It was a few minutes after Team 7's conversation with Inari that Kakashi decided to get a jump start on their training. He led the young trio outside and into the forest surrounding Tazuna's house. The humidity of the area left the forest lush and beautiful without a single dead tree or brown leaf in sight. If they had simply been camping the group may have even stopped to admire the natural beauty of the area but instead they were all focused on Kakashi's words.

"Alright your training starts now. Firstly, we're going to go over chakra again so you have a better idea of what we are doing," Kakashi started.

"We already know about that," Sasuke said.

"Yeah! We already know all about… uh… 'catra'," Naruto added.

Tayuya face palmed at her cousin's statement and Sasuke looked at him with an exhausted look on his face.

"Chakra, Naruto. Chakra," Kakashi repeated so Naruto could grasp the word better. He almost wondered if the boy had a speech impediment and made a mental note to check on that later.

"Yeah, yeah whatever! We still know what it is. We've been using it this whole time!" Naruto yelled.

"That's true… but I'm willing to bet none of you understand the fundamentals. You all need control; otherwise, you'll use too much chakra in your jutsu and exhaust yourself faster," Kakashi explained.

"For example, Naruto. You have the worst chakra control of the group."

"Aw come on! Why do you have to pick on me like that?" Naruto whined.

"Because you're a loser," Sasuke jabbed.

"I wouldn't be too cocky Sasuke… your chakra control is far from the best either. You also waste quite a bit," Kakashi scolded.

"What?" Sasuke was shocked to hear that he wasn't the best at something fundamental.

"That's right. I'd say Naruto wastes about half the chakra he puts into jutsu but you waste about a quarter of it," Kakashi stated plainly.

"Seriously? Dammit," Sasuke said with the swear under his breath.

"Uh oh, seems like Tayuya is rubbing off on you. Speaking of; Tayuya, your chakra control is the best out of the group so I'm going to have you try out the training first," Kakashi ordered the red-haired genin.

"Alright, what do I have to do?" Tayuya asked.

"You have to climb a tree without using your hands," Kakashi replied.

"Oh, sure. I already know how to do that," Tayuya said. She thought the training was going to be something new and she was a bit disappointed that it was something she taught herself a few years ago.

"What?! No way!" Naruto interjected. "How come you've never done that in front of me before?!"

"I have dumb ass! You just never paid attention!" Tayuya yelled back at him.

"Prove it then!" Naruto said as he still didn't believe him.

"I will!" Tayuya declared before placing her hands in a ram seal and channeling chakra to her feet. She then casually walked up to a tree and placed her foot against it. Slowly she began to ascend, much to Naruto and Sasuke's amazement. Even Kakashi was impressed as she just kept climbing until she was out of sight.

"Well… that was unexpected," Kakashi said.

"Yeah, what the Hell Tayuya!" Naruto yelled up to the tree top.

"I told you!" Tayuya yelled back down from the top of the tree. The group could barely hear her from how high up she was.

"Alright well clearly she already has great chakra control so, Naruto, Sasuke; it's your turn," Kakashi ordered his other students to do the same. "Also, mark the highest point on the tree you get to with a kunai so you can track your progress."

"Ha, I won't need to do that! If Tayuya can climb the whole tree then so can I!" Naruto declared before channeling his chakra. Sasuke echoed the same sentiment in his mind before he also made his attempt to climb the tree. Unfortunately, neither could get as far as their friend who was currently climbing back down the same way she got up. She even had her hands in her pockets and was whistling a tune.

When Sasuke tried to climb the tree he only managed to get 4 meters up before his chakra broke the bark of the tree and sent him flying off. Naruto's attempt was even worse as the boy took one step up and immediately fell onto his head as his chakra didn't grip the tree at all.

"Damn, you guys suck at this!" Tayuya said as she finished her descent.

"Shut up! How do you even know how to do this?" Sasuke asked.

"Um…" Tayuya scratched the back of her head as she realized Sasuke was not going to like her answer. "Remember when I talked about that guy who helped me with my genjutsu? Teaching me to climb a tree was part of that whole thing. You need a lot of chakra control to affect other people's chakra after all," she explained sheepishly.

"Oh… I see," Sasuke said as he clenched his fists and began to shake in anger.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold on! I get what happened to your family was terrible but if you're going to get mad at me every time I mention my friend then we're going to have a problem real fuckin' quick!" Tayuya stated as she was frustrated by Sasuke's behavior. Unfortunately, her getting upset at him was not the best course of action. Sasuke snapped at her declaration and began to throw a punch at her. Tayuya wasn't as fast or skilled at taijutsu as her teammate and thus would have taken a blow right to the teeth… were it not for Naruto dashing between them and taking the hit for her.

"Ouch! What is your problem?!" Naruto said as he wiped some blood from his mouth.

