Because I Love You - Chasing After You

by The Flare Blade

Hiruzen knew that Tazuna's request was much more dangerous and important than it first appeared to be. He needed experienced ninja for the mission, but his hands were tied because of politics... until he sees a loophole. Using an educational project as cover, he will send two teams to Wave! A Naruto retelling with Hinata as a main character but with canon teams. (Ch1-5 revised!)

5. Chapter 5 - Bonds, part 1

Hey there!

I am sure that most of you were left with many questions after the last chapter. This is where I will answer those and help you see where I want to go with the main characters in the story.

The teams will finally meet up by the end of this chapter, but there is much to do before that point. Buckle up!

Key Warning: One of the characters reacts to last chapter's events in a way most readers won't expect or even understand right now. This is intentional, and the character's thought process will be revealed in depth in a future chapter, but for now it will only be through other people's perspectives, slowly.

This chapter is also very dialogue-heavy.

---

The Prologue

Chapter 5: Bonds, part 1 (v3.0)

---

'Ugh…'

Slowly regaining consciousness, Hinata's first waking moment was dominated by a mighty, throbbing headache. Though it quickly erased her drowsiness, it also got rid of any desire to actually wake up.

'…I won't be able to go back to sleep at this rate,' she lamented, wincing from the painful pulsation in her head. She tried to ignore the pain to see if she could maybe fall asleep again, as her body felt weird and lethargic. Surely it had to be early in the morning still if she was feeling so tired, right?

However, Hinata began to notice details that contradicted the idea that she was in her bedroom: she was sitting up, that her hand felt something resembling grass on the ground and that whatever was supporting her head and back was rough, nothing like her soft pillow.

It was only when the girl finally realized that she was wearing her mission clothes rather than her sleepwear, that she forced her eyes open. The first thing she saw after getting used to the light was a trio of wooden posts in the middle of a clearing, her bag resting atop one.

'This... this is Training Ground 3!'

Memories began to come back to her.

Looking down and behind her shoulders, she recognized that she was sitting up on the grass, propped up against a tree just on the edge of the clearing. What drew her attention the most, though, was that her clothes and feet were very, very dirty. She had never been this dirty in her entire life!

'Someone must have pulled me out of that hole in the ground... I guess?'

Hinata didn't remember being buried per se, but she could still recall Kakashi disappearing underground and Kiba warning her that she would be the target. But before she could wonder more about the hole in her memories or the literal 6ne she had been in, she heard a shout coming from somewhere nearby.

"Hah! Gotcha, Shino!"

Recognizing that familiar voice and that familiar name, Hinata turned her head and then narrowed her eyes at the blurs that were to her far left. She saw her two teammates in what seemed to be a simple sparring match, with Akamaru calmly resting on the grass a few meters away from the boys, watching the brawl with interest.

She caught the exact moment Shino failed to land an uppercut on Kiba. Shino had put a bit too much behind the blow—a surprisingly bold one coming from him—and was left vulnerable after missing. Recognizing the opportunity, Kiba's lips formed a wolfish grin as he winded up for a hook, aiming at his teammate's head for a knockdown.

Kiba was so sure of his victory that he was completely unprepared when Shino danced around his attack with impressive footwork and then buried his knee into the Inuzuka's stomach. It wasn't a particularly strong blow, but it struck just the right spot and floored him regardless.

"S-Shit...!"

Kiba clutched his stomach with one hand while he pounding the grassy surface with the other, though whether it was more out frustration or pain Hinata wasn't sure. "Dammit, why the hell does everyone keep hitting my belly like that...!?"

"Because you are too eager to land a finishing blow when you see an opening," Shino responded. "Your attacks then become too telegraphed and are easy to avoid, despite your speed."

"But you did the same thing just now with that uppercut!"

The Aburame adjusted his glasses. "Indeed. I, however, was merely baiting you," he explained as he approached Kiba, offering his teammate a hand up.

The two fell back into a spar almost immediately after. Hinata noticed that her teammates seemed dirtier than she remembered… nowhere near her level, but enough that she could guess that they had been sparring for a while already.

"That boy..."

Hinata whipped her head to the right, from where she heard that deep voice come from, only to find Kakashi leaning on a tree just beside the one that she was propped up against.

"I believe that during our test he got kicked in the stomach at least three times. I thought that he would've noticed his weakness by himself, but it seems I hoped for too much. At least now he knows what he's doing wrong" Kakashi said, and then looked down at her. "So, you have finally awakened. How are you feeling?"

Her head throbbed more violently than before, making her wince.

"Y-Yes, I... I think I'm okay."

He raised his eyebrow questioningly, and Hinata looked away.

"I… do have a bit of a headache, though," she admitted.

"So I was right..." Kakashi mumbled cryptically. While he seemed to have found answers, Hinata was left only with more questions.

"Um... e-excuse me, but... what happened?" she asked, choosing the broadest question she found simply because she had no idea of where she should even start making sense of her situation.

"Well, from what you told me and from what I saw, I'd say you passed out due to a mild case of chakra exhaustion," Kakashi explained. "That little trick you did when you—willingly—got caught by my Headhunter Jutsu apparently used too much of your chakra. You were out for almost an hour now. And so are my hands, actually," he noted with a palpable tang of disgust. "It also explains your headache."

Not that Hinata paid attention to that last part. 'Chakra exhaustion? But how? My techniques hardly even use chakra! Although… I did prepare a fair amount of chakra for that last moment, I think, but it shouldn't have been enough for me to pass out.'

She frowned. The low chakra cost of the Gentle Fist meant Hinata hardly ever cared to monitor her own chakra levels, but regardless, Kakashi would have no reason to lie to her: something truly had caused her to lose consciousness.

Kakashi, however, also wasn't a doctor. From his choice of words, he wasn't fully certain of his own theory, so Hinata decided to move on from that subject lest her headache became stronger somehow.

"And... w-what about Shino-kun and Kiba-kun?"

Kakashi turned away to watch the boys in question. "Ah, those two?"

Hinata's heart began to race once her mind caught up to her own question and the gravity of her team's situation.

"They made decent use of the opportunities that your 'sacrifice' gave them," Kakashi said, "but jonin don't need their hands to fight against mere genin, and they failed to get the bells from me."

'…Failed?'

"They did come close to catching the bells a few times," he conceded, "but once they noticed that you were passed out they lost their focus. I then decided to end the test to see what happened to you."

Kakashi remained quiet after that, but even if he hadn't it's not like Hinata could hear him at that moment. Not when his words were bouncing wildly inside her head, her gaze falling to her dirt-stained lap.

The test had ended.

Her team failed to get the bells.

Her strategy failed.

She failed her team.

Kiba and Shino would lose their headbands.

'And it's all my fault…!'

"You are… crying?"

Startled, Hinata raised her head. Kakashi was looking at her with complete bewilderment, but her vision was foggy and wet and she couldn't make him out clearly.

Involuntarily, a sniff escaped her, and shame began to creep up on her. A Hyuuga such as herself shouldn't ever cry in public.

It was showing weakness.

Not that Hinata was strong. It's why she had never been able to hold her tears for long even when she tried, but the shame was always there.

Just another failure from her part.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, his tone one of growing worry. "Is your headache that strong?"

She shook her head.

"Y-You… y-you are going to send Kiba-kun and Shino-kun back t-to the academy, aren't you?"

"What?"

Hinata didn't realize the confusion in Kakashi's voice and just kept going. "P-Please! G-Give them another chance! I-I know we couldn't get the bells b-b-but if, if we have just one more chance…! Don't take them out of Team 8!"

Her throat became tight. Too tight for her to continue speaking. The tears falling down her cheeks began to bother Hinata, and she rolled down her dirty sleeves to wipe them off with her pale, bare forearm, all while Kakashi processed her words.

"...You mention Kiba and Shino," he began, "but what about yourself? Do you not want to stay on Team 8 too?"

"I do! O-Of course I do!" was her immediate answer.

And there couldn't be another answer—Team 8 was the closest thing to a real family that Hinata had after all. Perhaps her perspective was skewed thanks to a variety of factors, but with Team 8 she felt she was just Hinata. There was no extra weight from her position as the Hyuuga clan's heiress altering her dynamics with anyone on her team, unlike how her position greatly impacted even the strong bond she had with her own sister, who was the only blood relative Hinata could even say she had a "bond" with.

Kiba, Shino and Kurenai were precious to her and she didn't want to lose them.

But Hinata had already come to terms with what was going to follow. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Kakashi again and decided try helping her friends in the only way that she could at the moment.

"I... I-It's my fault that they failed so... I know I deserve to—"

"Stop right there," Kakashi cut her off. "I've heard enough from you,"

The interruption had been abrupt enough to make Hinata flinch, with a familiar spike of nervousness from feeling that she had done something wrong somehow, somewhere. That nervousness easily showed on her face, and perhaps that's what made Kakashi soften his tone when he spoke again.

"I was waiting for you to wake up so that I could inform you three about my conclusions, and I think we've waited for long enough. I'll call the boys here. Make sure to pay attention to what I'll be saying."

Kakashi began to walk towards boys brawling in the distance, but quickly changed his mind and looked and backtracked to Hinata. "Actually, I'll give you a while to calm down. I don't think you want them to see you so down, do you?"

