Chapter 1

The summer heat washed over Konoha, embracing her residents in pleasant warmth. The sky was free of clouds allowing the sun's light spread over the entire village. The third training grounds was one of the many that boasted acres of shade-providing, forested land. Sakura was currently enjoying that amenity, laying under a tall tree with both hands behind her head. This is so nice, she thought contentedly, it was almost nice enough to make her forget that their new sensei was nearing three hours late. Not that she minded being forced to rest, her teammates weren't nearly as inclined to forgive and relax, however.

"Where is he!?" Naruto whined loudly from where he was pacing outside the shade's reach.

"Whining isn't going to make him get here any faster," her other teammate Sasuke reprimanded, taking a break from relentlessly assaulting a nearby tree with several kunai in the name of target practice. "Idiot," he added for good measure.

"Bastard!" Naruto retorted almost before Sasuke had finished insulting him, "I'll kick your ass-"

"Don't make promises you can't keep dumb ass." Sasuke cut him off, he turned to face him and threw a warning kunai a few inches to the side of his face.

Sakura was annoyed, to say the least, and she knew exactly where this was going. Years of the two boys constantly competing and bickering had taught her that the sooner you got between them the more likely it was that they'd actually stop. Not to mention that she had noticed a strange man crouched in the tree she was under about ten minutes ago. He'd winked at her with his one visible eye and held up his pointer finger in the universal shh symbol. I guess he's waiting for the boys to notice him, but I can at least give them a hint.

"If the two of you don't stop whining like children you're going to embarrass us in front of our new sensei, I wonder what your mothers will think." She sounded deceptively peaceful, but her boys recognized a threat when they heard one. Smiling while twisting the knife had been one of the first things Mikoto taught her.

"Sakuraa," Naruto whined, "Sasuke is being a bastard though."

Purposefully ignoring him Sasuke continued, "And our sensei isn't here anyway."

"Yeah!," Naruto yelled, not at all bothered by the lack of acknowledgment, "He's probably a-"

A hand plopping lazily onto Naruto's head cut him off, "At least one of you is aware of your surroundings." The mystery man said in a light-hearted tone, using his free hand to shoot finger guns at Sakura who was still relaxing in the grass.

"I assume you're our new sensei?" Sakura asked politely as she stood up and wiped the dirt off her back.

"Yup," he answered in an infuriatingly cheerful tone, well it was infuriating to Sasuke and Naruto. But before Naruto could start yelling again he continued, "Now let's all introduce ourselves." He pointed at Sakura who was now leaning against the same tree she had been laying under, "You first."

"My name is Sakura, my surname is debatable but we'll go with Haruno for now." Kakashi's visible eyebrow quirked at that, but he didn't interrupt. "I enjoy reading, cooking, and shopping. My goal is to be strong enough to be both a healer and a fighter so that I can protect my family." She finished her introduction with a little bow, though her tone was slightly mocking throughout.

"All right I'll go next!" Naruto shouted, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen, making friends, and cats." If possible Kakashi looked even more amused, "And my goal is to become Hokage and figure out who messed with my mom's seal." Kakashi let his amusement fade and gave Naruto a serious look.

"What does becoming Hokage have to with finding that person?" He asked the blonde.

Naruto gave it a moment's consideration, "I want to be Hokage because my dad was and…" He stopped again and tried to find the right words, "I never knew him, but maybe I can understand him better." Sakura had heard this before and she knows how much he hates talking about his dad, so she walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He gave her a sad smile and a thumbs up before looking back to Kakashi.

He looked carefully composed, with no discernable emotion present on the visible parts of his face. "That's admirable Naruto, and I believe we have one more introduction to hear." He informed them, and all three turned to face Sasuke.

Sasuke looked uncomfortable, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and I don't mind music, gardens, and when it's quiet." At that, he shot a light-hearted glare at Naruto, who stuck his tongue out in return. "And my goal is to prove my brother's innocence." Kakashi looked carefully neutral, Sakura couldn't tell what he thought of Sasuke's blatant defense of a known traitor.

