaving Haku to Sasuke wasn't something he had wanted to do, but he let himself trust in his student. There was no other choice, not if they all wanted to make it out alive. His genin needed to learn to float sometime, and he couldn't mess up against Zabuza again.
Sasuke could handle himself, at least until Naruto showed up.
The battle had been a blur, his thoughts easily switching off in order to allow for complete focus on his actions. He didn't allow any fear to bleed into his actions, even if his outwards appearance and words were casual.
At least until the demonic presence of the Nine Tails suddenly flowed through the air.
A brief rush of fear had shot through him the moment he felt the chakra, mind flickering to the worst possible scenario. It had taken all he had to keep himself from rushing towards the source. At that moment it didn't matter whether Tazuna lived or died, whether the mission was a success. The only thing that mattered to him was his team making it out of this battle alive.
By some twist of fate, everything turned out okay.
The experience his team gained that day would be invaluable. There would be a day that they found themselves alone in the midst of a battle, without a sensei to guide them. It was his job to prepare them for that day.
He would make sure they didn't end up like his team.
They were shinobi, and Kakashi would make sure they knew that.