"Katon! Gokyakuu no jutsu!"

It may have been another frontal attack, but Arashi recognized this one for what it was : infinitely more dangerous. He's literally pouring chakra into this attack…he's developed overkill techniques…

A good ninja knows when to show off and when to evade. Arashi quickly performed kawarimi and evaded what he anticipated would be an intense attack. I can't take any chances with this…if Kakashi gets involved we could both get roasted. This way, I can at least be there to protect…if this gets out of hand…

He watched with a careful eye as Kakashi twisted his body out of the way of the attack, wide-eyed in surprise that Obito would do such a thing…the flame went right through the center of Arashi's kawarimi, and the pile of dead leaves quickly turned to cinder and tossed into the sky. Arashi was quite impressed with the fact that the fireball continued on after impact…something Kakashi's attack had not done. The flames flew onward in their straight-lined assault toward the circle of rock Arashi had trapped the students in earlier. Yet, Arashi got only a moment of rest before realizing the true situation…What?! HE's …CRAP!!!

Kaira was dropping, too tired to evade as she dropped into the flame…

Yondaime : The Strength of a Nation
Chapter 3, Part 4 : Merciful Master

Kaira didn't have the strength left in her to do much more, even though her life could be on the line…I guess this is it…she watched in seemingly slow-motion as the fireball approached, the heat increasing by the moment…

Suddenly, her body was thrown into shadow as something blocked her vision…as her eyes struggled to adjust to the change in brightness, she noticed the red, spiraled insignia on the back of a green jacket…and his blond hair, before her eyes closed and she hit the ground, shoulder first.

Arashi had run right in front of her, and—with an intensely loud yell—smacked the fireball with all of his might.

When the smoke cleared, Obito surveyed the situation. There was a fairly large burnt area where his master had been, complete with a burning stump. Darn. At the same time, he noticed Kakashi on the edge of the destruction; his front hair seemed a bit singed., and his body was still sparsely covered in dirt.

Obito chuckled a bit. He got what he deserved! Obito laughed in the face of his fallen partner, and Kakashi bit his lip trying to stop himself from tearing the boy limb from limb.

Then Obito's eyes turned and noticed the two others in the background. Squinting, he noticed Kaira half-dead and leaning against the wall of rock…and his instructor. Mmm? Arashi's knees were bent, and his stance was stressed, and his right arm was extended fully to the side of his body…fingers twitching. The look in the man's eyes was quite intense…Obito took a more focused look, and noticed that the man's fingers were…singed…and blackened…

Kakashi turned slowly around, and soon noticed the same thing. "What did he do? Backhand the fireball?!" Both boys looked at each other in amazement, before turning back towards the scene before them.

Arashi took a moment, attempting to regain his composure. After a moment of this, he felt the old familiar annoyance come back. His brain was screaming "PAIN" at him for the injuries in his hand…both for the burns he had suffered batting the fireball away, and for the large (yet apparently slightly insufficient) amount of chakra he had channeled to his hand to avoid getting burned. He felt Kaira cling to his leg as she struggled to get up to her feet. Finally remembering to breathe, Arashi took a look at the two boys before him, and made his final decision. The edge on his voice was undeniable, and deserved. "Enough of this. This training is over."

The two of them looked oddly at him. "What was that? Why is the training over? It's not time yet!"

Arashi controlled his temper as much as he could. "When you two start acting like childish fools, it's automatically time! I'm not going to have anyone getting killed by friendly fire just because a kid gets too cocky." He turned around slightly and looked towards Kaira. "Do you realize you nearly killed her? I'm ashamed of you two. You all fail."

Obito frowned. The idea of Kaira almost dying hadn't hit him fully yet, but it still didn't hit him nearly as hard as the idea that he couldn't manage to do anything against Arashi. The boy took his goggles off and looked down in frustration. "You were too good for us."

