Iruka led Naruto back to the Hokage's office with the Scroll of Seals rolled up in his hands. Civilians and shinobi alike stared at the boy with even more than their usual disdain, to both their displeasure. When they entered the room itself, Sarutobi was alone behind his desk. The sun gave way to the moon some time ago, so they were illuminated by the stark office lights.

"Mizuki is the one who put him up to it," Iruka said.

"Where is he?" The old man asked.

Iruka swallowed a lump in his throat. "Well, you see, the–"

"I beat him to death," Naruto said, lifting half of his bruised knuckles for him to see. "Sorry, old man." His apology was genuine. "Iruka-sensei tried to stop me, but I was too angry."

The Hokage folded his fingers together. "Did he say anything about what he wanted with the scroll?"

"No, he attacked us at the place we were supposed to meet."

"Why did you steal it for him?"

Naruto took a deep breath and sighed. "I failed the academy exam. He told me I could pass by stealing the Scroll of Seals: he made something up about it being a forbidden test because students kept dying to your security. Said he'd present me to you and plead for you to make me a ninja."

"And you believed him?"

"Oh fuck no, I stole it because I wanted to prove everyone wrong. I wanted to prove I was a great shinobi." He laughed, bitterness creeping out of it. "But I guess no matter what I do, they'll always see me as the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Iruka hung his head, hoping to avoid the old man's gaze. "I'm sorry, Lord Third. I failed to stop Mizuki from telling him."

"The fault does not lie with you." Sarutobi turned to the boy. "You are Naruto Uzumaki, not the demon sealed within your being."

"Why did you never tell me?"

"You're a weapon, a deterrent against other villages with their own jinchuriki."

"I wished to spare you more pain, but I fear in hiding the truth away I've only caused you more." He tilted his head ever so slightly at the sight of Naruto's eyes widening. "You have every right to be angry with me."

"...It wasn't you who did this." His eyes rose to the blond-haired man in the line-up of Hokage, and his hands balled into fists. "It was that yellow dipshit!"

"Naruto!" Hiruzen nearly flinched at a panicked jump from the boy. "It was never the Fourth's intention for others to hate you."

"He wanted you to stand guard like a good little dog for the village, for all those who despise you."

"He wanted you to be viewed as a hero. The man gave up his life for you as much as he did for the Hidden Leaf." He wanted to tell him the truth, but his son was likely to hate his father if he learned it now.

Naruto scoffed. "Funny how that turned out."

Hiruzen lowered his head to gaze at his table for a moment before looking back up. "Did you read the scroll?" His expression grew more dire when he nodded. "Did you write down anything from it? Did you attempt to perform any of the jutsu recorded within?"

"No and just one." He brought his fingers together and a copy of himself popped into existence to his left. "The others asked for things I didn't have or know," the solid clone said before poofing out.

"Except for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, I forbid you from speaking of or attempting anything you read from the Scroll of Seals."

"Am I… Am I still just a trainee after all that?" Naruto asked, his demeanor returning to what it was during the final exams.

"They will make you a ninja eventually. Becoming a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf was never your choice."

Sarutobi looked to Iruka. "Has he met the qualifications?"

"Me?!" The man gulped and began rubbing the back of his head. "Well, with the exception of his written tests, Naruto passed his Transformation Jutsu test, Substitution Jutsu test, and scored so high in his taijutsu he nearly beat out a Hyuga for second place."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Hinata is better than me?" He never really sparred with anyone other than Sasuke much. They were either too afraid he'd legitimately hurt them or worried they'd take the obsession away from Sasuke. The one time Hinata was chosen as his sparring partner she froze right when he punched, so he just walked away. A great deal of him wanted to test her now when he had time.

"His Clone Jutsu test…" Iruka trailed off as the lad created a shadow clone that pointed its thumbs at itself. He held back a laugh when his student poked the copy's face to confirm its solidity. "Seems beyond any of his peers." A toothy smile adorned his face. "He passed."

"Yes!" They yelled in unison. One Naruto jumped on to and hugged Iruka, knocking the scroll out of his hands while the other cleared the distance between himself and the Hokage. "I did it!"

