Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage, surrounded by a few other jonin who had been assigned a team. His entire body was protesting at every movement and his stomach was especially tender.

His cute little genin had carried him to the hospital after the punch Naruto had dealt him had sent him into unconsciousness. He had been seen to by a medic-nin who had kindly informed him that they had had to repair several internal injuries in emergency surgery. The man informed Kakashi that whatever he had done, he was not to do it again without more supervision than his three genins.

Kakashi hadn't bothered to explain to the medic-nin that it was one of his three genins who had destroyed his intestines in the first place and had taken some rest.

When he had awakened, Naruto was waiting for him to come to with a frown on his face and looking at his flexing fist. Next to him was Sasuke who looked at the blond with an intensity worthy of an Uchiha. Last was Sakura who was pacing worriedly. The girl had been the first to notice him and had apologized profusely despite having done nothing, swearing she would watch "her no good teammate" in the future. Sasuke didn't say a word. Naruto, however, looked at him with apologetic eyes and a sad grimace that prompted Kakashi to reassure him. It wasn't the boy's fault, he should have been more careful, yadda yadda.

Despite the kids' protest - well save Sasuke, jeez, the Uchiha was cold - Kakashi had left his bed and limped to the Hokage Tower where the Sandaime awaited him for his debriefing. And so, here he was, his tense grimace of pain hidden by his facemask, sweat rolling from his back, listening to his colleagues saying why they failed or passed their own genin cell.

"Team eight is a pass," announced a woman named Kurenai Yuhi, one exotic, red-eyed beauty with dark hair. "They showed good cohesion, good shinobi skills and remarkable teamwork."

"Team ten is a go," said a tall and stocky bearded man, his short but messy black haired slicked backwards, an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips. Asuma Sarutobi grinned lightly. "Shikamaru is a genius and got a plan in under twenty seconds. The other two followed with great precision."

"Good, good," approved the Sandaime, satisfied with the team that had passed. "And you Kakashi? What says team seven?"

The white-haired jonin grimaced. "We have a problem, Sandaime-sama."

The old man cocked his eyebrow worriedly before he eyed Kakashi suspiciously. "Kakashi, if you haven't-"

The jonin rose placating hands in front of him and shook his hands. "No, Sandaime-sama. I had to pass them because he recognized an opportunity for an exit door. I still wanted to test them today so I gave them the bell test."

Whispers arose from the jonin assembled in the room. Team seven was the team with that boy and this other boy, right? Why would Kakashi pass them like that? Had the Sandaime given him special orders? Assuredly, it was for the Uchiha, right?

"And? I see no problem with that. On the contrary, I find it is an excellent initiative."

"Naruto is stronger than me."

The bomb silenced the entire office.

"Kakashi-"

"Sandaime-sama. I know my reputation. However, If there is a time you need to take me seriously despite how ludicrous it sounds, it's now. Naruto is stronger than me. He appears to possess physical abilities on par with Gai and that was without actively boosting himself with chakra, just his latent circulating energy."

The Hokage stared at Kakashi intently and the white-haired jonin returned the look.

"You're serious," commented the old man, his tone of voice neutral.

"Yes. I am. I'm also inclined to believe that Naruto didn't show me his peak strength today."

The Hokage swallowed. "What? How would you deduce that?"

Kakashi chuckled nervously. "The name of his finisher?"

"Finisher?" The old man mumbled.

Kakashi scratched his neck in embarrassment. "Mountain shattering thundering missile, mildly serious."

Someone in the room laughed.

"It caught me in the stomach and burst several important things in there."

Whoever was laughing stopped.

The Hokage nodded. "I see. Jonin Hatake, I commend you for doing your duty. Go to the hospital and rest. Your team will be seen to tomorrow."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," said Kakashi, allowed the strain of pain to enter his voice.

A new day rose upon Konoha and team seven gathered, minus their sensei, in training ground three. Naruto arrived last, holding a half-eaten sandwich and reading his father's small notebook on sealing.

He felt Sakura give him a curious look. Sasuke's eyes had been trained on him as soon as he had been in view. Naruto nodded in their general direction and mumbled a "hello" over his mouthful of food, making Sakura grimace. The blond boy stopped against a training post and slid down on his bottom, continuing his reading.