"All three of you have interesting goals at least, much better than all the other teams I've failed." Kakashi teased, then he straightened his posture and adopted a more serious look. "My name is Kakashi Hatake, I like inappropriate things and beings as annoying as possible while expending minimal effort." The boys looked scandalized when they realized why he was several hours late. Reveling in their shocked expressions Kakashi continued before they could interject, "And my goal is to keep the three of you alive until you can take care of yourselves." He stopped and scratched his masked chin, "And maybe you'll learn something from me along the way."

"Hey-" Naruto started what was bound to be a speech about how he would regret refusing to teach the future Hokage, but Sakura took it upon herself to intervene.

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei, we'll be in your care," she gave a deep bow from the waist, holding the position until the boys took the hint and begrudgingly imitated her. Their sensei looked at the display, slightly disappointed at how she diffused the situation so quickly, but mostly impressed. Sakura could feel his eyes watching them, she was beginning to worry that they'd done something wrong when he started speaking again

"Alright, now for your test." The three of them straightened their backs and saw that Kakashi had a sinister smile as he dangled three bells in front of them. "All you need to do is take these bells from me." They had been told that their new sensei would test them but Sakura had been hoping it would be more of an academic test. "Take as long as you need to plan and then come get me," he said before disappearing in a flash of smoke. He reappeared about thirty meters away in the middle of the open field, where he promptly began reading a book.

"That little-" Naruto was cut off yet again by Sakura grabbing his collar before he could immediately engage. She dragged him into a huddle with Sasuke and said, "I have a plan if either of you would care to hear it." Neither objected so she began explaining.

Kakashi hadn't expected much from the three newly minted genin despite their family names. Naruto was quick to anger, Sasuke was full of himself and Sakura was intelligent but rarely stood out. At least that was what their academy reports had said. After their introductions, he saw them in a slightly better light but that didn't mean anything if Naruto would abandon his teammates as soon as he was frustrated. Sakura had caught him by the collar and they were currently huddled, but the blonde looked antsy, tapping his foot impatiently.

Right on cue, he yelled, "Screw this!" and ran straight for Kakashi. Idiot's gonna get his teammates killed if he can't control himself better than this. Kakashi was rethinking his earlier respect when Naruto unleashed at least fifty shadow clones. As he was dismissing them in droves he realized that the real Naruto wasn't charging, just creating more from a safe distance. This might be part of a plan. He glanced back to where the other two had been and saw that they were out of sight, but their chakra signatures revealed that they were just beyond the tree line. After about ten minutes of slaying Naruto clones, Kakashi figured he'd given the other two enough time to set up their little trap so he charged the real Naruto. Or he would have, had Sasuke not tore out of the forest like hell wasn't far behind, spitting fireballs directly at Kakashi. Not wanting to make their attempt at leading him too easy, he chose to dodge backward towards the river. He didn't get far before Naruto's clones came out of the water behind him, each one holding a couple of explosive tags. The explosion would have seriously hurt and been difficult to avoid, so Kakashi made it easier on all parties involved and leapt towards the forest. Sasuke circled to his side, the phoenix flower jutsu on his lips, and Naruto's clones completed the tunnel that was herding him towards a very specific section of trees. The trap better be damn good for all this effort, Kakashi thought bitterly and gave in, and vaulted into one of the trees they were angling him towards. He heard the wire snap before anything, felt the kunai dig a trench along his thigh before he could fully react, and then he was airborne watching the show below.