"Naruto?!" Iruka embraced the child back, unnerved yet pleased with his happy attitude.

Sarutobi felt the weight in his chest lifted. "I haven't seen you this happy since you were barely a boy." He hugged the child in return. In his heart, he hoped that side would reemerge in time, but he doubted it would be the same.

Iruka reached behind his head and undid the headband. "Alright." He looked from his Naruto to the Hokage's. "...Which one of you is the real one?"

"Me!" The Naruto clinging to him said. "Traitor!" The other one drew a kunai from his pouch and threw it into him, reducing him to a puff of smoke. Being the true usually foul-mouthed blond, he let go of his surrogate grandpa and zoomed to his teacher. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Uh, you need to stand still if I'm going to put this on you." Iruka blinked as his delinquent dead last student switched from jumping in place to visibly shaking in excitement. He wrapped the headband around the blonde's head and tied it. "You have morning orientation with the rest of the graduates. Don't be late." A nervous laugh left his lips when Naruto saluted him before running out of the Hokage's office, slamming the door behind him. "That is the most excited he's ever been for class." He turned to the Hokage and froze at the tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks. "...Lord Third?"

Sarutobi wiped away his tears. "That was the first time I've seen Naruto smile sweetly in six years." He chuckled at an old memory of a day in the forest. "Now, he has to maintain that happiness. You can hand over the scroll and go, Iruka."

"It's Naruto: he never gives up." He picked up the scroll, walked to the desk, set it down, and walked toward the door. The sensei's lips curved into a frown. "Even if he wants to." He left without further word.


The incident at the graduation exams for Iruka's class burned that day into the graduates' memories. It was the day their class' worst problem child had the most dramatic outburst of the entire generation. Needless to say, when they saw Naruto walking in and sitting down, humming a happy tune and smiling, they weren't just unnerved: most were terrified.

Sakura and Ino, having just walked in, saw him sitting at same table as Sasuke. "Didn't he fail?"

"He jumped out the freaking window," Ino whispered.

Hinata, being closest to the door, frowned at their words before smiling at the sight of Naruto being innocently happy for once.

Shikamaru was the smartest in the entire class and sat on the most distant edge, opposite of Hinata. He knew something happened. And he did not want to be near his detention buddy if something else came up as a result.

"Don't you want to sit with Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

Ino gave her a look and gave a glance at their would-be obstacle. "Do you want to get through him?" Met with a shake of her pink-haired friend's head, she nodded hers in understanding. "Let's just sit where we can see Sasuke."

Much to Hinata's displeasure, they began fighting over who got to sit next to her just for a view of their crush. She understood their desire, but it could've been far more quiet. Iruka walking in with a clipboard in hand thankfully put a stop to their childish bickering.

"As of today," Iruka began, "you have all become full-fledged ninjas."

"Iruka-sensei!" Sakura interrupted. She, from her safe distance, turned to and pointed at the false barrier between her and Sasuke. "Why is Naruto here?" The 'shut-the-fuck-up-please' looks from her classmates injected unease into her words. "He… jumped out of the window." Her finger switched targets to the wooden placeholder that was where glass used to be.

"Well, you see, the–"

"Mizuki was a traitor, and I killed that slimy fuck!" Naruto boasted, kicking his legs up on the table and cushioning the back of his head with his hands. Everyone's shocked or disbelieving eyes leveling on him gave a rush. He was a genin that took care of a chunin with ease, and they could all suck on it.

In one of the rooms of the Hokage residence, the jonin of the Leaf Village authorized to take on genin watched the events unfurl through Sarutobi's crystal ball, a conduit for a complex Sealing Jutsu placed in key areas of the village. This was their way of getting first impressions without letting their would-be students put up a facade. Some of them were already making a poor one. Naruto was one such student.

"So that's where Konohamaru is getting it from," Asuma Sarutobi said.

His father, the Hokage, sighed. "You are witnessing the best mood and attitude Naruto has had in six years." He grimaced along with his elite shinobi. "There is kindness in him, albeit buried under anger and bravado."