"That's enough!" Kakashi yelled. He had sympathy for why he assumed Sasuke was upset; however, he was not going to allow the boy to lash out at his teammates as a result of the boy's anger. "Sasuke! Go cool off!" Kakashi then gave the boy a glare that didn't leave room for argument and Sasuke grumbled before leaving to go find a place to calm down. "Naruto, you should get back to climbing the tree," Kakashi said in a much softer tone.

"Alright, alright but this isn't over!" Naruto yelled as he pointed at Sasuke who simply glared back at him.

"Tayuya, come with me for a moment," Kakashi said as he led Tayuya away from the others.

"Jeez, what the fuck is his damage?! I mean… I guess I know but… that doesn't explain why he gets so angry whenever I bring up the one Uchiha I ever met aside from him!" Tayuya vented to her sensei.

"I'm sure he's not angry at you. He's just bad at expressing himself and he channels his anger poorly," Kakashi explained. "Out of curiosity, which member of the Uchiha taught you genjutsu and chakra control? Knowing who you're talking about might provide some insight into his behavior," Kakashi asked. Tayuya then proceeded to describe the kind teen who helped her 5 years ago.

"… and he was really patient and spoke really softly. Basically like the total opposite of Sasuke," Tayuya finished as she looked at her sensei. She was surprised that he had a wide-eyed expression and some of the color even seemed to drain from his face. He seemed to be somewhere else mentally. "Um… Kakashi sensei?"

"Oh! Sorry… I was remembering… I know who you're talking about and if Sasuke knows too then it makes even more sense as to why he's acting this way," Kakashi informed her.

"Really? Why?" Tayuya asked.

"The man you described… is Itachi Uchiha. Sasuke's older brother… the man who murdered their whole family," Kakashi said somberly.

Tayuya couldn't believe it! Her mind raced as she remembered all her interactions with him and how nice he was! How could someone like that be a murderer? No, a mass murderer?! It didn't make any sense to her!

"But… he… I don't… he…" Tayuya stuttered.

"I know. Don't tell Sasuke but I was friends with him once too," Kakashi said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"R-really?"

"Yes, we were in the same ANBU unit. He even saved my life a couple times. I was shocked to hear the news. He just didn't seem like the type to snap. It goes to show that you never really know people…" Kakashi said sadly.

"Damn… no wonder he got mad at me… if he thinks I'm friends with his evil bro," Tayuya said with a sigh.

"It might be best to go talk to him later. Although, he needs to apologize too," Kakashi said. "But for now, since you did so well on the tree climbing; I have another challenge for you."

"Huh? Really?" Tayuya asked.

"Yes. For your next task you shall use your chakra control to walk on water," Kakashi said simply.

"…" Tayuya just stared at Kakashi in disbelief at first. Kakashi chuckled as she reminded him of Naruto a few minutes ago when she said she could climb the tree with chakra.

"Don't believe me? You should since I did it during my battle with Zabuza," Kakashi said. "Maybe you and Naruto both share a lack of attention span," he jested.

"What?! I was in my dome protecting Tazuna! I didn't even see your fight!" Tayuya retorted.

"Oh? You didn't? That's too bad, it was an intense battle," Kakashi said tooting his own horn. "Anyway, I'll demonstrate." Kakashi then led the two of them to a nearby river and channeled his chakra before calmly walking atop the water. This amazed the young kunoichi and she was eager to try it out. Unfortunately, Kakashi didn't explain that this was significantly more difficult than climbing the tree and she fell in almost immediately when she attempted the same type of control she used earlier. Kakashi then apologized and explained the principles of the technique before leaving her to practice so he could check on Naruto and Sasuke.

Tayuya spent several hours trying to walk on water and, by the time the sun started setting, she was able to balance herself upright in the water up to her knees. After she found some success, she decided to check on her teammates so that she could have a conversation with Sasuke. It didn't take her long to reunite with the group. She took a moment to check their progress and saw that Sasuke was now reaching 18 meters while Naruto was only up to 7 meters. The latter was laying on the ground exhausted, while Sasuke was kneeling and looked pretty tired himself.

"Yo, Naruto! Seems like you aren't making much progress," Tayuya said with a chuckle as she walked up to him.

"Gah! Shut up! Where were you anyway?!" Naruto said as he shot up from the ground to be close to eye-level with her. He then noticed she was soaked from head to toe. "Did you just go for a swim while we were breaking our necks out here?!"

"No, dipshit. I was learning to walk on water," Tayuya said with a smirk.

"Woah! No way! You can walk on water now?!" Naruto asked.

"Well… not completely… I have a lot of work to do," Tayuya replied sheepishly.