Hinata shook her head and mumbled something akin to "thank you", to which Kakashi just shrugged, once again leaning against the tree.

She wished she could show her gratitude properly for the chance to gather herself before she had to face the boys again. Shino was discreet and it was unlikely that he had shared anything about when he stumbled upon her crying earlier to Kiba, but if he saw her like that again he would surely ask questions.

Which would prompt Kiba to do the same. Being interrogated by a stubborn Inuzuka wasn't something Hinata really wanted to deal with. Without the threat of her team disbanding and that annoying headache she might have been able to handle them, but right then?

Not a chance.

Once the minutes that Kakashi gave to Hinata were up, he whistled loudly from under his mask in order to call the boys. Both of them immediately stopped fighting once they heard it.

"It seems Hinata has awakened," Shino said in his usual flat tone, using the interruption to adjust his slightly crooked sunglasses.

"Whew... it's about time. I was starting to get worried," Kiba chuckled a bit, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Let's go greet her, Akamaru! …Akamaru?"

Akamaru hadn't wasted any time. As soon as the ninken had heard Kakashi's whistle and saw that Hinata was awake, he ran as fast as his little legs could take him and jumped on Hinata's lap. The pup them began to lick her cheek repeatedly, his tail wagging wildly as he did so.

It made Hinata giggle. "I'm happy to see you too, Akamaru," she said, smiling warmly at the dog while reattributing his show of affection by petting him. Akamaru generally didn't react like that to her, leaving Hinata to wonder if he had been worried about her or had sensed her mood somehow.

"Oi, Akamaru!" Kiba yelled. "You can't do that to her! She might still be hurt!"

The dog gave a bark of protest but obediently got out of the girl's arms and waited beside her for his master to come.

"It looks like she has recovered, however," Shino offered in Akamaru's defense.

"Yeah, sure," Kiba made a dismissive motion. "But what if she hadn't, huh?" He then glared at his companion. "Akamaru! What have I told you about running away from me to do stuff I haven't told you to do? This is why we were late today in the first place!"

The ninken whined guiltily and lowered his head, knowing he had been a bad boy. Luckily for him, though, Hinata was there to save his bacon.

"Oh, don't be mad at him, Kiba-kun," she said, patting the grass beside her. Akamaru followed her command and was rewarded with more petting.

"Between that and all the food, you're going to spoil him," Kiba grumbled. He would have continued to rant, but Kakashi cleared his throat at that moment and shot the genin a look—an unspoken demand for silence that nobody dared go against.

"Well, let's talk about the test," Kakashi began, motioning for the boys to sit by their dirty teammate. "I want to make sure we are all in the same page here before we truly begin. Shino, it seems like you and Hinata had come to certain conclusions before meeting up with Kiba," he said, shooting Hinata a pointed look before focusing on the Aburame. "Explain your logic."

"Gladly."

Hinata lowered her head as Shino detailed his thought process much like he had done with herself after stumbling upon her crying.

That wasn't what left her downcast.

It was anticipation.

Dread, for the moment where Kakashi would surely shoot Shino down and declare they all would be returning to the academy, and all the consequences that would follow.

Fear, because if Kiba and Shino realized whose fault it was…

"That's right. The bell test was primarily teamwork test all along, despite how I built it to look like a competition."

Hinata blinked once, twice, and then her hands flew to cover a gasp. It would have been just loud enough to draw attention if Kiba hadn't begun to speak at that exact instant.

"So uh, did we pass or not?"

Kakashi chuckled softly. "You three passed with flying colors, From the second you agreed to join forced to take me down, in fact."

"Yeah!" Kiba cheered loudly, his fist raised. "Team 8 rocks, right guys?"

Stunned, Hinata failed to process Kiba was talking to her.

'We… passed? But that means—!'

"Then you truly were trying to deceive us," Shino said, unknowingly completing Hinata's thoughts.

"I was."

Hinata found her throat locking up from hearing those words. Her finger clenched as anger began to bubble up inside her, but she couldn't let it out even if she had been able to speak. Not having the courage to glare at Kakashi straight on, the girl resigned herself to aim at his feet instead.

He noticed it anyway. "...You look upset."

"Naturally," Shino remarked in Hinata's stead after sparing her a glance. "Kurenai-sensei has always stressed to us that the bond between a jonin-sensei and their students needs to be rooted on trust."

"Trust, huh…?" Kakashi sighed, shaking his head. "I was deliberately vague and left hints for you three to work it out because you need to be prepared for situations where the enemy will try to fool you, in combat or otherwise. If you can't detect their lies and tricks, you will inevitably fall into a trap and die, possibly bringing down your whole squad with you. A ninja must be able to see through deception."

His voice by the end had an edge to it that made Hinata shiver.

She could understand his point. In fact, there were multiple times throughout the test where she could see her own mistakes leading to her death—or worse, that of her teammates—if it had been a real fight. Risking a look at her teammates, Hinata could imagine they were thinking along the same lines.

If she were to guess, Kiba was reflecting on how dangerous it had been to attack Kakashi by himself, whereas Shino surely couldn't have forgotten how shortsighted his plan to surround Kakashi in their last bout had been.

She shook her head. Despite all of those "bad endings" dulling how she felt about the test, Hinata still had a fundamental problem with how Kakashi handled it and couldn't stop herself from speaking, even though she still couldn't face him.

"If... if we truly passed the test when we decided to fight as a team, t-then why didn't you stop the test?"

Her voice came out as accusing, but she didn't regret it.

"I continued the test because of this team's circumstances," Kakashi answered. "This is the test I hand out to genin teams the Hokage assigns to me, and the decision to work together is enough for me to judge complete rookies. But as you three have a little experience together already…"

"Then your objective, as I theorized, was to test our combat and tracking abilities, individually and as a team."

"Exactly," Kakashi nodded to Shino. "Executing proper ambushes is an essential part of how your squad should be operating in battle, and I need to have a good handle on you three before we take it to the field tomorrow."

"And… and the b-bells?" Hinata asked in a strained voice, keeping her head even lower to hide her scowl.

"Oh, these?" Kakashi awkwardly tapped the objects strapped to his hip. "The bells were only there to give you guys an objective to work towards. A winning condition tied to a punishment for failure: the risk of being sent back to the academy."

"So wait," Kiba interrupted, "that part about losing our headbands was a hoax too!?"

"…Well, if I really didn't like what I saw, I would certainly bring it up to Hokage-sama." Kakashi then shrugged. "But given your social standings, the most that would have realistically happened is me refusing tomorrow's mission. As a jonin, I have that right."

"I presume then that our performance was acceptable despite none of us retrieving any bells?"

After Shino voiced his question, Hinata finally looked up to Kakashi. Despite all she had heard until that point, the fear of some sort of punishment that lingered inside her heart came back at full force.

Kakashi was staring right back at her, and she swallowed.

"You three… impressed me."

It was hard to say for sure thanks to Kakashi's mask and headband, but he seemed to be smiling at them.

"I wasn't expecting Kurenai to have done such a good job with her very first team. You three easily kept up with me changing locations every few minutes, and your battle tactics were sound for the most part. More importantly, you three adapted to how I exploited your weaknesses to turn some situations around in your favor, instead of insisting on one plan the whole way through. I am very pleased with what I've seen."

Finally, Hinata felt relief. Her shoulders sagged with a sigh, and she felt free from an invisible weight that had been burdening her throughout the morning. Even her annoyance at the way Kakashi handled the test went away at that moment.

"Ha! Our team is awesome! Right, Hinata?"

She turned to see Kiba beaming at her, his hand raised for a high-five which Hinata eagerly tried to answer…

"However."

Kakashi's voice froze her hand mid-air.

"For all the promise I saw, there is one big problem that almost outweighs everything. But before that, there is also one issue with the team as a whole that I feel it's worth addressing."

His gaze went over Kiba, then Hinata, and finally settled on Shino. "The battle plans were your doing, right?"

"That's correct," the Aburame nodded. "Though Kiba and Hinata helped me polish them."

"Right… well," Kakashi cleared his throat. "As I said, your tactics were sound, but in a broad way there was a problem with repetition. You never engaged me directly and instead just provided support."

Hinata tensed when Kakashi suddenly motioned at her. "You two also acted in the same ways, with Kiba trying to open me up so that Hinata could go in for a debilitating blow. And while that's a good way for your team to operate in an individual fight, and as a tracking squad it's unlikely you'll be in this situation again, if you ever end up needing to re-engage multiple times or just end up on a really drawn-out fight, you need to add more variety to your formations."

"You mean Shino should get up close sometimes and that Hinata can't always be the one going for the big hits?" Kiba dared to ask.

"That's one possibility," Kakashi said. "Repetition means you become predictable. I never had to worry about Shino attacking me up close, and I always knew that if you were attacking me, it was to set up Hinata somehow."

"Very well then," Shino once again nodded. "I believe we can try other approaches if such a battle happens again."

Kiba began to chuckle. "I dunno about you guys, but I'd very much enjoy being the guy dealing the finishing blows." He then placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Can't let you have the spotlight every time, right?"

He began to laugh again, and she awkwardly did the same. She wondered if Kiba was aware he was actually volunteering to kill people in her stead. Yes or no, both answers had something unpleasant to them.