Asuma patted a masked ninja with his forehead protector covering his left eye on the shoulder. "Good luck, Kakashi." The lack of response from him didn't bother. That was just how Kakashi Hatake socially interacted with most people while focusing on something else entirely.

Iruka sighed at Naruto interrupting him again. "Just because the Hokage didn't say anything about keeping the incident under wraps doesn't mean you should tell everyone about it."

"I was answering pink forehead's question," Naruto excused. He wanted to make sure everyone knew. "Everyone else here was thinking the same thing. They were just too much of a bunch of pussies to say it."

Hinata hanging her head in shame went unnoticed by all, save the jonin and Hokage spying, while the rest of the class relaxed somewhat at the return to his usual self. She then felt the need to disprove his words. "W-What happened?!" Hinata yelled out, lifting her pink face.

"As genin, you will be put in a squad of three and put on missions under the guide of jonin. They've been briefed on the incident, as it was a matter of high treason. Feel free to ask them." Iruka shook his head. "The groups have been balanced to produce max efficiency." He looked to his clipboard and frowned. "Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha!"

Naruto shared a look with Sasuke while Sakura felt conflicted. "How the hell is that balanced?" He sat straight. "Didn't I make third in taijutsu?"

Iruka grimaced at the surprised faces of his students. "You weren't supposed to know that or share that, and it's based on your overall grades: yours were the worst and Sasuke's was the best."

"Oh… Well, that's fucking retarded."

"It's worked for over a hundred years." He returned focus to his clipboard. "Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame!"

"Come on! You can't just say something like that and expect me to take this seriously. Hinata's the second best at taijutsu and the mangy mutt's...I wanna say fifth?"

"The hell I am, dumbass!" The face-marked boy yelled. He blinked and turned to look up to the blushing Hyuga. "Hinata's second?"

Naruto grinned. He knew there was no one else that could be fourth, but he wanted to push the dog boy. "Oh yeah, I never knew the princess had it in her." The nervous tapping of the girl in question's fingers made him laugh.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at the blushing face in the crystal ball. "She likes him?"

"I received a complaint from three families that their children were beaten bloody by Naruto. When I looked into it, he did so because they were crowding around the girl and making her uncomfortable." Old Man Hiruzen smiled. "There is kindness in him...he just expresses it in the most abrasive manner possible."

Kiba growled. "Then who got first?!" Naruto flinching told him all he needed to know. "Oh, of course it was Sasuke." He smirked. "Seems like Hinata's more of a rival for him than you will ever be."

"I'm not trying to… Don't… Oh shut the fuck up, mangy mutt!" He pointed a finger at Hinata. "After I'm done teaching him a lesson, you're next!" That was not the wisest nor smartest thing to say, but he was too caught up in his emotions to check himself.

"That's enough out of the both of you!" Iruka yelled, vein popping. He slammed his clipboard against his desk. "Team 10 will be composed of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi! That is all for group divisions! In the afternoon, I'll introduce you to your jonin leaders! Have a good lunch! You are all dismissed!"

Asuma chuckled. "That Iruka needs to take up smoking." His father nodding in agreement made him laugh again.

"It's a bad habit," Kurenai said with a shake of her head. "Think of the example you set for the children."

"And the one you set for hanging around those with the bad habit?" Kakashi asked, finally saying something.

Everyone present in the spying room had to restrain themselves from laughing when her face became as red as her would-be student's. Knowing better than to say anything, she kept quiet. Her complexion told them all they needed to know already.

"Come on, Iruka-sensei!" Kiba said, standing from his seat. "Did I get fourth?"

"Out!" He pointed to the door.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei," he mumbled and obeyed, to Naruto's immense amusement.

The blond stood up and walked out into the aisle. "Meet me outside, mangy mutt!"

Shaking his hooded head, the Inuzuka kept on his way. "Like I'm going to give you what you want." He smirked at the delinquent's twitching eye.