Arashi grit his teeth at those words. "So when you meet a strong person in your missions, are you going to freeze at their feet and give them an easy kill?! Do you forget the fundamentals of the shinobi code when a powerful enemy shows up?!" He fought within himself to hold onto that one part of his mind that wasn't angry. Yet, as he looked at his team, he noted how each of them had confusion and guilt on their faces. They still don't get it… "Enough of this…"

A few moments later, the four of them were sitting on the bridge where it all had begun. Arashi leaped back up onto his commanding post on the gate. "You all said that I was too much for you. Well take these words to heart. A shinobi must recognize that sometimes no matter how hard he tries and trains, what he does may never be enough."

Kaira's eyes widened in shock at his words. How can he say something like that? "So…should we just give up?" Her response had quite a bit of anger in it.

"Be quiet." Arashi turned and looked her directly in her eyes. "Even you don't know what I mean, so just shut up and listen." Not even waiting for a response from the girl, he turned back towards the boys. "A shinobi must recognize that…but he must also recognize that it's not about if he's good enough. It's about if the team is."

At that point, they all realized exactly what this test was meant to discover. "And none of you three even recognized that you had a team. If the three of you had acted together, you'd have had a chance."

Arashi turned his back to them, looking toward Konoha as he continued. "If this had been an actual mission, you three would have risked your own lives and the lives of your teammates only to fail…to never even have hope of succeeding. And the only reason is because no one was truly willing to work with the others the way they needed.

"Kaira…it was good of you to help Obito over the wall, but in truth, you were needed on the battlefield with the both of them…but all you ever did, you did aggressively and you did alone."

"Obito…you wanted to get to Kakashi for some reason, yet at the same time, you never really dealt with Kaira. Had you helped her, the end may have come up different. And then, you weren't even trying to watch for Kakashi just now…you were willing to burn him to get to me."

"And you, Kakashi, you ditched your entire team as soon as you could. Your actions would have caused the rest of your team's death."

Arashi watched as the team silently looked down, dejected. "By halfway through this test, you should have realized you couldn't take me alone, and that you needed each other. The fact that you didn't means you don't know yourself…and you don't know your teammates. You might be 5…12 years old, but this isn't a game at all."

The kids remained silent and focused on the ground, knowing that he spoke the truth. Arashi considered everything for a moment, and made a judgment call. "These tests, unfortunately, are final. There is no appealing the results, and no one has ever changed their mind. However, considering you have shown that you each have considerable abilities for your age…I shall give you a second chance."

As they began to look up once more, surprise in their eyes, Arashi continued. "Know this…it's a well-known fact that no ninja has ever been given a second chance in these exams. This is unprecedented, but I'm the Hokage…so I will allow it this once." The beginnings of smiles began to show on their faces…Arashi bent his body lower and made eye contact with them all, his face only a foot away from their own. "I went easy on you before…don't expect that to happen again now that I've given you the key to this test. We will continue the training after lunch."

About an hour (and 3 chicken salad sandwiches for Arashi) later, things finally started to seem normal again. Arashi sat silently, examining the damage on his hand, and formulating a game plan for what – he was certain—would be much more fun than last time.

(A/N : I was writing this with "Survival Exam" from the soundtrack on in the background…)

Not too long later, the stage was set. Arashi got into his battle stance, lightly bending his knees and dropping into a horse stance. The three kids had hidden themselves in the bushes and trees of the area. Arashi closed his eyes, letting his other senses attempt to pick them up.

Within a few seconds, he heard the light movement of a twig against brush…as if the twig had not been quite stepped on, but rather kicked to the side. Kaira. She's definitely not the stealthiest ninja ever, but she's trying.

A moment later, he heard another sound, much louder this time…same direction…she tried to cover her tracks by getting out of there…Arashi easily made his way toward the sound, finally opening his eyes as he got there.

What he saw surprised him just a bit. Instead of Kaira, Arashi only found…her purple robe. ?! Recognizing the error quickly, Arashi leapt to the side as a small girl wearing a dark purple combat suit attempted to drop on his head. Quickly, he got into a defensive stance as Kaira sent her kicks flying.