"Oh. Yeah, me too," Naruto said as he looked sadly at the tree. Then his expression suddenly shifted as an idea hit him. "Wait a sec! Could you give me some pointers? Kakashi left to go lie down so I couldn't ask him for advice but you're good at this so could you please help me?" Naruto begged.

"Huh? The great Naruto is asking for help?! This is crazy! I must be imagining things!" Tayuya over acted her surprise as much as she could.

"I'm serious Tayuya! Please," Naruto begged once more.

"I'm just messing with you; of course I'll help you out," Tayuya said as she gave him a slight punch on the shoulder.

Seeing their friendly display irritated Sasuke who felt left out. If he was honest was honest with himself, then he would realize he was upset because he was the one who isolated himself by acting like a shitty person earlier and not because they were choosing not to associate with him. To not let his frustration cause another embarrassing outburst, the Uchiha began to walk away as Tayuya gave Naruto some pointers. He eventually found a nice clearing to lay in and began to watch the stars appear in the early night sky. He thought about the day's events and gave himself a pity laugh as he realized that he was always the one calling Naruto an idiot but today he was truly the one who was foolish. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Naruto and Tayuya were his friends and lashing out at them was possibly the worst thing he had ever done… aside from killing that mist ninja but that was to protect the very person he tried to knock out earlier. He let his anger at Itachi over power him and he was sure his evil brother would relish the knowledge if he ever found out.

Sasuke sighed as he wracked his brain for a way to make things right with his teammates when he suddenly heard a rustling from the bushes. He shot up and drew a kunai to prepare for an ambush.

"Woah there! It's just me!" Tayuya said as she threw her hands up defensively.

"Oh… sorry," Sasuke said as he sheathed his kunai and sat back down facing away from her. She used that opportunity to walk up to him and sit next to him. They sat in silence for a moment before Tayuya spoke up.

"You know, you really suck at talking to people," Tayuya said bluntly. Sasuke merely grunted and turned to her with an annoyed expression. "Kakashi filled me in about who that guy was… I get why you're so angry about him now. I knew you had it rough with your family situation but… I didn't know he was related to it the way he was. Just would have been nice to know before I said something that threw you off the rails, you know?" Tayuya said as she turned to her teammate.

"… I shouldn't have gone off the rails in the first place," Sasuke admitted. "I let the very thought of my brother get me so worked up that I couldn't see anything but his face. I didn't even think I was punching at you… I'm sorry," Sasuke apologized sincerely.

"I mean… knowing my own temper I can't blame you too much. If I knew who killed my parents I probably would act the same way if someone mentioned them," Tayuya admitted.

Sasuke chuckled. "Yeah, Naruto might too, right?"

"Oh definitely! Apparently he beat Mizuki sensei to a bloody pulp after the guy just hurt Iruka sensei!" Tayuya said.

"Wait… that was Naruto?!" Sasuke asked. He couldn't believe Naruto was the one to take out their rogue teacher.

"Yup! That's why he graduated despite failing the exam," Tayuya stated happily.

"Wow… I should probably stop calling him an idiot all the time," Sasuke said sheepishly.

"Oh no, he is an idiot. Just a competent one," Tayuya joked with a grin. Sasuke chuckled at her joke and if felt like the air finally had been cleared between the two. "So… are we cool now man?" Tayuya asked as she raised a fist towards him.

Sasuke looked at her hand for a moment before raising his own fist to meet it, "yeah, we're cool."

"Good… we should probably go back and check on Naruto to make sure he hasn't fallen out of the tree again," Tayuya suggested.

"Yeah… but first… could you tell me what you told him?" Sasuke asked.

"Huh? About what?"

"About climbing the tree. You gave him pointers right?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that! Sure dude!" Tayuya said as he punched his shoulder.

"Ow… why do you do that?" Sasuke asked.

"Because you hit Naruto earlier," Tayuya said to make him feel a twinge of guilt. "But mostly because that's just how I act with my friends."

"Heh… alright," Sasuke replied as the two of them stood to go find their teammate. "Friends, huh? … I have never had any before… It's nice," Sasuke thought as the two of them walked over to find Naruto had made it to 21 meters up the tree. "Woah! Hold on! He's beating me?! I can't let that happen." Sasuke then asked for Tayuya's help once more and after she offered some tips he went right back to training.

From the top of another tree, Kakashi watched his students and was pleased to find that they had worked passed this issue. He still made a mental note to watch out for Sasuke's temper but he had a feeling it wouldn't be as much of an issue now that the team was beginning to understand each other better. He sighed as he reminisced about his own genin team. He closed his eyes and imagined what his team would have been like if he and Obito had just talked like normal people more often. If they had… maybe Kakashi wouldn't have so many regrets these days. He allowed himself to dwell on these thoughts until supper was called and the ninja had to retire from their training for the night.