"Fine." He turned to Kiba's female teammate. "Hin–"

With a squeal, the girl jumped over heads and tables, reaching the door far before anyone else did. She opened it, walked through, and slammed it shut.

Kiba tilted his head as he kept walking. "There was a door right behind her." He laughed before walking out.

He gave him his middle finger. Turning, he saw Sasuke jump on to the table behind him rather than risk crossing him. "You too?"

"When I want to warm-up my fists, I'll seek you out...dumbass."

"Cunt," Naruto said with a smile.

Outplayed, he scoffed and jumped toward the other exit. Sakura followed him out, but he ignored her. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were the last ones to leave after finally deciding on what to eat. Naruto was left alone with their sensei.

"What did I say?!"

Naruto jumped over to him and hugged him. "I'll fuck off." He separated from the man. "Just wanted to do that one more time." Iruka, broken out of his anger, nodding made him laugh happily before he left.

Hiruzen smiled at his crystal ball before the projection in it faded. "As I said, there is kindness in him."

"Buried under bravado and anger," Kakashi finished. "And this is the best he's been in years." He paid no attention to the old man's smile dying. "Suppose I should check out my student's rooms now."

"I'll lead." He looked to the other jonin. "I trust you can all find your own way." They nodded, so he nodded in turn. "Come on, Kakashi."

The man followed without a word.


Both were in Naruto's apartment. It was their priority due to many factors, and it was unlikely to be visited by him in his downtime. The condition of the domicile wasn't exactly ruinous yet it was still downtrodden. Clothes were strewn about. The boy's kitchen table was a clutter of uncleaned dishes. Worst of all, holes, indents, and cracks littered the walls.

Kakashi's eye wandered about the scars left on the building. "These are all handmade."

"By Naruto, yes." Sarutobi's face grew dire. "I was not exaggerating when I said what you saw was Naruto in the best mood he's been in years."

"It really is that bad, huh?" He looked at the old man. "When he was a toddler, he seemed lonely with me, but he never threw tantrums."

"That was an innocent baby that did not understand why he was lonely in the first place. He threw pranks for attention, at first. Harmless annoyances. Then those pranks turned into insults. All of his happiness turned into anger. When people took his insults personally to the point of violence, he gave it back several times over, leaving even grown men bloody on the ground."

"Like Mizuki."

Sarutobi nodded. "There was nothing recognizable about his face when they retrieved his body. Iruka failed to and didn't want to mention just how bad Naruto took the news about being a jinchuriki. Being made a genin may have appeased him for now, but he will come to realize the way of a shinobi is not fun and games. I fear the worst."

"Do you want me to pass him without a test?"

"No. Fulfill your responsibility as a jonin and ensure the next generation is ready to fulfill their own. Just know that responsibility will include guiding Naruto away." The old man waved at the damaged walls. "From this, if he passes. I will deal with him if he fails."

Kakashi nodded. "I understand. I won't fail him again."

"...You're not talking about Naruto, are you?" He moved to leave the apartment with one of his best jonin, but the silver-haired man did not answer.


The rest of Team 7's morning was uneventful. Sasuke didn't want to interact with his teammates, Naruto didn't want to interact with his teammates, and Sakura couldn't find Sasuke to save her life. When they returned to the classroom, Sakura bombarded Sasuke with words, which ended when he told her she was annoying. It made the two classroom blonds snicker in tandem for the first time ever.

Kurenai and Asuma entered the class room together. She stopped earlier than he did to address her trio. "Team 8, I am your leader, Kurenai Yuhi. Follow me."

Asuma looked to his, a classic clan trio. "Team 10, I am Asuma Sarutobi, your jonin." He looked to the last group. "Team 7, expect to be here a while."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Naruto said as he watched everyone else depart and laugh.

"Get used to it." Asuma led his three brats out of the door.

It took nearly half an hour for the final jonin to walk through the front door.

Kakashi walked to the center of the teachers area and looked at them. "Team 7?"

"You son of a bitch!" Naruto yelled. "What the fuck did you have to do that was more important than this?!"

"A dark cloud was over me, so I had to take shelter in a steam lounge."