After ten minutes spent in silence, only disturbed by the sounds of the birds and other animals living in the trees around the three genins, Sakura eventually approached Naruto, sitting in seiza at a respectful -careful?- distance.

"Hum, Naruto?"

The blond looked away from the small book and smiled at the girl. "Yes?"

Sakura felt her cheek heat up at the sight, finding the boy curiously handsome for a second before silently berating herself. Sasuke was the one and only for her, she wasn't going to be so frivolous as to find Naruto good-looking.

Okay, he was but that was not the point here. The pink-haired girl swallowed and steeled her nerves. "What are you reading?"

"A book on sealing," answered the blond without hesitation. As if to prove it, he showed the girl the pages he was reading.

Sakura could only gape slightly in amazement at what she saw. The pages were covered in esoteric scribbles and nearly indecipherable text. A quick glance revealed she understood absolutely nothing. She nodded politely, her confusion regarding Naruto growing.

He had been some sort of clown during their years attending the Academy, rarely being present, doing his own things, forcing their teachers -and sometimes a bunch of other ninjas- to track him across the village. If Sakura were honest with herself, she didn't think highly of the blond boy.

Yet, he packed a punch powerful enough to send their sensei to the hospital and was also reading up on fuinjutsu. The most difficult ninja art there was to learn. Only advanced iryojutsu was seen to be remotely as complicated.

Maybe Naruto knew medicine too? Who knew what mysteries the blond had in reserve?

Sakura's excitement abated and she mentally snorted. No, there was no way he was that good. No one could learn the science of healing while being a mere Academy student.

Right?

"Sakura?"

The pink-haired girl startled. "Yes?"

"You were looking at me funny."

Sakura blushed an interesting shade of red. "Ah ah ah, no way, I was totally not," she chuckled nervously. "Anyway, I, err, wanted to know if you would help me train today?"

Naruto shrugged, apparently deciding Sakura denying she totally had been looking at him funny was not important, and smiled again. "Sure. I'm not sure what we're supposed to do today so let's wait a bit. If someone comes to replace Kakashi-sensei, it would be no good to exhaust yourself right now."

"Oh, sure, sure."

"You can stretch though. That'll keep you warmed up." Naruto offered. "Also, active. It's no good to lose too much time because of lazy jonins."

Sakura was going to nod her ascent when a voice belonging to an older male interrupted them.

"Who's a lazy jonin?"

All three genins whirled to face and look at a man who had suddenly appeared in their midst. He had short, spiky brown hair, quite dark. Below his armoured brow, two black eyes were surveilling the three young genins with unblinking intensity.

"Kakashi-sensei is definitely lazy," answered Naruto eventually. He was smiling at the newcomer and nodded sagely.

The man was good enough that he had felt him only at the very last moment, a second barely before he had spoken. That was a happy thought for Naruto: there was still progress to be made in some fields.

He might be far from enthused at the idea of being a ninja but the ninja arts themselves, he liked to study and practice.

"I won't approve or deny that," said the man. "I'm jonin Tenzo and I'll be supervising you for the next three days until your titular sensei is fit again."

The genins nodded but none spoke, waiting for their new superior officer to elaborate.

"We'll work on teamwork and personal training. The… assessment of Hatake-san was… skewered by unforeseen elements," the man explained, throwing a pointed glance at Naruto, who rubbed the back of his head.

"Good teamwork is the first, basic weapon of a good unit. Individually average ninjas will become a force to be reckoned with if their teamwork is flawless. The InoShikaCho formations of the Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka clans are a prime example of that here in Konoha. It means the difference between life and death," the jonin lectured. "However, if a team is more than its individual parts, it's ultimately only as resilient as the weakest link. Hence why individual capacity is important. We'll alternate between teamwork and personal exercise for the coming days. Understood?"

"Yes," answered Sakura, while Sasuke nodded and Naruto smiled.

For Sakura Haruno, life had never been as strange as since she had been promoted to genin and joined team seven. Her life-goal had been achieved this fateful day when her Sasuke-kun -her, not Ino's, definitely, absolutely not Ino's- had been placed in the same team as her.

She was happy then, life was beautiful, and she was going to live it to the fullest. Yes, she would indulge in her fantasies and sweep Sasuke-kun off his feet and they would marry and have plenty of pink-haired Uchiha children. It would be so perfect.