"That being said," Kakashi cleared his throat. "Kiba, Shino… would you two mind going ahead? I want to have a little one-on-one with your teammate here."

Cold anxiety assaulted her senses again like a bucket of freezing water, almost as intensely as when she had been surprised by her father's presence in the dojo earlier that day.

She realized right there and then that Kakashi had been referring to her when he talked about a "big problem," exactly as she had feared.

Her hand meekly fell to the ground, as did her gaze, which made her miss the dirty look Kiba sent to Kakashi. "Just Hinata? What's all the secrecy for?"

Shino placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Kiba, we should do as we were told. I'm confident there's a good reason for it, much like there were good reasons for his cryptic methodology during the test."

"Yes, there is a good reason," Kakashi said.

"…Alright then," Kiba grumbled, making no effort to his displeasure. "Catch you later, okay Hinata?"

Sensing the worry Kiba felt, Hinata did her best to give him a comforting smile as she nodded to him. "I-I'll be alright, Kiba-kun."

She was pleased to see him reflecting her expression. "I'll go on ahead then—oh, and I'll take your bag with me too!"

"Thank you."

Hinata then giggled when Kiba made a show out of sniffing the bag and patting his belly while wearing a silly grin, before Shino hurried him and Akamaru along.

She, perhaps cowardly, followed them with her eyes until they disappeared from her sight just so she wouldn't have to face Kakashi until she absolutely had to.

Something was building up on the pit of her stomach.

Luckily for her, it wasn't until the other members of Team 8 were well out of earshot that Kakashi finally addressed her.

"Let's see if you truly paid attention to what I said," he began, making Hinata look at him. "What was the point of the bell test?"

She opened her mouth but hesitated. The question seemed simple enough, but nothing with Kakashi so far had been simple. "Uh…to... see if we could work together?"

"Exactly. But would you say that you were working together with your teammates during the test? Consider the fight as part of the test for the time being."

Unlike before, Hinata took her time before answering. She could feel there was something Kakashi wanted her to figure out by herself, but she was basically drawing a blank. All that came to mind was the obvious answer, and before long she chose to just risk being wrong rather than letting the uncomfortable silence build up and fry her nerves.

"I… think I did?" She lowered her head a bit. "I-I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you are trying to say."

"What I'm trying to say is this:"

He crouched to her level, and his sharp stare would have made Hinata recoil by sheer instinct if her head wasn't still pressed against the tree trunk.

"You went along with Shino's idea to get the bells as a team, but unlike Kiba, you doubted his logic and his plan. And because of your doubts, you acted on your own to get a different result than what your teammates were expecting. In other words, you didn't trust them. Do you really think this is what "teamwork" means?"

As much as Hinata wanted to deny it, her throat locked up tight and she only managed a strangled noise. Then, once again, she allowed her head to hang low, simmering on her own shame. Not the kind that left her cheeks burning, but the kind that made the air in her lungs feel like lead, weighing her down.

Out of her sight, Kakashi shook his head as he got up. "I can see that you care a lot about your team, but you can't let your fears blind you to your own role. If you don't play your part, the consequences can be the very worst, despite whatever good intentions you might have"

Those words couldn't possibly be more accurate, Hinata realized. She couldn't even remember when her doubts over Kakashi's intentions got strong enough that she wasn't even considering that Shino could be right anymore. Each time they had allowed Kakashi to get away with the bells, her anxiety piled up more and more… and that was the result.

She betrayed her own team.

'Kiba-kun and Shino-kun lost focus because of what I did… if it had been a real fight then...'

They would have died. She would have practically killed them, and herself.

Kakashi began to step away from her, turning towards the kunai-shaped monument that wasn't too far from where they were. "I have been handing out this test to potential genin teams for years now."

"…Huh?"

"The test is meant to drive you away from the goal. It encourages you to compete for the bells, to act selfishly, and even to warp the concept of teamwork by having you partner with someone to make the third member fail. Until your classmates were assigned to me a month ago, I failed every single team that the Hokage ever gave to me."

Hinata blinked, yet again unsure of what Kakashi's point was.

"You were the first person in all these years that instead fully took the test the other way, and tried to sacrifice yourself for the team instead," he continued. "Some might consider that a noble act, but this was just a training exercise. In the field, where things truly have consequences… it's the people that you'd leave behind that…"

Kakashi trailed off into silence, leaving Hinata to frown at how she was unable to decipher his words. All she could do was wonder if the sadness she felt from Kakashi's tone at the end was real or just her imagination.

The man then sighed and shook his head, and she felt that it was at himself. 'Maybe he wants to continue but… doesn't know how.'

Even though she felt his problem was different than hers, Hinata could relate to that.

"I have some homework for you." Kakashi turned back to her. "I want you to try actually trusting in your teammates. If you don't agree with your team then you need to speak out, even if you feel scared about upsetting them. They will hear you out."

Hinata recoiled a bit. Was she that easy to read?

"And regardless of that, don't try to execute plans that go against the ones that your team decided. Ever. If your teammates are counting on you to do one job and you do another, you put the whole operation in jeopardy. Do you understand?"

Gulping, she mumbled something that Kakashi decided to take as an affirmative.

"Good," he said. "Finally, try to avoid that move that you used to counter the Headhunter. You don't have the chakra capacity to use that, evidently. And... what was that anyways?" he frowned. "I've worked with many Hyuuga over the years but I never saw anything similar to what you did."

"Oh, that? Y-You see…"

Hinata then began to explain that all Hyuuga could naturally expel chakra from any of the 361 tenketsu of their body, but only in extremely small doses. With training, members of the Hyuuga clan could condition the chakra coils of their hands and palms to release more chakra, which was key to the Gentle Fist's techniques.

However, they could also brute force the process by concentrating lots of chakra and releasing it all at once, which allowed a Hyuuga to expel significant amounts of chakra from any tenketsu. The problem with that method is that it requires a lot of focus in order to work, which makes it impractical for fast-paced taijutsu combat.

The method was deemed extremely situational among the Hyuuga, despite it being taught to all of the clan's fighters early in their Gentle Fist training. The Hyuuga are so powerful at close quarters that hardly ever there's a chance for the technique to be useful, but fortunately for Hinata, Kakashi's jutsu was slow enough that she had the chance to gather enough chakra and it was not something her normal style could be used against.

His curiosity sated, Kakashi then began to walk away. "Well, I suppose we are done here, so let's go. We do have a mission waiting for us after all."

Sighing softly to herself, Hinata began to adjust her position on the grass so she could get up and follow Kakashi.

'That wasn't as bad as I tho—'

Pain flooded her body and Hinata screamed.

Loudly.

"What happened?!" Kakashi asked, doubling back immediately. He saw Hinata grimacing while she cradled her right foot.

"I… I don't know! I-I was just trying to get up! Then, then my foot…"

"Take off your sandals."

Hinata tried to do as ordered, but in the process she ended up putting some weight on her other foot and gasped as another spike of pain went up her spine.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "The other one as well?"

"I… I think so," the girl replied through ragged breaths. The pain had been weaker, but she hadn't put as much of her weight into it this time.

"Here, let me help," he said, crouching to her level. "My hands don't work, but I can at least do this."

Putting his arms under Hinata's shins, he lifted her legs. This kept her feet suspended and allowed Hinata to shift to a position where she could get rid of her leather sandals, which she did though not before thanking him.

"…Interesting," Kakashi muttered as he examined her feet.

The skin was reddened, in particular at random spots that Hinata guessed to be connected to her tenketsu, and the damage went up to her leg as well. The only reason nobody hadn't noticed that before was because the little exposed skin she had was covered in dirt. "Looks like your little stunt hurt more than just my hands."

"I-I'm sorry, I—!"

"Hey," he cut her off. "Calm down. I did tell you to go after me with intent to kill, so everything you did was valid. More importantly, do you think you can stand?"

Tentatively, Hinata moved one leg and lightly touched the grass with her foot. There was no pain, but she felt some irritation. Putting more weight quickly changed the situation, however.

"I… don't think I can," she admitted. Though the sensation was weaker, Hinata could tell the more she pushed herself the more it would hurt. The first time felt like trying to walk into a pool of pure lava filled with sharp spikes, and she wasn't sure she could force herself to walk more than a couple steps if it began to hurt that badly again.

"Then I'll take you to the academy's infirmary."

Having said that, Kakashi crawled to her side and bent low, leaving the girl to stare at him in complete confusion until he explained himself.

"I'd carry you if I could, but my hands don't work, and your feet don't work. It's safer and easier for you to just climb on. And I was going to need someone to fix my hands anyways, so this kills two birds with one stone."

"Ah… o-okay then."

A couple of awkward moments later, Kakashi rose to his full height, with Hinata on his back and with her both arms around his neck. In her hands were the sandals she had been wearing until just then.

"Get ready, I'll be going fast."

That was the only warning Hinata got before she was suddenly blazing through the air, yelping as she reached speeds far, far higher than she had ever managed to achieve with her own chakra jumps.

On a normal day, she'd be awestruck at the difference in skill between her—that of a novice genin—and an accomplished veteran like Kakashi. But as it was, her own situation dominated her thoughts.

She looked down at her wounded feet dangling in the air.

'This… this is not just chakra exhaustion, is it?'

Her head began to pound more violently in response to her worries, and Hinata found herself hoping to get some medicine for that as well if she could.