"...What?" Sakura asked, eye twitching.

He raised a hand to stroke his masked chin, ignoring her question. "I think… I'm going to hate the three of you." Their combined looks did not faze him. He turned to the door and started walking. "Let's get out of here."

They followed their team leader out of the academy and on to the top of a nearby roof.

Kakashi sat down on the railing while they seated themselves before him. "Alright, introduce yourselves one at a time."

"You first, lazy ass," Naruto said, arms crossed.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake." He looked out into nothing. "I don't want to tell you anything about what I like or dislike. I've never thought about any dreams for the future. As for hobbies, I have a lot of them." He focused back on them. "Introduce yourselves the same way."

"That told us nothing but your name," Sakura said.

"If you're not going to pick." He looked to the boy in orange. "You then."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, getting stronger, and proving myself. I hate almost everyone. My hobbies are training and learning new ways to insult people." He grinned. "And my dream is to make everyone who ever looked down on me regret it."

Kakashi's good eye closed while Sakura did her best to look away from her blond teammate. It wasn't the worst case scenario, but it was still pretty bad. He opened his eye and looked at the nervous pink-haired girl. "You."

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…" She looked at Sasuke and blushed. "My hobbies are…" She twiddled her fingers together. "My dream is!" She squealed. "And I dislike…" Drifting off, she shivered.

He doubted she'd last the first month. "And lastly?"

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." He folded his hands together "I have many dislikes, but I don't like anything particular. What I have isn't a dream but an ambition: I'm going to restore my clan and kill a certain man."

It was just as he thought. "Well aren't you a unique bunch. Our first mission is tomorrow."

Naruto nearly jumped. "What kind of mission?"

"Something all four of us can do together."

"Come on, you can at least tell us something, lazy ass."

"It's a survival exercise."

Sakura frowned. "I thought we were finally past all the exercises and ready for real missions."

"This is a special case." Kakashi felt the schadenfreude at genin disappointment he typically enjoyed. He began laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Naruto asked.

"It's a final test with a failure rate of 66%. More than half of your class is likely to get sent back to the academy, and that includes you three."

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Naruto jumped up on to his feet, shaking. "I didn't bash Mizuki's face in just to be sent back with the trainees! What's even the point of the graduation test if you're going to pull this shit?!"

"It's theatrical. All meant to make you think you earned your position."

"That was to select candidates that have the potential to be genin." He kept himself from laughing at the worsening expression on the boy's face. "That's just how things are. I'll determine whether you pass or fail. Be at the practice fields at 5AM." The three of them quivered in their positions, each varying degrees of anxious, made him smile behind his mask. "Don't have breakfast or you'll puke it out. You're dismissed." With a gust of wind, he disappeared.

The three shared looks with each other before leaving.


When they got to the field with their packs on their backs, they were alone. The sun wasn't quite up yet, but it was a certainty it'd be when their leader decided to show himself. They sat and stood with their backs to each other. Each was too concerned with their positions as genin to care about talking.

Kakashi arrived two hours later with his own pack. "Morning everyone," he called out.

"You silver one-eyed, lazy ass cocksucker!" Naruto stood up and yelled.

Sakura scowled. "You're late!"

"A black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." He coughed as they grumbled at him. "Let's get started." He set down his back, took out a clock, and set it on a nearby post. "It's set for noon." Fishing out two bells from his pouch, he gave them a jangle. "You have to take these from me. If you can't get them by noon, you won't get lunch." He pointed at the post. "I'll tie you to those while I eat mine in front of you." Their stomachs growling nearly made him laugh.

"Wait a second, there's three of us." Sakura held out two fingers. "How come there's only two bells?"

"That way at least one of you will get tied to a post, disqualified, and sent back to the academy. All three of you could flunk though." He ignored their uneasy expressions. "You can use any weapon. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "And what happens if one of us kills you?"