Except, Fate had also decided to throw a boy-sized wrench in her perfect plan in the person of Uzumaki Naruto. She had never thought much of him. He was a boy who always skipped class, a good-for-nothing who would never amount to much. The first problem was, he was in her team.

She had immediately decided that it would be of no consequence until the blond unknow started to act up, forcing Sasuke into having a team lunch, apparently from sheer physical force. Then, the roof incident had happened. It showed two things. The first, that hurt plenty, was that Sasuke was clearly unhinged - to what extent, Sakura had no idea - and that the Uchiha boy, the target of her affection, didn't give a Ryo about her. She had been in the line of fire and he hadn't cared for a second about burning her alive.

The second was that Naruto was very far from being good for nothing.

Her brain quickly decided to bury the incident somewhere deep and Sakura successfully convinced herself that she would be fine and that her grand goal of becoming Madame Uchiha after living a life of mildly dangerous adventures with her knight in shining armour Mister Uchiha himself was still a perfectly reasonable and doable thing.

Then, Naruto tore through all that by calling her weak and submitting her through a hellish physical regimen he had cooked himself. She still wasn't sure why she had accepted the hand he had offered her on this day. His words had seemed so convincing, especially the "you're going to die a trash death and I'll mock you when you're six feet under" part, that she suddenly had not been willing to take the chance. She could not become Madame Uchiha if she died stupidly during a C-rank gone slightly wrong.

After a month spent with her team, she had to admit to several things. She was so behind her teammates in basically everything that it hurt. She thought herself knowledgeable and intelligent and she had been the "kunoichi of the year" but it did not mean squat.

Sasuke had been "shinobi of the year" with even better results than her - not that she had hoped to be a competition of course - but the problem was Naruto. Naruto was far from being stupid. He had been dead last for one single reason.

He couldn't be bothered.

The blond studied fuinjutsu, was a taijutsu monster, knew plenty of things about stealth and survival and was even proficient with medicine, damn him! He more than dabbled in the two most difficult arts of the ninja world without even realizing how incredible it was.

She had thought herself better than Naruto. Truth was, she definitely wasn't. She had probably realized that when she had taken his offer for help.

After a month of working out like mad, she had closed the distance a bit and had come to realize the second truth of the situation.

She had been dieting, exercising to the minimum, trying to achieve a perfect figure for Sasuke who couldn't be arsed to care in the first place. That had been the most retarded decision of her life.

By eating a healthy amount of healthy food and exercising under Naruto's authority, she had soon gotten herself the very body she had dreamed of. Toned, lean, perfectly tanned and just exuding good health.

She still ritualistically banged her forehead every morning against her dresser for her stupidity.

Lastly and probably the most confusing thing about the entire situation, was her considering her life-goal under a brand new light after being with Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei for four weeks.

Sasuke Uchiha was a boy of few words. There had been a time when he used to speak but it had ended on a night he still had nightmares about. Since then, speaking meant being with other people and other people were a distraction from his goal. His goal suffered no twist or turn. The ghosts following him were constantly screaming for vengeance and anything that disrupted his focus made the screams of the sinister procession go weaker and weaker.

Sasuke did not want that. He did not want for the screams to stop because he had callously ceased to hear them. He wanted them to stop out of content, satisfaction, of vengeance taken and consumed, eaten cold like any good vengeance. It could not be any other way, he would not have it. He would not betray his family like that man had. He would live when the deads were at peace.

He didn't even want to be a ninja, truth be told. Becoming one was simply the most immediate solution to gain the necessary skills to kill that man. In another life, it would have been the immediate solution to gain the approval of his father but that time was no more.

He couldn't care less about Konoha, their fake smile, their pity, the useless fangirls. The only reason he needed the village was to develop his power in an environment that would give him the opportunity to do so. Honestly, had Iwa be a safe bet he would have left to Earth Country. The thing was, Iwa would harvest his eyes and his semen and would then kill him, at least most probably.

So Konoha it was.

Even if the old, senile Hokage had passed an infuriating law that prevented Sasuke to graduate early like his abilities should have given him the right to. Even when the fangirls had harassed him to the point he had contemplated killing one or two just to make a point. Even when he had been put on a team with the worst of the female vultures that pretended to care for him and the useless dead-last.