---

"Are you serious, Sakura-chan?! Everything was just a genjutsu?!"

Naruto just couldn't wrap his head around it. All the other genjutsu he had been caught in that morning felt nothing like this. Kurenai's death, the pressure Sasuke's brother exerted on them with killing intent alone, the power he displayed as he easily fended off Sasuke and him both… everything had felt real.

Too real. Especially…

"Yeah, Naruto," Sakura answered, her voice still shaky. "It was nothing more—w-w-what the hell are you doing?!"

"There's no stab wound," Naruto constated, lifting his shirt to inspect his abdomen only to find nothing but bare, healthy skin. "It's gone!"

Some part of him accepted the truth right then and there, but another still had doubts. The pain of being stabbed, the cool edge of Itachi's blade deep inside his stomach, the blood spilling out, the cold water of the lake enveloping him and invading his lungs, and even Itachi's breathing when the man said to his face said he had no interest in him...

He had no idea illusions could be that close to reality. The level of detail was simply unbelievable.

"D-Don't do that in front of a girl, idiot…"

Naruto looked up at Sakura. Her scolding had nowhere near the bite it usually had, and he saw her looking at his exposed belly with an unbelieving expression. She then placed a hand over her hest and sighed, relieved, making Naruto realize she had actually been worried about him.

It was odd, knowing the Sakura cared for him to a degree. But there were odder things he had to focus on.

"I don't get it," he murmured. "If it was really an illusion, why didn't it fall apart when he stabbed me? Or when he kicked me into the lake?" he asked Sakura, betting that she'd know the answer since she was much smarter than him.

From his understanding of Kurenai's lesson, pain and cold were two things could've dispelled the genjutsu, and yet it had continued despite him clearly feeling these sensations. Surely he had gotten something wrong in that case, then?

To his surprise, the one that answered his question was not Sakura.

"It seems I have been remiss in my teachings."

Naruto then looked around. Sasuke was still nearby, looking… dazed, and yet at the same time sharply aware of everything around him. He followed the Uchiha's gaze to a nearby tree just in time to catch someone leaping from one of the branches high above.

Kurenai landed in front of the trio, a trail of leaves gently following her descent. Naruto couldn't help his smile when he saw the woman.

"Kurenai-sensei! You're alive!"

He turned to his teammates, expecting a similar outburst from at least Sakura… and his expression fell completely once he recognized the fury gleaming in her green eyes.

"The lake, the tanto and the sensations they caused were part of the illusion," Kurenai explained, drawing Naruto's attention back to her. "You would need to use your own body to harm yourself if you wanted to break the genjutsu using that method."

Naruto saw that Kurenai was staring at Sakura as she spoke, and had no doubt that the woman also sensed the girl's ire.

That knowledge seemed to be enough to set her off.

"Are you really going to stand there, talking about genjutsu and acting like nothing happened?! What the hell were you thinking?!"

He winced. Sakura had been right beside him and her shrieking actually hurt. Daring to look at her, Naruto saw that Sakura's entire body shaking with anger, one that was so strong that it caused tears to poll in her eyes and fall freely into reddened cheeks.

Sakura began to scream at Kurenai, making Naruto's survival instinct kick in. He quickly put more distance between them just in case Sakura felt like changing targets; he had never seen her so angry and didn't know what to expect, but putting Sasuke between them seemed like the safest option short of a full-blown tactical retreat.

He almost ran over the Uchiha in the middle of his escape, and to his surprise, the black-haired boy barely reacted to him.

'…Huh?'

Sasuke was just standing there, a neutral, tired expression on his face as he watched Sakura yelling at Kurenai. It was similar to his usual arrogant nonchalance, but the small differences in his features made the expression feel so out of place that Naruto started to feel worried.

If Naruto didn't know better, he'd say Sasuke was still in a genjutsu.

"Uh, hey," he tried waving at his teammate. "You okay there, Sasuke? You look kinda, I dunno… off?"

The Uchiha didn't answer for a few seconds, his face tightening, perhaps in a struggle to find the right words.

"I feel… light. And numb," he eventually said, gaze still locked on the girls. "Don't worry about me. I think I'm fine."

Naruto raised his eyebrows at that quiet admission. 'He says that, but he doesn't look fine. I better keep an eye on him,' he decided as he turned back to watch the unfolding conflict but angling himself to have Sasuke in sight at all times.

While Sakura kept screaming about how Kurenai had no right to mess with a memory as traumatic as Itachi Uchiha was for Sasuke and for putting everyone through an illusion as cruel as that one was, among other things, the jonin in question merely stood there, listening in silence with a tight expression and her head slightly lowered. To Naruto, it was almost like watching an adult scolding a child, but weirdly in reverse.

The more he listened to Sakura, the more he found himself agreeing with her. The genjutsu wasn't that much of a personal problem for him: he didn't have a past with Itachi like Sasuke, and he definitely hadn't watched his own death like both of his teammates had.

But Naruto could understand how those factors would greatly upset them, even if he, himself, wasn't upset. 'This was really, really messed up,' he thought.

However, was that the end of it?He remembered his experience with a certain water bottle earlier. Though Kurenai seemed mean and insensitive at the time, she had her reasons and she even ended up explaining them. Perhaps she had a purpose once again?

Regardless, it was clear to Naruto that the woman herself agreed that she took things too far. She'd never just let Sakura yell at her so freely unless she agreed with that on some level.

Naruto then refocused on his other teammate. He imagined that Sasuke would have felt just as angry as Sakura—no, much more than her—yet his rival remained still as a statue, being nothing more than a passive party in all of this.

He just couldn't understand how Sasuke wasn't raging uncontrollably at what Kurenai had done. Sasuke only looked like a calm guy—he was actually very easy to provoke, as Naruto knew from experience.

Sasuke might have understood something they didn't if he wasn't blowing up like Sakura, but before Naruto could wonder what, said girl cut his thoughts short when her volume went up once again in response to something Kurenai had said and he had missed.

"You used an A-rank genjutsu on us?! Are you out of your mind?! We are recently-promoted genin! Expecting mere novices like us to handle that kind of genjutsu is insane!"

"And I didn't," Kurenai replied, with a slight frown in her features. "The Demonic Illusion: World of Nightmares is a complex, detailed technique. I was going to break it myself, but you somehow noticed and dispelled it before I could."

Naruto saw the exact moment where it sunk in for Sakura; shock overcame her rage as she seemed to realize that, yes, she had actually triumphed over an A-rank genjutsu.

Simpler genjutsu like those that Kurenai had taught to Sasuke and Sakura only lightly messed with the chakra flow of a single area, usually just the eyes or the ears, but the more complex illusions affected the entire body. Purging all of that foreign chakra in one go was much harder despite how simple chakra pulses were in theory, yet in practice, the hard part still was noticing the genjutsu to being with.

Normally Naruto would comment on it, but 'Way to go, Sakura-chan! You're awesome!' was something he kept to himself that time lest he somehow drew her ire again. It was a pity, because Naruto felt it was something worth of praise… and he wanted to follow that up by asking how she noticed it, too.

To his surprise, he wasn't the only curious one, and Kurenai dared to ask that exact question.

Not to his surprise, it made the girl scowl.

"In that genjutsu, you died from a kunai that went through your skull. But that's impossible," Sakura said, tapping the center of her own forehead and then crossing her arms.

Naruto tilted his head, confused, until he saw Kurenai's fingers gently mirroring Sakura's. But where his teammate had touch skin, Kurenai touched steel and his eyes went wide.

'Her headband's forehead protector… of course!'

Kurenai wore hers in the traditional fashion, so Itachi's killing shot would have never pierced the metal plating, he now realized.

He didn't have time to linger on that thought, however.

"That genjutsu, World of Nightmares. What was it about?"

Naruto's gaze darted between Kurenai and Sasuke, who had been the one to ask that question. The Uchiha still seemed off somehow—his expression, his posture, his voice. It seemed to cause Kurenai to hesitate for a second.

"…The Demonic Illusion: World of Nightmares is a genjutsu that takes the victim's greatest fear victim and makes it a reality. But unlike the Hell Viewing Technique that Kakashi used on you once," Kurenai pointed at Sakura, "this one lets the caster spread out the illusion to people other than the initial target, and allows the user to control what happens to a degree."

'So we were in Sasuke's nightmare more or less,' Naruto thought.

"You're mistaken," Sasuke said with a familiar frown, though his voice still lacked the edge his retorts usually had. "I am not scared of Itachi."

Kurenai looked away. "I… agree."

That threw Naruto for a loop. "Wait, what? If it's not this... Itachi, then what was that genjutsu all about? I don't get this."

If Itachi wasn't Sasuke's greatest fear, the illusion made no sense whatsoever to Naruto. Although this was obvious in hindsight—Sasuke would have never thrown himself at Itachi like that if he was truly scared.

Glancing towards his teammates, he could see that both of them were just as confused as he was.

"You said you could control the genjutsu to a degree," Sakura spoke up. "Were you manipulating it?"

Kurenai hesitated. "…Itachi would have been much faster and brutal had I let the illusion flow freely. He would also have targeted Sasuke last. In fact," her red eyes met Naruto's, "he only finished you because you engaged him while Sasuke had been down."