"An interesting question, but it can only exist as a hypothetical: none of you have what it takes to actually kill me." He smirked beneath his mask at Naruto and Sasuke's shared expression. "When I say start, we begin." He gave the bells a jangle. "Okay, start!" Two of the three ran into the foliage, leaving Naruto standing alone in front of Kakashi. "Really? You're no–" A thrown kunai made him duck for a moment.

Naruto rushed in with a punch, which only met air as Kakashi leaned away. He shifted his extended arm and pivoted his foot to elbow him in the stomach, but he jumped back. "So you are good." He turned his body to face his jonin. "After killing Mizuki, I was thinking maybe ninja weren't hot shit after all."

"Mizuki was a chunin rusted from years behind a desk." Kakashi reached into his pouch. "Shinobi Battle Techniques Part 1: Taijutsu." He pulled out an orange book titled 'Make-Out Paradise' with a depiction of a man chasing a woman and began reading. A cry of seething rage nearly pulled him out of it. He ducked under a kunai just in time to see one pop out his novel. Looking up, he saw Naruto winding a right punch. He swayed to the side to nearly catch a left roundhouse to the face he avoided by bending back at an awkward angle. He popped back up, shut it best he could, and returned it along with the kunai to his pouch. "You–" He jumped to a nearby tree branch to avoid a gut punch and took cover behind it as Naruto began throwing shuriken. "Okay, you know taijutsu."

"Get down here, you son of a bitch! I'm not going to stop until I take out your good eye!"

"Then why would I get down?"

"Fuck you, smartass!" He glared at Kakashi as the man shook his head and disappeared into the forest. Shaking his own, he stomped over. "Pulling out smut in the middle of a…" A gleam at the bottom of the tree where Kakashi stood attracted his eye. He made a shadow clone, who approached and got snatched up by a rope trap. "Bitch, please." The clone vanished with a poof.

Kakashi zoomed by and grabbed the bell, ducking under another kunai. He slipped back into the forest. "And here I heard you had the worst grades in your class!"

"Class, ass! Everyone knows grades are nothing but nonsense that don't matter outside of the academy!" The lack of a response rightfully worried him, so he made several shadow clones. He walked back to the training area surrounded by five other Narutos and sat down while they stood guard. A girlish cry from the forest made him wince. "Sakura." He shook his head and started tapping his right finger on one of his left knuckles. After a few seconds, it started speeding up. He took several deep breaths and began shaking. The other copies also began quivering. "I don't want to go back. Never want to go back. Son of a bitch, why even have this test? I killed that slimy fuck Mizuki, infiltrated the Hokage library, and ran off with vital information while no one could do jackshit, doesn't that mean anything?" The other Narutos nodded and patted him on the back and shoulders.

"So eager to be an obedient lapdog."

He shook his head at the voice. "This is the only way." Another girlish scream broke his attention. "Oh for fuck's sake!" He stood up with his posse of himself and marched in the direction of the cry. It didn't take long for him to come across an unconscious Sakura and Sasuke up to his neck in dirt. Half of the Narutos stared at Sakura while the other half stared at Sasuke.

The Uchiha shot them a miserable look. "...Hey." He groaned as the group of Narutos burst into laughter. "Can you… Can you get me out of here?"

"What's in it for me?" A Naruto asked. "Yeah," another one spoke up, "what do I get out of it?" Some other gave him a snide look. "I know you don't like me."

"Those are real clones." Sasuke furrowed his brow. "You weren't even capable of a fake one." He nearly bit his lip when their expressions soured. "I'll help you out against Kakashi, and we both can pass rather than get kicked back to the academy."

The Narutos shared looks with each other before shrugging. "Okay, but I'm going to tell everyone about this whenever I want, and there is nothing you can do about it." The clones took out their kunai and stabbed into the ground around Sasuke. Soon enough, he could wriggle out on his own.

Dusting himself off, the boy in blue took a deep breath. "How did you last this long?" He started walking to the main area.

The Narutos followed, guarding the real one. "He pulled out a book in the middle of a fight, and I almost roundhoused him in the face after putting a kunai through it."

"Why didn't you take the bell instead of going for a kick?"

"...Well," one said. "Uh." Another rubbed the back of his head. "Shut up."