Who wasn't dead-last at all.

That, most of all, infuriated Sasuke to no end. How the clanless orphan had become so ridiculously powerful, enough to run in circle around him and knock their jonin-sensei out, was an endless source of torment for him. For what did it mean if not that Sasuke himself was nothing but talentless in the end? He should have been stronger, faster, more knowledgeable as his Uchiha blood destined him to be. His line was made from geniuses after geniuses! And if he was talentless, how could he ever hope to defeat that man, who had been a miracle shinobi?

Yet here he was, trying to piece together the mystery that was Naruto Uzumaki, following the enthusiastic blond boy's orders as he led Sakura and him through the gauntlet of his crazed routine.

Truly it was ridiculous. Sasuke had always been fit but he could feel himself becoming better day after day, now that he was following Naruto's recommendations. It wasn't only physical: the blond boy's taijutsu was refined enough to put the Uchiha style to the test and Sasuke was becoming a better taijutsu fighter day after day.

Never would the Uchiha boy have thought that he would find such a measuring stick among his own generation. Konoha had been the safe if boring bet to gain power but now, now it had finally become… interesting.

It wasn't fun. Fun was not allowed in the life of Sasuke Uchiha. It was somewhat refreshing, however, to see that the empty praise of the Academy instructors had been nothing but that. It was stimulating to have someone to compete against.

Even if the competition was one-sided and Naruto didn't seem to actually care about being the best. Sasuke knew more ninjutsu than the blond Uzumaki, the Uchiha was better at it but Naruto didn't give a shit. Understandable, given he was better in taijutsu, just as good in shurikenjutsu, and studied iryo- and fuinjutsu, two arts Sasuke had not the faintest idea about.

The strangest thing in this new situation was the insistence of Naruto about the team members being friendly to each other. Sasuke was loath to admit it but he would not have progressed as fast and as much as he had if Naruto had not willingly shared his knowledge and included Sakura and Sasuke in his routine. The blond Uzumaki included his teammates, sometimes forcefully, in any team activity he could think of.

That included taking some downtime and spending idle time together, something that had been wholly unknown to Sasuke before. His days had been fully spent training until exhaustion, sleep, and repeat. Naruto had demonstrated with medical books how that was "utterly retarded" - in his own words - to do so. Reluctantly, Sasuke had to admit allowing his body to rest yielded better results.

The problem, for Sasuke, was that all this downtime he was spending with his teammates made the screams of the ghosts go weaker by the day and it was bothering him less and less. That was not something he was okay with. He could not be okay with it. He would be a coward if he were.

It was a fine morning for Konoha. The sky was blue, the trees were green, swaying in a gentle breeze, the air held a hint of flowery smell. Everything indicated it would be a good day. Sasuke Uchiha did not care about any of that. The dark-haired boy was warming up for the daily lesson with determination etched in his features.

"'llo, Broody McBrood."

Sasuke twitched and glared at the blond Uzumaki who had just rudely greeted him. He wasn't being broody, he was being determined. Couldn't the idiot tell the difference!? "Hn," he answered, as disdainfully as he could.

"You know, normal people use words to speak. If you keep not using them, we'll all think you have a serious problem."

"What. Is it. You want?" Sasuke ground through his teeth.

"Wow, take a deep breath Sasuke, I'm not here to fight or anything. I wouldn't greet you that way either if you allowed yourself to smile once in a while."

"I don't smile."

"No, indeed you don't. And I think that is part of your problem. You see, I just began a book on psychology."

Sasuke felt his eyes go wide. "Please no," he mumbled before he could stop himself.

Naruto smiled brightly. "Please yes. You see, I'm only forty pages in but I already read a bunch of interesting stuff. About depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, raptus and all that jazz."

"Shut up and leave me alone?" Tried the Uchiha, a hint of desperation creeping in his voice. It wasn't the first time the two boys were having this kind of conversation. Since the rooftop incident, as they modestly called it, Naruto had apologized to Sasuke, two times actually, and Sasuke had had to reflect on how flying off the handle wasn't good. The problem, as the Uchiha saw it, was that the Uzumaki kept on trying to "open him to the world".