Naruto blinked once. Twice.

He turned to his teammates, only to see Sasuke with his gaze on the ground and Sakura looking at the boy, mouth parted in surprise. She then traded a glance with him, and Naruto was sure his expression mirrored hers, and wondered if she was thinking the same thing.

If they were meant to die before Sasuke… could it be that their deaths were his greatest fear or at least part of it?

…Naruto shook his head, scowling at himself. Sasuke had shown time and time again that they just annoyed him endlessly. There's no way that the aloof Uchiha cared enough that this is what his greatest fear was, or even part of it.

Snorting, Naruto decided that he had severely misinterpreted something along the way. The other option didn't make any sense.

…Or did it?

His thoughts dissipated when Kurenai cleared her throat.

"I understand that you three are confused and upset about what happened in these last few minutes. And… rightfully so. But I'd like to explain my reasons for doing something so drastic."

She then motioned for the genin to sit down on the grass, once again.

Naruto shrugged and did so immediately, with Sasuke doing the same not too soon afterwards. Sakura still glared defiantly at Kurenai for a few moments before sighing and begrudgingly mirroring her teammates.

Instead of joining the genin like she had done the last time she had them sit down, Kurenai stood tall.

And then she bowed.

"I want to start with an apology. I'm not asking for forgiveness, but nonetheless, I understand I dealt with traumatic memories for you, Sasuke, and put all three of you through a very stressful situation."

Kurenai allowed the apology to hang in the air… and Naruto wasn't sure it did much. He barely caught Sakura rolling her eyes, still looking cross. Sasuke remained unreadable.

If that bothered Kurenai, he couldn't tell.

"I hope you three will at least try to have an open mind while I explain why I did this, because I have some very important points to make," she said, and finally sat alongside them.

"Though we only have been together for a few hours, thanks to the reports I had on each of you it was still enough time for me to notice a few problems in you three, both as individual ninja and as a team. Some of them affected you during this last genjutsu, and others not so much, but many of those are grave issues that could lead directly or indirectly to your deaths on the field. Since we will be taking a mission outside of the village tomorrow, I felt it was crucial that we try to deal with those problems while we are still in a safe place. Or start to, at least."

"Kakashi-sensei said we are taking only a C-rank," Sakura interrupted, defiantly. "And we will have another team with us on top of that. Was this really necessary?"

The girl's confrontational tone left Naruto tense and uneasy as he scratched his head. In the right or not, there was only so much of her attitude that an older superior would be willing to take.

Yet Kurenai was patient enough and replied in a firm, even tone. "Right now you're right. But what guarantee do you have that we won't run into ninjas or any other problem that would flip the mission on its head? What if the mission becomes much more dangerous than we predicted?"

"What? But that's not—"

"It's completely possible," Kurenai cut Sakura off with an eyebrow raised. "Here's my first point: One can never be too prepared for a mission. You three need to learn that once you are outside Konoha, anything can happen. And I truly mean anything. Even an encounter with an S-ranked rogue ninja is not out of question."

"You mean like Sasuke's brother?" Naruto asked. "Is that why you did all of this?"

"That is only one reason. Even if things do go as planned, you three could still get hurt or even killed because of these problems I'm about to explain. Kakashi believes that you three will overcome these issues naturally if given enough time, but I'm not taking any chances since my team will be involved as well and they might end up depending on you three."

The woman's eyes then focused on Sasuke. "I believe I owe you an explanation the most, so I will start with you. My first problem with you, while the least likely to actually show up in tomorrow's mission, is also the most likely to get you killed."

Sasuke's expression tightened. "…You mean Itachi."

Kurenai nodded. "Your hatred for him is palpable. And I'm not saying you are wrong for feeling that way, but I am sure that eventually you will end up facing your brother on the battlefield. When that time comes, you cannot let your emotions consume you. Rushing blindly at an opponent of your brother's level is simply suicide."

Sasuke lowered his head, a grimace plastered over his face. Naruto could see his closed fist trembling.

"I have no doubt he will use this against you," Kurenai continued, softening her tone. "Even if you become stronger, faster and more skilled than him, you will die if he wins the mental game. Your anger may drive you now, but it just might kill you in the end."

Her eyes then went over Sakura and Naruto. "This goes for all of you, for any fight. If the enemy gets in your head, you become predictable and that's the most critical mistake a ninja can make in battle. And even out of it."

Naruto frowned at that. He remembered the way his former teacher Mizuki had so easily manipulated and almost killed him, and it still stung. 'If it hadn't been for Iruka-sensei…'

"But… how!?"

His thought died when Sasuke spoke.

"When I looked at him during that illusion… it's like my mind just turned off," the Uchiha confessed, his words lethargic and charged with frustration. "Just thinking about him or what he did, it makes my blood boil. So how am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't have a concrete answer for you, Sasuke," Kurenai admitted. "What you experienced was far too, let's say, unique, for anyone to give you a solution just like that. But in my life, I have gone through an experience that is similar to yours in certain aspects."

Sasuke seemed startled at that. "You have?"

"…Yes. I, too, lost my family." The woman lowered her head a bit, sadness overtaking her features. "My mother died from childbirth complications when I was born, and neither of my parents had any family here in Konoha, so it was just me and my father for a long time. That… changed, when the Kyuubi attacked this village over a decade ago."

Naruto felt his heart stopping when he heard that forbidden word. Kurenai's eyes landed on him, and her expression… was solemn. He wasn't good at deciphering what others were feeling, but he had an easier times with emotions like fear and anger after being on the brunt of them for his entire life.

Yet he saw none of that in Kurenai. 'She… doesn't blame me,' he realized.

And at that moment, he felt his lingering doubts about her character washing away. She was someone he was now certain he could trust.

Her eyes then left his, focusing on Sasuke instead. "My loss wasn't as big as yours, nor did I have to deal with a betrayal like you had… but just the same, I still felt my entire world crashing around me. I fell into a deep depression afterward, and my coping methods were… very unhealthy."

'Unhealthy?' Naruto frowned. 'Wait, didn't she say something about sake earlier…?'

"But in the end," Kurenai continued, "what truly helped me rebuild myself was my team. The bonds between teammates can grow to be as strong as family, if not stronger."

Those words made the three genin trade glances. Naruto didn't need to read minds to know both of his teammates doubted what Kurenai just said—neither did he, in fact.

...But he couldn't deny how appealing the thought was, even if he didn't know how exactly it would work out.

"And Sasuke," the woman said, "my teammates also helped me find more things to do with my life. Judging from your performance at the academy, you seem to put a lot of focus on your training. And that's excellent, don't get me wrong! But… that training boils down to you wanting to avenge your family, does it not?"

"…Yes," Sasuke confirmed. "Every time I train, it's with that goal in mind."

"As I thought. My point is, while that training helps your chances of survival now, it also feeds your negative feelings. I think it would do well for your mental health if you sought out other activities, some sort of hobby unrelated to our profession. It might seem like a waste of time, but cooling down and resting the mind is very important in the long run."

Naruto found himself nodding in agreement at the end. Part of why he had become such a notorious prankster was because he couldn't stand being at home by himself. Training was another option and it was something he did often, but… his results were less than stellar, which usually made his mood plummet.

Pulling pranks became an outlet for those emotions. He knew he'd have gone crazy if he didn't have that.

He was surprised that Sasuke, too, nodded after thinking on it for a bit. "I'll… consider it."

"Good." Kurenai then breathed out a long, weary sigh. It was the kind that reminded him of Iruka when he was about to go into one of his more serious lectures. "But on the topic of team, or more specifically team dynamics… that, is where my biggest fears with you three lie."

"Kakashi-sensei is always complaining about how we don't get along very well," Naruto spoke without realizing.

"And for good reason. Sasuke, let's begin with you again. Tell me, you think Sakura and Naruto are annoying and are only holding you back since they are weaker than you, isn't that right?"

"Of course," he replied instantly, earning him a scowl from Naruto. Sakura only looked away at that.

"Yet you realize that if you had cooperated with Naruto you would have had better chances during the fight earlier, don't you? Much like with Kakashi's bell test?"

Though he seemed reluctant, the Uchiha nodded.

"Sasuke, even if you are stronger than them right now, that will not always be the case. You are ahead of them, yes, but that also means Naruto and Sakura have much more room to grow. And ideally you three will grow to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, so you will be depending on them. And even if justified at times, you shouldn't be treating them so rudely, with such coldness. You hurt both of them just now when you said "of course", and having a rift between people that are supposed to work together is only going to make life harder for everyone. You're feeding the conflict. But to your credit, you aren't the one that started it," Kurenai said, her red eyes darting to the other two.

Naruto gulped. She had not looked pleased.

"Before we get to that," she refocused on Sasuke, "I will say that if you really think that way, instead of criticizing them you could try to help them. They can learn a lot from a more skilled peer, and it's in your best interest that they are as strong as possibl. Not to mention you, too, can end up learning things from them especially once they catch up."

"Isn't that Kakashi's job?" the Uchiha retorted with a frown.

"Well, yes. But nothing stops you three from trying to improve as a unit beyond what your sensei tells you to do. This can help you three bond, too," she explained with a friendly smile.

Yet Sasuke looked unconvinced. Naruto agreed with that—he couldn't see "Sasuke-sensei" working out very well for anyone involved, and Sakura was similarly doubtful.