Sasuke shook his head. "That anger of yours is a glaring weakness." When the passed into the practice field, they saw Kakashi waiting for them in the middle, fiddling with his ruined book.

The man's good eye focused on them. "Oh hey, Sasuke." He glanced at the man/men beside him. "Naruto, Naruto, Naruto, Naruto, Naruto, and Naruto."

"Hey Kakashi!" One Naruto greeted back before being punched out of existence by both the real Naruto and Sasuke.

"Aww, I liked that one." His eye narrowed. "Where's Sakura?" The shared look the two gave him was something he could sympathize with, however much he disagreed with. "Yeeeaaaah, I know. There is a lot she needs work on. But really? You're just going to leave her behind?"

"Why should we save that raving simp?" Naruto asked. "I haven't even seen a fucking bruise on her."

Sasuke nodded. "She's useless and fainted at the first sight of me."

"Well, congratulations!" Kakashi shouted in a happy tone, getting them both to smirk. "You both failed!"

Naruto's clones disappeared, leaving him alone and shaking. "...What?"

"You can't possibly mean that!" Sasuke's hands balled into fists. "I am an excellent shinobi!'

Kakashi's eyes bore into them "Shinobi? All I see in front of me are two brats who are worse than scum: people who would abandon their comrades."

"Say what you will about the dumbass, but I'm no-"

"He's failing both of us, and you're still throwing me over the exploding paper tag," Naruto said aloud, not even registering it.

"Oh please, you never actually tried for anything other than the basic qualifications to graduate from the academy! I was actually at the top. I was the best!"

He'd been saving it for a rainy day, but he was beyond caring at that point. "And you're still nothing compared to Itachi." It took several seconds for his words to settle before he dodged a hasty punch aimed at his face. Kakashi was between them and choking them both out in seconds with one arm each.

"Uh," Sakura muttered, wandering back into the field and rubbing her eyes. "How long was I out?" She asked no one in particular. Her eyes blinked and widened once she saw the jonin hefting the two unconscious boys over his shoulders.

Kakashi turned to her and have an eye-smile. "Oh, hey! You're going to have lunch all for yourself before noon!"

"Did… Did we fail?"

He walked over to the posts and set the two down. "I haven't decided yet." He took out his rope and tied Naruto to the middle and Sasuke to the right. When they came to, he greeted them with an eye-smile as well. "Well if it isn't my sleeping pieces of shit." He opened his eye at the seething blue one. "You are eager to abandon your allies. Even when you did partner with someone, you thought nothing of them. And all it took to send you off into a blind rage was comparing you to someone. If Naruto was even serious, he could've knocked you out and killed you then and there!" His eye switched to the shaking orange one in question. "And you. Where to start? Attacking your opponent on your own without even trying to hide. Fantastic way of getting yourself killed. Same as provoking your own allies. What are you hoping to win with that anger and attitude of yours? All you're making is enemies!" He turned to make Sakura gulp. "You continue what you're doing and accomplish it, like you already have: nothing."

The girl hung her head. "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei."

"Apologize to yourself." He slammed his hand down on the timer before walking out to look at them all in the same disappointed manner. "None of you think like ninja. You think like immature children." His eye glared at the struggling two. "You think it's all about you. None of you know what it means to be a ninja. On every mission, your life is on the line." He walked back to the monument behind him. "Did any of you bother looking at this stone? The names engraved on it? They are all ninja honored as heroes in our village, all killed in action." He frowned beneath his mask. "The names of my closest friends are engraved here." He turned back to face the three. "I'm going to give you all one last chance, but it's going to be even harder for you. Eat up now so you'll have strength later." His one-eye blinked as he approached. "Oh wait, only Sakura can and Sakura can't give any to either of you or she'll be disqualified. Enjoy Sakura." He took out the bento boxes from his pack and handed them both to her. "I'll be back." He made the tiger seal and vanished.