"No can do, you know that we're a team now and all that. You need friends Sasuke. You need people to talk to and more importantly, you need to talk about it."

The Uchiha sent a patented glare at the blond boy. "I. Do not. Talk about it."

"No, you don't and that's the second part of your problem," explained Naruto with a sudden seriousness that took Sasuke by surprise. "The mind can create roadblocks that make all progress impossible come a certain stage. Or worst, barriers that make all progress worthless when faced with certain situations. The fact you never were counselled by a Yamanaka is a serious breach of every single recommendation of the Konoha medical charter of shinobi. I know, I read them. It should be obvious for anyone that losing your entire family at age eight would cause trauma yet you somehow got through the net."

"I don't need help!" Sasuke retorted heatedly. "That's none of your fucking business and if you don't shut your trap, I swear I'll attack you again."

"Oh, Kami's sake, listen, you blockheaded Uchiha bastard! When I say it's not normal I mean in a suspicious kind of way! You didn't hear when I said "mental blocks" or what? Someone made sure you didn't get the help you needed. Someone who probably wish you harm!"

That stumped Sasuke. He didn't feel like he needed help, he didn't want help, he was perfectly fine as it was. That was exactly something someone who was in need of help would say. What if truly he was mentally addled by the massacre of his entire family? What if seeing that man murder his parents right in front of him had had some impact on him? What if the mysterious genjutsu that man had used to make Sasuke live through the slaughter had caused some long term effects?

...

Nah, couldn't be right? He was Sasuke Uchiha after all and…

"Stop it! Stop right now!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, startling Sasuke out of his thoughts. "Your body language is telling me you reached a completely retarded conclusion! Abort, abort! You are going to a Yamanaka to talk about that night and you're going to get some serious help, Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke recoiled. "I don't wanna!"

Naruto had his arms crossed in front of his chest and his right foot was tapping the ground while his blue gaze was pinning Sasuke on the spot. The blond Uzumaki, who had nothing in common physically speaking, with Sasuke's mother, was looking terrifyingly like her right at this moment. "Don't make me drag you there by pulling you by the ear."

Sasuke swallowed thickly. Why was a boy his age having so much effect on him right now?

Oh right. Because Naruto was entirely capable of pulling him by the ear to the Yamanaka compound and there was nothing Sasuke would be able to do. Much like Sasuke's mother had been able to when it had been time to go to the hairdresser.

"That-that's none of your business!"

"We're teammates. Your mental health translates directly to my and Sakura's physical health. Yours also. It is my fuking business, seeing as Kakashi doesn't have the guts to force it upon you. Do you know the fool hopes you're gonna go by yourself? Or at least request it to him? I've been patient for a month now but we'll soon begin our first C-rank missions and I ain't dying cause you're not at one hundred per cent. I'm not burying Sakura because. You. Fucked. Up," said Naruto in a threatening tone, punctuating the last part with as many jabs at Sasuke's chest. "I'm not marking your tombstone with "he was a moron who didn't take the help freely offered to help him get over the traumatic incident of his childhood", you got me, Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sasuke felt something hit him in the back. Startled, he realized he had taken several steps back and that he was now leaning against a training post, Naruto looming over him like some sort of incarnation of brotherly concern and admonishment.

"Do I drag you there?"

"N-no."

"Good. I warned Kakashi and Sakura already. I'm escorting you there."

All hope of secretly escaping Sasuke still held vanished. He knew Naruto was better than him at stealth, in addition to being faster and stronger anyway.

Naruto dropped Sasuke in front of the hospital, where an appointment with the Yamanaka clan head had been already taken by Kakashi, after Naruto had hounded for a week and a half, going as far as to threaten his older brother with the destruction of his Icha Icha emergency collection.

After making sure Sasuke did not try to escape and only once the Uchiha had been ushered inside Inoichi Yamanaka's consultation room did Naruto finally leave the hospital.

Taking a leisurely walk down the main street, the blond took a few turns and eventually found himself back to training ground three, where Sakura was stretching under the watchful gaze of Kakashi.

"Kakashi!" Bellowed Naruto angrily, "stop reading your trash for five seconds and actually do your job! Sakura is still stretching wrong! I swear to Kami I will wreak havoc if you don't change this habit of yours!"