Kurenai sighed at those reactions. "One last thing before we move on, about your brother. I'm sure that you are painfully aware of this, but the gap between you two is immense. He was an ANBU captain before defecting, but you are just a genin. To be honest, considering how talented he was, I doubt that anyone in the village other than the Hokage could be a match for him right now."

Naruto's eyes widened at that. "Is... is he really that powerful? Sasuke's brother, I mean?"

To match a Hokage… the blond knew that Hiruzen was Konoha's strongest, and he also had an idea of how destructive the old man could be, despite his looks. After all, he needed to know just how awesome his predecessors were, so he had actually paid attention when tales of their exploits were topics during the academy. While Naruto had noticed that Itachi was strong during their "fight", he had thought that it was just because of the illusion.

Now Kurenai was telling him that the man was just as strong as the Hokage? Naruto had his doubts.

"My brother was already an ANBU captain at our age, and he's seventeen years old now. He wasn't just a prodigy or the best of his class... he was the most promising ninja of his entire generation. A pure genius," Sasuke explained, refusing to look at anyone.

At that moment, Naruto realized Sasuke felt shame. He felt inferior, trapped in his brother's shadow… and Naruto found himself relating to that, to his surprise. He and Sasuke had more in common than he imagined.

"Even if you get stronger than him," Kurenai began talking, "he will always have an entire decade of experience over you, won't he? But there is a way to even the odds in your favor… isn't there?" she asked, looking at them expectantly as if they already had the answer.

Naruto was lost. But it didn't surprise him that Sakura had the answer right away, even though she showed doubt when she spoke up.

"You mean… me and Naruto, right? Our team?"

"Exactly!" Kurenai beamed, clapping her hand in front of her chest. "Teamwork can be a decisive factor in any battle."

"Are you really telling me to bring those two with me when I fight my brother?" Sasuke asked, annoyed and incredulous.

"I can understand your skepticism," the woman said, "but I don't think you see the potential of your teammates. Naruto has the makings of an extremely destructive ninjutsu user, and while Sakura hasn't chosen any path to focus on yet, for her age and experience her control is amazing. Right now none of you have any chance against your brother and you won't for a long time, but should you three work hard you'd be more than capable of fighting someone like Itachi in the future, years from now, as a team."

'…Whoa. If only Kakashi-sensei looked half as hopeful in us as she does,' Naruto thought, amazed.

Then he found Kurenai glaring at him again, and he remembered things were nowhere as good as he had believed.

"Now. Naruto and Sakura," she began, her voice carrying a threatening edge. "While both of you have potential, but I see that you become very easily distracted at the thought of finding someone to date."

Neither of them managed to hold their heads high when faced with her angry red glare, and thus neither saw her shaking her head, though they heard her sigh.

"I don't believe loveis impossible to come across at such a young age, but you two need to set your priorities straight! If you still want to be ninja then keeping your team together has to be one of your highest priorities, and you both have been failing pretty badly at that on a daily basis. From what I read, you two have acted like this since before graduation. That behavior was passable then, but now you're genin! This isn't acceptable anymore!"

…Silence.

Naruto felt weird hearing those words.

He knew no other way of getting what he wanted outside of acting that way. It was only when he gave up on crying and started to be loud and demanding that the villagers stopped ignoring him, even if only to scream at him. And yet, his usual antics were not enough to get any of the females of the academy to even look at him. They were always—always—just focused on Sasuke.

His classmate Shikamaru Nara frequently commented that dealing with that mob of fangirls would be very troublesome, but Naruto would have killed to get that kind of attention.

So he tried to make himself known to the girls. Maybe the people would look at him instead of Sasuke if he won the acknowledgment of the prettiest of Sasuke's fangirls? That's what Naruto had thought at the time, and so, he set his sights on the beautiful Sakura Haruno.

She never seemed to want anything with him, no matter what he tried. But giving up never did anything for Naruto, so he continued trying, and trying, and trying… but Sakura always threw him aside to focus on Sasuke.

Always Sasuke.

And then there was Kurenai, telling him that what he was doing was unacceptable. But where had he gone wrong? What was the right way…?

Glancing at Sakura, he wondered if she was just as lost as him.

"What you two are doing," Kurenai continued, "is taking the focus away from your training and missions. And even if it wasn't, you'll never earn someone's affections by insisting over and over again when they clearly don't want anything! At least try starting by earning their friendship… or else you'll just endlessly annoy the other person, and it results in this," she motioned at the three. "You three are always in conflict and getting into silly arguments, and it's never going to end unless you two stop being so insistent."

Kurenai then pointed at Sakura. "Naruto doesn't know better because of his upbringing, but you Sakura should have no excuse, especially when you know how it's like at the other end."

While Sakura lowered her head, ashamed, Naruto was left confused. 'Hey, what does she mean by doesn't know better?' he wondered, unsure if he should be offended, yet Kurenai moved on before he could decide.

"Start over trying to be a friend to the person you like, and maybe a few years from now when you're all older and surer of what you want then try for something more. But right now? Focus on having a good relationship with each other, please. Your lives will depend on this."

Naruto frowned. That didn't give him much to work with. 'Is she trying to say I should leave Sakura-chan alone and let her talk to me when she wants?'

He wasn't sure, but that was the only idea that came to mind. If she was the one setting the pace to their dynamic, then maybe…

"With that being said, let's focus on Sakura. Let me ask you something," Kurenai pointed at the girl, "do you understand what your role in Team 7 is?"

"…Huh?" Sakura tilted her head. "I have a role? I thought I was here just because of my academy scores."

"That's only part of it," Kurenai answered. "Many times we have two top students in a team with the lowest-scoring one, yes, but that's not a rule and not the only thing the Hokage and your former teachers considered. Your abilities and how they connect to each other are the biggest factor… for example, chances are that my team would be the same no matter how well they scored in the academy. Their skills just have too much synergy."

While Sakura nodded in understanding, Naruto was left to wonder which of his ex-classmates were on Kurenai's genin team. He could not remember them at all… he had been too bummed out by Sasuke ruining his team to pay attention to who had been listed after Team 7.

"So you see," Kurenai proceeded, "Sasuke and Naruto have potential to be very flexible and very destructive ninjutsu users, and between the Naruto's clones and Sasuke's Sharingan surfacing eventually, they can be just as strong at close range. As far as an assault squad like yours goes, you really don't need more power than that. But we still have you."

Sasuke was who came up with the answer. "You are trying to say Sakura would be on a support role."

"Exactly! Very good," she smiled at Sasuke before turning to Sakura again. "Right now you only have the basics, so in theory you could choose any path as a ninja. But your low reserves and excellent control make you more suited for a support. That could be with genjutsu like myself, defensive-oriented ninjutsu, or even fuuinjutsu if you manage to find a teacher. In battle, you would excel at creating openings and covering for the boys so they can do their jobs. Though if you want you can try a more offensive role, at the frontlines. In the end, the choice is yours."

"I… I see. But how is that a problem?" Sakura asked with a confused frown. "Kakashi-sensei hasn't tried to teach me anything specific so far."

"Kakashi is focusing on polishing the basics with you three, and this project aside, I agree with him. This will only be a problem if you stagnate, so try thinking on what kind of kunoichi you want to be and discuss this with Kakashi as often as you can," Kurenai suggested. "Still, what I mean to say is this: Your role, is to support your teammates. Both on the field and out of it."

Kurenai let her words hang in the air, but this time no one offered an answer to the unspoken question she was asking: what supporting meant out of battle. That wasn't unexpected in Naruto's opinion: they literally did nothing with each other when out of duty so what could they know?

Which left Kurenai with no choice but to take the initiative.

"…Just now I spoke of how I don't have any family around, and how my team was what helped me since. Our profession isn't nice to us… you'll do and see things you never wanted to, that will keep you awake at night and even haunt you in nightmares. We need support from other people to help us keep going. Sakura, you have a family and you've led a normal life, but the same can't be said about Sasuke and Naruto."

'What?! But I'm normal!' Naruto thought, offended… but only for a second. Nothing about him was normal, he realized with dismay. 'Normal people have two parents, and zero foxes sealed in their gut. Damn.'

Shaking his heads, he tried to look at his teammates to see how they were handling that last part. Sakura seemed stunned, but to his annoyance, he once again had no luck figuring out Sasuke.

"I'm not sure you were chosen with this purpose in mind," Kurenai spoke once again, "but this is how things will inevitably go down, unless you never bond with them, in which case they will just have to carry that weight alone like they still do if they don't forge strong bonds elsewhere. Sasuke already has a big burden thanks to his brother, like you saw in the illusion, but Naruto has demons of his own too, and just as big."

Naruto scowled at Kurenai. 'Not cool.'

He knew it was just an expression, but intentional or not that doubled as a hint about his secret. He also knew neither Sakura nor Sasuke would figure things out just from that but… it didn't matter. He didn't want them to know period, especially if Kurenai's efforts bore fruit and they actually became real friends eventually. He already had to deal with an entire village shunning him for that, he didn't need his team doing it as well.

The woman gave him an apologetic look, and he accepted it after seeing that, yes, his team was none the wiser.