The trees are an advantage for her, Arashi thought, since I can't get distance from her easily. I need to get her out into the open. Arashi methodically backtracked to the clearing, slowly leading her attacks out into the open air and away from the trees that would hinder his movement and awareness. After a moment in that new position, however, he began to consider the situation from a different light.

"Katon! Gokyakuu no jutsu!"

Darn…lured here, huh? Arashi leaped into the air, evading the fireball attack as best he knew how. His backwards leap left him to analyze the situation a bit more, when all of a sudden his sixth sense screamed at him. Twisting instinctively in midair, he spotted Kakashi…no not now…

"Katon! Karyuu Endan!"

Darn. Now. Arashi watched as the young one prepared the Fire Dragon technique, and he immediately began preparing seals. I can't evade such a fierce attack in midair too easily…I better prepare the water dragon. A moment later, a different idea popped into his head, and preparing the handseals.

As Kakashi finally unleashed his attack, and the dragon approached, Arashi prepared his counter, pulling his right hand back into his own side. Outstretching his palm, he announced the move, extending his hand forward toward the dragon.

"Fuuton! Kamaitachi!!!"

As he released his chakra into the technique, a massive wave of air began gusting about…becoming a powerful wind that forced the dragon off course. In fact, Kakashi was forced to leave his spot in the trees for the danger of not knowing where the dragon might impact something of the forest below.

Arashi allowed himself to continue falling, performing a quick backflip in midair, and landing lightly on his feet, about 10 feet behind where he had originally leaped from. As he did, however, he was forced into quick action…Obito was already airborne, with his fist cocked back for another attempt at a fierce blow…

No matter what, you haven't changed. Quickly, Arashi sidestepped out of the way of the boy's attack, not quite noticing how Obito's punch changed when he began to shift his weight. Obito opened his fist and reached out…

…and got a hand on Arashi's right arm….and his forehead protector. Arashi shook off the surprise quickly, and began attempting to shake Obito off. Yet, the goggled boy hung there as best he could…not like him to not have attacked me by now…I wonder what got him inspired to continue on like this…

It wasn't until he heard the sliding noise behind his own feet that he really realized what had happened. Kaira had lured him to the clearing, and the others were forcing him to the air. Yet instead of taking to the trees, Arashi was intent to counter and land back on the ground.. So Kaira follwed Arashi's straight path backwards, intending to be there pretty much as he arrived. She was now latched onto his left ankle, attempting to pull her forehead protector from his control.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do about it…Obito would not budge, and Kakashi had yet to show up. In his effort to remove Obito from his arm, he forgot about Kaira, and the forehead protector slipped from around his ankle. Kaira got the protector, then leaped into the air in satisfaction. The entire team applauded.

"See! We can get one!"

Arashi chuckled to Kaira at her response. "Yes…that's true.." Arashi half-smirked at the cheering kids. "I see you've finally learned to work as a team. So…Kaira has her protector. What about you boys?"

It so happened that Kaira didn't stop there. She continued aiding the boys until all three of them had their protectors back through various methods. Once Kakashi nearly got the one on the right arm, but Arashi was true to his word about the difficulty being too much for them.

And it so happened that everyone was much more confident (and hungry) at day's end.

--END Chapter 3

So what do you think? Again…never meant for it to be this long, but that's what popped into my head. What can you say?

This fanfic is not going to and was never meant to flesh out every event in the life of Kakashi. I will have other fics that spin from this universe (which will probably be semi AU as we find out more about the characters)…this one is just meant to show Arashi at key points. We've spent long enough at this one…the peaceful times.

Be forewarned…this story is about to take a drastic, dark, and angsty turn in the next few chapters. We have seen happy Konoha…now we must see what happens when Darkness Falls. After all, the true Strength of a Nation is never truly known until it is lost.