The white-haired jonin lowered his little orange book and slipped it quickly inside one of his pouch. "Mah mah Naruto, Sakura isn't doing too bad and I can't be always there. She needs to learn how to correct her forms herself."

Naruto slowly raised his right fist, tightened it and pointed at it with his left index finger. Then, utterly silent, he pointed at Kakashi and made a punching motion with his right hand.

The jonin paled slightly under his mask. "Alright, alright, no need to get mad. Sakura, Naruto is right, your back needs to be a bit straighter and your left foot need to go forward two or three inches."

Sakura smiled at the blond boy. "Hello, Naruto. Thanks, sensei."

A few minutes after, the girl finished her warming routine. "So what are we doing today? Since Sasuke isn't available?"

"Mah mah, let's not change our habits too much yeah? You'll spar with Naruto for a while and then-"

"Sensei? Why don't I spar with you for a change? I mean, I'd have better luck landing a hit on you than on Naruto at this point."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Precisely," said the jonin with something akin to bitterness in his voice. "Because he is so much better than me, you'll progress faster if you work with him."

"Now, now, Kakashi-sensei," interjected Naruto. "Please don't pout. You could work as hard as your students and get better than me ya know?"

Kakashi allowed his one eye to trail upon Naruto. "Yeah, I'll consider it."

"You always say that,' pointed Naruto in a dry voice.

"Yeah, I know," answered Kakashi with an eye smile.

"You're infuriating. Sakura, let's get to it."

An hour of trashing later, the pink-haired girl was eventually allowed a rest. Exhausted and full of bruises, she leaned against a post, refusing to sit down. "Say, Naruto?" The girl suddenly asked between deep, regulated breaths.

"Yes?" The blond answered, looking fresh and ready as if one hour of taijutsu sparring had not just occurred as far as he was concerned.

"You're infuriating too," breathed Sakura mutedly. The girl shook her head lightly and collected her thoughts. "There is a strange rumour going 'round about you."

"All good thing I hope?"

Sakura hesitated. "Hum… Yeah?" The rumour was ridiculous as far as she was concerned. She didn't even know why she even entertained it. "I'd say it's good if it weren't so impossible."

"What is it?"

Sakura laughed a little. "People say you're the son of the Yondaime." The girl giggled again. "They even go as far as saying that was information released by the Hokage himself. But… it's ridiculous, right?" She asked, eyeing Naruto, who was impassively looking straight at her.

The gaze quickly unnerved Sakura who started to fidget. "Right?"

Still silent, Naruto fished in his vest for something. A second later, the boy gave Sakura what looked to be a piece of paper. The girl realized it was a photo. A colour photo of the fourth Hokage. She gasped. The only pictures she had ever seen of Konoha's most famous hero had been in black and white.

The man in the frame was staring at her with the exact same unnerving gaze Naruto was giving her right now. He had the same blue eyes, the same blond hair - a trait unique in Konoha, now that Sakura was thinking about it - and the same sharp cheekbones. Slowly, her eyes drifted from the photo to Naruto and back to the photo.

"No way," she whispered breathlessly. "No fucking way. But why? How?" The girl flailed for a second. "What? But then? And that…" Her voice died, drowned by her confusion. She threw a glance at the blond boy, who was still looking at her impassively.

"If it's not enough, I have the official papers," said Naruto eventually, breaking his silence.

Sakura shook her head. "No, no. It's just. Wow. I'm trying as hard as I can to not go down that road but… Is it the reason..?"

"The reason I'm so good? Absolutely. Fucking. Not! I don't know if you realized but he was a pretty lousy father, dying the day I was born, leaving me absolutely nothing. I know since barely two months anyway. All I got, I got it myself. Hard work and work hard, that's it, for four years. The reason it's being revealed now is honestly not something you need to concern yourself about. It's for the older generations in the village. To rub their face in the ignominy of something they did."

"S-something… Something they did?"

"Yup. As I say, not really yours to worry about. Ask your parents if you want to know." Naruto offered with a wave of his hand. "Let's be clear, that changes nothing between us. We're still teammates and as long as you're not in shape, you're still Bubblegum."

Sakura groaned.

AN: Hum, err, yeah. I have nothing to say. Leave a review if you feel like it.