Even though Sasuke seemed intrigued by something…

But then Kurenai cleared her throat. "In closing, Sakura, that was more of a warning than anything. If one of you crumbles then the entire team crumbles, keep that in mind. Leaving a friend to suffer alone can have… consequences," she said, expression strained.

Naruto didn't like the haunted look in her eyes.

"I… I-I'll try," Sakura choked out, her voice trembling. Seeing her shaken all of a sudden, Naruto felt like there was something important that he wasn't able to see.

'Consequences… huh? That doesn't sound good, yeah, but…'

"And there's one last topic I want to cover."

Yet, once again, Kurenai didn't give him room to figure things out.

"This is something that will apply to all of you at different points in life, and in different ways. Some of you will be affected more than others, too," she said, eyes landing on Naruto just long enough for him to catch on that she was talking about him.

"People grow at different paces. This is especially evident when we compare a group that also isn't starting on an even ground. It's easy to feel inferior and envious when you look at others and see how far ahead of you they are, but you can't get stuck in that mentality."

It wasn't even subtle anymore that she was talking to him, but Naruto didn't care at that point either. Though perhaps she was including Sakura as well, he considered.

"Your teammates being stronger than you also means that they can help you catch-up, so you shouldn't feel bad about lagging behind. This is one of the points of having the best students of the year with the worst, but it applies to anyone: ask your teammates for help, and help them in return when they need it. If you work together, you will get stronger together, and will be much stronger than if you were alone. Remember: there is no room for "I" in a shinobi squad."

Naruto found his gaze lowering to a random point in the grass. He had heard and absorbed all that Kurenai said, but one word bounced inside his skull.

'Envious…'

He couldn't deny it. Seeing Sasuke so far ahead in every way since forever and being unable to close the gap no matter how hard or often he trained really stung. It made his work seem like a waste. His dream felt like a delusion.

Only now with the Shadow Clones that he saw himself improving. He felt stronger. Heck, unless the enemy could really exploit his poor base in taijutsu, he was fairly confident he was better than Sakura in a fight, but Sasuke was still in a whole other level.

And yet…

"On the other side of the coin, you also shouldn't feel weak if someone does catch-up to you. If they were weaker, that means they also had more room to grow, and perhaps they just weren't being taught in a way that worked for them. So don't feel pressured, not unless you have been slacking. Like I said, a team grows stronger together, and it stands to reason that if all three of you are strong, then you can learn a lot more from each other."

'Oh, that makes sense,' Naruto nodded to himself. He fought Sasuke billions of times, and while once in a blue moon he actually had learned something new, he felt Sasuke never got anything out of it. But if he were stronger and could force Sasuke to push himself harder…

'Maybe we could work something out?'

His head turned, and he saw Sakura. He saw Sasuke. They looked back at him.

…Could they really change?

All this talk about friendship, bonds… could Team 7 become what he had always wanted so desperately to have but never could?

Naruto didn't know why, but the thought scared him.

…They fell into silence with nobody knowing what to say, until Kurenai broke through it with a long sigh.

"And there you have it. I believe that as… harsh as my methods were, that illusion made you three experience for themselves how much of team you aren't when push comes to shove. Although I admit the Itachi you fought was too strong even for teamwork, I think my point still stands and that it's better for you three to be aware of where your shortcomings lie now than to have them thrown in your faces during a crisis.

"The sooner you three can overcome these problems, the safer your journey together will be. And I apologize for forcing my opinions on you," she said, her gaze focusing on Sakura and then Sasuke. "But I honestly believe that letting you three try developing naturally could end up either backfiring or just not working until it was too late."

Kurenai paused, and Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her weird expression.

Soon, she just shook her head. "That's all I had to say. Do any of you have questions? We can discuss this some more if you want and—"

A loud gurgling noise resounded throughout the clearing, silencing Kurenai.

…Suddenly, Naruto found everyone's eyes boring on him.

"Er… oops? Does that count as a question?" he laughed awkwardly, rubbing his belly.

His antics made Kurenai give him a little amused smile as she got up and dusted herself. "I suppose it's about time for lunch, yes. Kakashi should be wrapping things up with my team by now too, so I think we can go meet up with them."

"Yes!" he jumped to two feet. "I could really go for some food now! I basically didn't have breakfast after all... that really sucked, you know?"

"Really, Naruto?" Sakura commented with a flat voice while getting up herself. "What a mood killer."

"Well, what can I do? I'm hungry!"

"Typical," Sasuke commented.

Sensing a veiled insult, Naruto turned to glare at his rival. "You wanna say something?"

Sasuke opened his mouth, but Sakura beat him to the punch.

"Guys, please! My head's killing me, I don't need you two yelling at each other too."

"Er, sorry Sakura-chan."

Maybe he was going crazy, but Naruto swore he heard Sasuke mumbling an apology as well…

He shrugged and turned to Kurenai to ask her a question, but stopped when he caught her smiling at Sakura.

The girl also noticed it, but frowned and turned away, her long pink hair swooshing like a whip and leaving Kurenai looking guilty.

'I guess she's still mad… not that I blame her.'

The group then began to walk towards the training ground's exit, and only when they were by the gates that Naruto remembered his question.

"Hey, Kurenai-sensei. Where are we going to eat at anyways?"

Part of why Naruto so often insisted for his team to eat at Ichiraku when they were together, was because it was safe. It wasn't every restaurant that accepted his presence…

Yet Kurenai smiled as she put his fears to rest. "Oh, most likely we are going to eat at your usual training ground. One of my students, Hinata, should have made bentos for all of us. And look forward to it, because her food is delicious!"

"You sure about that?"

Kurenai laughed. "Yes, she's always offering to bring lunch to us. I think that if I didn't turn her down sometimes she'd do it every day."

Subtly, Naruto let out a breath of relief. Lunch was secured, which was awesome, but…

Who was Kurenai talking about again?

'Hinata... Hinata... oh! It's her! That weird girl with blue hair and the weird eyes! So she's on Team 8 then, huh?'

Naruto crossed his arms, frowning. He couldn't remember ever having a real conversation with the girl. He thought she was at least nice, since he could recall small interactions like her giving him his eraser back one day when it bounced all the way to her seat, or how she let him keep her extra pencil after lending it to him during a group activity.

On the other hand, whenever they did interact she mostly kept staring at her own feet, only making eye contact for the briefest of seconds. What stood out to him the most was a memory of him bumping into her during their break, knocking her down. Her hand was shaking terribly while he helped her up, and she ran away without him even being able to say sorry.

She usually left him wondering what he did wrong, but otherwise she did not stand out. Naruto usually forgot she existed unless she was right in front of him.

But bringing him food? That's a way to make one stand out! He only hoped Kurenai was right about her cooking skills because he was super hungry.

'And there will be a boxed lunch made just for me! Awesome!'

Naruto had a giddy smile at the thought, but not too soon he dropped it, shaking his head as he corrected himself. 'She made one for everyone. Mine will be nothing special... just like the one that I bought that one time.'

He still remembered the day when he had enough money to buy a fancy bento for himself. Other kids seemed very happy to eat food that their mothers had carefully made just for them, and Naruto had hoped that if he could eat one at lunch, he could imagine that it was his mom that had made it for him to make his day a little brighter.

It was a horrible idea. He ate the food with a huge smile on his face, but each bite only made him feel worse than before.

Hollow.

'Maybe one day… nah. What am I even thinking?'

Dispelling the thought from his mind, if only for the moment, Naruto left the training ground with Kurenai and his teammates.

Their destination: the academy.

---

"Well, if they're sure you can walk then let's go."

Giving Kakashi a small nod, Hinata followed the jonin as they left the infirmary's waiting room.

True to the nurse's words, her legs and feet were healed up and she was fully capable of walking again, even though both areas felt a bit numb. Whether that was because of how she got hurt or the healing process, she didn't know.

Another thing she didn't know was the corridor Kakashi led her down through. As a mere student she had no need to go to the Mission Assignment Room, and as such that area of the academy was new to her.

They walked in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. Kakashi didn't seem to want to chat, so Hinata didn't feel that familiar pressure to interact with someone else that usually haunted her in such situations.

But the moment they walked into the room…

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Her heart almost stopped, as Sakura and Naruto stomped towards her, eyes glowing red with anger.

"What's your excuse this time?!" Sakura hissed, venomously.

"Yeah!" Naruto growled out. "It better be good because we know you were here for awhile already!"

Hinata cowered under their threatening auras. Had she tried eye-contact she would have realized the two were angry at Kakashi and not her, but she didn't.

"I-I'm s-sorry! I-I-I didn't mean to ke—"

"Like, seriously?" Sakura's voice drowned hers—not that it took much volume to do that. "We know you were here for a while already!"

"Yeah, what's your excuse now, Kakashi-sensei?!"

At Naruto's demand, Hinata's mind froze.

"Chill out, you two," Kakashi replied in a lazy drawl.

Then it thawed under the heat of her blush—they weren't mad at her. Relieved, she corrected her posture and her eyes darted around the room for a second before settling on Kiba, who approached them with Kurenai and Shino following.

"Still, what gives?" the Inuzuka questioned. "When we got here you were already inside."

"And if my mental map is not wrong," Shino spoke up, "you were in the infirmary."

"You two do smell like you were in there," Kiba added, frowning as he sniffed the air.