Sakura opened up one of the boxes. "What happened while I was gone?" She grimaced as the boys looked away from each other. "Come on, what's the harm in telling me." Knowing Naruto blabbered about most things, she focused her eyes on him as she started munching. His shaking had only gotten worse since Kakashi declared they failed. "Naruto, what's wro–"

"Nothing!" He thrashed against his bindings. "Nothing is fucking wrong with me, you useless pink-haired bitch! Why are you even here?! You can't fight for shit! If you ever got attacked by chakra-less bandits, they'd bend your dead or dying ass over and see if the carpet matches the drapes while they're pounding away!" Tears swelling in the girl's eyes made him and Sasuke cringe.

"Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Oh don't you fucking start with me, gloomy cocksucker! You're only saying anything because you know she's going to cry otherwise! Not because you actually disagree or give a shit!"

Sakura saw the 'you're-right-but-please-shut-up' look in Sasuke's eyes and started bawling.

"Look, Sakura." The Uchiha took a deep breath and sighed. "I am not ready nor interested in a relationship. Right now, I want to get stronger, so I can fulfill my ambition. We can do that together and maybe something might come of it. But I'm not ready yet." He looked to Naruto. "Whether you like it or not, he and Kakashi have a point: your abilities are lacking. You and I can work on that or you and he can, though you probably don't want to right now."

Her sobbing began to stop as she nodded in understanding.

Naruto looked up at the sky, wishing to get lost in it. "...Why did Itachi do what he did?" He heard the news long ago. Many people refused to talk about it directly, but he heard enough: Itachi Uchiha, the prodigal genius, wiped out his entire clan. Bringing it up to old man Sarutobi only made him shake his head in sadness.

Sasuke kept silent at that. It was an excellent question he didn't want to think about. Good thing he was tied to a post or he'd be able to punch the question out of his mind through literally punching Naruto.

"Who's Itachi?" Sakura asked, voice still shaky.

"His brother," Naruto answered.

"Can we not talk about this now?" Sasuke asked before his stomach growled. Naruto's stomach following suit relieved him of embarrassment. "...Sakura, can you feed us?"

She frowned. "But you heard what Kakashi said." Her eyes glanced at Naruto. "And I don't really feel like feeding him."

"Do you think either of us will be able to help you without a full stomach against one-eyed lazy ass going even harder at us?" Naruto asked. "It's fail or fail at this point, may as well go down together and in style."

"He's right," Sasuke admitted. "We'll hand you our ninja tools to use. The dumbass and I can pressure him with our taijutsu, but we need food first. It's not like Kakashi's here."

Sakura hummed and nodded. "Alright. If we fail, we fail together at least." She gathered some rice together in a ball. Holding it out for Sasuke, she smiled. "Open up." She giggled as he reluctantly obeyed. As for Naruto, she just shoved the thing into his mouth with her bare hands.

And then Kakashi appeared in front of them, absolutely livid. "What did I say?!" He made a hand seal. "That food was meant for only Sakura!"

The girl in question swallowed a lump in her throat. "Oh, what's the point! I can't beat you alone, and they can't beat you without me feeding them! At least this way, we fail together!"

"Fail together?!" He relaxed his hands. "You pass."

"...What?" Naruto asked.

"You passed," Kakashi said again.

"How?" Sakura asked.

He gave an eye-smile. "You're the first squad that's actually succeeded my test. Everyone else fell into every trap. 'A ninja must see through deception.' Those that break the rules followed by ninja are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." He gave them a dramatic thumbs up. "Everyone passes! Team 7 has its first mission tomorrow."

All three relaxed.

Kakashi drew a kunai and cut the two boys loose, letting them drop. "I hope you've taken today's exercise to heart." He collected his clock.

Naruto collapsed to the floor as his two teammates and squad leader walked away. "I'm just going to take a nap right here."

"Make sure to be at your place tomorrow morning."

"I will…" He trailed off, more than mentally exhausted.

It was one thing to have immediately failed his graduation exam. Really, smashing through a panel of glass was a more pleasant experience than being threatened with going back to the academy. He hoped tomorrow was a better day. Unfortunately for him, he'd be met with more dissapointment.