"Yes," Kakashi admitted with a morose sigh. "After what happened during training, we both were in need of a check-up. There were two people in front of us so we had to wait a bit, too."

"And just what did you do to her that you'd need a nurse to heal her afterwards, Kakashi?"

Hinata had been around Kurenai long enough to pick up on the threat behind that seemingly neutral tone. Kakashi didn't really look scared or worried, but the sudden movement of his Adam's apple told Hinata he too caught it.

"You are asking the wrong question, I was only the victim here. Your student did a number on my hands, but her legs and feet got injured in exchange."

"I told you she wasn't fine!" Kiba snarled at Shino before rushing toward her and asking a barrage of questions about her well-being, leaving Hinata disoriented and unable to say anything coherent until Shino placed a hand on the Inuzuka's shoulder and dragged him away from her face.

"Give her space, you're overwhelming her."

"Oh. Er, sorry," Kiba offered her an embarrassed smile. "I was just worried…"

Despite how he had made her uncomfortable, Hinata smiled warmly at him, touched by his genuine concern. "I-I'm alright now Kiba-kun, no need to worry."

"Wait what?!"

With a little yelp, Hinata went straight as a rod as she turned a bit and saw Naruto pointing at her, mouth wide open.

"You're saying that she got you good enough to send you to the hospital?!" he asked Kakashi, before turning to Hinata without even giving the jonin a chance to defend himself. "Whoa…! Awesome!"

Blood rushed to her face, even more so when she noticed Sakura was just as slack-jawed as her teammate.

"B-But not even Sasuke-kun landed a hit on him…!"

It was then Hinata's turn to let her jaw hit the floor. Her eyes, incredulous, darted to Sasuke. She had, somehow, outperformed him, the genius of their class—and by extension Sakura, who had always been ahead of her during their academy days.

…Yet after her one-on-one with Kakashi, she knew it was nothing to be proud of.

To her further shock, instead of sending an angry glare down her way or saying something negative, Sasuke just shook his head at Kakashi instead. "Serves you right," he scoffed, clearly disappointed.

Much later, Hinata would realize Sasuke thought Kakashi had been reading porn as they fought, but the remark only left her and her teammates confused at the time.

She hardly had time to linger on that thought once Kurenai came closer, lowering herself to Hinata's height with concern reflected in her red eyes.

"Are you truly okay, Hinata? What happened back there?"

"I-I am," she said, nodding to give her words further weight. She then paused, unsure of how to answer the second question.

To her relief, Kakashi picked up her slack. "I'll tell you later; you might be able to help me make sense of it. Don't worry too much, though."

Finally, the silver-haired man turned towards the person in white robes in the back of the room, who was sitting behind a large desk and was flanked by big, intimidating piles of paper. "And I am sorry for taking your time, Hokage-sama," he apologized while bowing.

Hinata felt her face flushing once again as she remembered the Hokage of all people had been watching them this entire time.

The old man laughed as he waved dismissively, clearly amused. "Don't worry, Kakashi. Considering your usual behavior, you are actually quite early!" he commented in good humor, before cleaning his throat and looking over the assembled genin. "Well then, moving on to business. I suppose you six are already aware of the joint mission that I have for you and the reason behind this arrangement, correct?"

Receiving a few nods and positive affirmations as an answer, Sarutobi picked up a scroll and held it in toward the two jonin, prompting Kurenai to step forward to grab the document. "Now then," the Hokage began, "I have no D-rank missions that would even remotely need six ninjas, especially with one of them being able to use shadow clones, but I do have a C-rank mission that you all—."

"FINALLY!" Naruto screamed all of a sudden. "It was really true! No more stupid D-rank missi—ouch!"

"Quiet, Naruto!" Kakashi hissed, releasing Naruto's ear. "Don't get me in trouble," he scolded the boy, who just crossed his arms and grunted defiantly.

Hinata feared the Hokage would snap at them, but the exchange made the Hokage smile fondly at the pair. "As I was saying, this C-rank mission shall be performed by both Team 7 and Team 8. Your objective is to safely escort your client, a bridge builder, back to his home in the Land of Waves, and later to protect him as he builds a bridge that will connect his country to continent."

"What kinds of enemies should we be expecting, Hokage-sama?" Shino inquired.

"The only threats should be bandits, if anything," Hiruzen replied almost casually, but his expression became grave afterward. "Nonetheless, you should be as careful as possible for missions sometimes change parameters. Be ready for anything."

The old man paused to jot down something in the paper in front of him, which Hinata theorized to be about how the mission just got accepted.

"Now then, Teams 7 and 8, it's time for you to meet your client." Sarutobi nodded to a male chunin to his left, who nodded back and exited the room. In a few seconds, the chunin returned to his desk, frowning, and soon afterwards an old man with gray hair and beard entered the room.

His clothes were very simple: just a sleeveless brown shirt and tan shorts. There was a large backpack strapped to his back, but what grabbed everyone's attention was that he was carrying sake bottle. If the red coloring in his cheeks and the way he wobbled as he walked were evidence of anything, he was drunk.

'This isn't a good sign,' Hinata thought warily, frowning. Said frown deepened once she saw Kiba plugging his nose, and soon she too felt the stink of alcohol emanating from the man when he came closer. The supposed bridge builder gave them an appraising look, and he didn't look too happy with what he saw.

"What the hell are these brats doing here? I thought I asked you for ninja!"

"We have already talked about this, Tazuna-san," Hiruzen replied, glaring at the drunken man. "You paid enough for one genin squad—I am giving you two, because you were lucky this mission is fitting for an ongoing project in the village. That's the best I can give you for your price."

The bridge builder's expression turned to match Sarutobi's. "They're the best you have? Bah... what a joke."

"Sir," Kakashi spoke up to their client, and introduced himself and Kurenai. "We will be leading this mission. The kids are our students, and while they are more than prepared for a mission of this caliber we will be here to aid you if anything goes wrong."

Tazuna raised an eyebrow. "You will, huh…? Well, at least there's some actual ninja and it's not just a buncha kids."

"Hey!"

'Oh oh,' Hinata thought. She didn't like the look in Naruto's face as he stepped forward after that last remark.

"Listen here, we might not be jonin but we are strong ninja too! Especially me!"

Tazuna began to chuckle at that. "You, pipsqueak? The one that's wearing bright orange and still has the guts to call himself a ninja?!" Naruto looked ready to strike, which only made the man only laugh harder. "The other five are kids, but you must still be a baby! Ha! A baby with bright orange soiled diapers! Bwahahahaha!"

Hinata winced, noticing Naruto trembling with anger as he leaped towards their client.

Kakashi was faster.

"I. Will. Kill you! Bastard...! Ugh, Kakashi-sensei, let me go...!" the boy growled, flailing around as he struggled against Kakashi's firm grip.

"Naruto, like it or not he's our client. You can't act like this," Kakashi scolded.

Predicatably, Naruto wasn't going to take that insult lying down but that only egged Tazuna further.

Hinata looked away from the mess. As much as she disliked how quickly Tazuna was judging them, Kakashi had a point. That didn't excuse looking down on someone just because of their clothes though, making for a horrible first impression of their client.

'We're off to a good start,' she thought with some dismay, watching as the Hokage soon put a stop to Naruto's temper.

"If you want, I can give you D-rank missions instead while the others take care of Tazuna-san here," Hiruzen threatened, patting a nearby stack of documents. "There are a lot of simple missions left for today."

Naruto shut up fairly quickly after that, though he was still glaring daggers at Tazuna.

"With that settled. Kurenai, Kakashi, please escort this man back to the hotel he is staying... as for you kids, you are dismissed. Good luck on your mission tomorrow."

Hinata couldn't help herself. 'With a client like that, we're definitively going to need it...'

---

A/N:

This chapter is how I justify the prologue arc's length and existence. With all that has passed until now, we know exactly where each of the main characters stands. Many of the major problems they have to overcome throughout the story were laid out as well.

Once again, I remind you that Kurenai being right or wrong isn't really the point. Her actions have a logic behind them, and they will have positive and negative consequences.

Much like Sasuke and Sakura's internal state, which the Naruto PoV could only reveal so much of, we will examine the causes of Hinata's mysterious fainting problem in a future chapter. I thank fellow author Serious Sam for inspiring this bit and allowing me to borrow a similar element from his amazing fic, My Precious People.

Next up: the fic's first real NH moment, and some bonding across the board.

---

Changelog:

v1.0.1 (11/16/2015)

Fixed two typos and one grammar mistake. Thank gio08 for warning me of them.

v1.0.2 (12/29/2015)

Fixed a few crude mistakes.

v2.0 (07/13/2016)

Fixed more crude mistakes, some formatting issues, revisited some paragraphs that needed polishing.

v3.0 (01/03/2019)

The biggest changes came from fixing the PoVs as Hinata's in the first and last segments and Naruto's in the second, with various elements being more polished or handled more subtly to accommodate what they could or not perceive. That decision pushed certain details to be revealed later during Wave.

Beyond that, for the first Hinata part it was mostly a matter of keeping Hinata on the edge of her seat as tension built up and down throughout without us knowing Kakashi's intentions from the get-go like before. For the Naruto part, Kurenai's logic was developed further to justify her actions and what she wanted to accomplish, and the final part mostly got rid of the unfitting over-the-top humor.