They say that familiarity breeds complacency, and that underestimating the enemy was a shinobi's death sentence. Both were proving true as Kakashi watched the cacophony of traps below him, wires flying in every direction, kunai, and senbon cutting off direct evasion options. None of the previous fresh out of the academy teams he'd tested before had come up with anything close to what their plan was shaping up to be. But they didn't consider I'd leap straight up it seems, or it seemed until a wave of Kunai flew at his left side forcing him to use a wind jutsu to push himself away. He landed on the ground at the base of one of the thicker trees and took a second to consider the contributions each member of the team had made. Both Naruto and Sasuke had been impressive if not surprising, they had attacked with the skills he'd known to expect. But was it Sakura that had organized them so effectively, was it she that had hidden the tripwire under a simple notice me not genjutsu? Very few genin came out of the academy knowing more about genjutsu than to shout kai when things started looking funny. He was currently ignoring all his instincts and pretending he didn't sense the mostly concealed chakra signature that had just crept up behind the tree he had his back to. I think they've earned a chance to win this. Then it hit him, his leg went numb and his mouth went slightly slack he leaned against the tree for support, exaggerating the effects of the poison. A kunai appeared at his throat an explosive tag attached to the end. Well color me impressed, genjutsu, poison and chakra concealment, none very developed, but there's potential, Kakashi thought as the weak paralysis completely wore off.

"I'm not foolish enough to think that any of this actually got you sensei," Sakura began, she was standing at the edge of his peripheral vision, her free hand positioned in the snake sign. "But I hope we've shown enough potential to pass your test."

"Ever the modest one Sakura," Kakashi said with a chuckle, he erected his posture and Sakura withdrew her kunai. "You've shown plenty of potential Sakura-chan," and held out a bell for her. As she hesitantly reached for it, Sasuke and Naruto walked into the little clearing and he said, "Your teammates, however, need one more test." With that said he cast a genjutsu on them, one hand quickly racing through the hand signs. Their eyes glazed over and a few seconds later Kakashi released them. Sasuke rocketed towards her shouldering her violently to the ground several feet away as Naruto stood guard between her and Kakashi.

"What the hell guys!?" Sakura yelled while nursing her bruised collarbone, "I was about to get a bell!"

"But he was gonna...hurt you." Naruto's righteous anger faded towards the end as he realized what had happened.

"It was a trap Sakura, there's no way he would've passed you first," Sasuke informed her his eyes never leaving Kakashi. Sakura balked at his holier than thou tone and looked to the ground"Naruto and I did all the fighting." He tried to amend his first statement but it just made him sound like more of an ass, it didn't help that his back was still to her. Yikes, looks like I've got my work cut out for me, Kakashi thought as he chucked a bell over the boy's heads, Sakura heard the delicate ring and looked up, catching the bell. She looked at it for a second and then tightened her fist giving Kakashi a vindictive smile.

"Let's take a walk," Kakashi said cheerfully.

Pissed was an understatement, Sakura was writhe with hell's fury. It led to an admittedly awkward walk to the entrance of the third training grounds where three thick posts stood. The sun was much closer to the horizon than when they had begun, it was approaching five o'clock or so. Kakashi leaned up against the middle post, each one was well worn after years of being used for target practice. He was silent for a minute, long enough that Sakura was about to tell the boys exactly how she felt.

"Boys," Kakashi unknowingly cut her off, "why did Sakura get a bell?"

"Because she's awesome!" Naruto shouted without a second thought. She hated to admit it, but that did a lot to lessen her anger at him.

"It was her plan." Sasuke muttered, looking at the ground.

"Ok, and?"Kakashi didn't seem pleased with either of those explanations.

After a bit of awkward silence interrupted by Naruto repeatedly saying um and gasping like he'd come up with something, only to sigh and repeat the cycle. Kakashi either pitied them, or grew annoyed with their denseness, and asked another question. "OK, why did the two of you not get a bell?"

"I don't know." Sasuke said almost as soon as the question was asked. Naruto took a minute to think about it.

"You didn't like that we tried to protect Sakura-chan." Naruto almost asked nervously, "Right?"

"I don't mind that you want to protect your teammate Naruto," Kakashi told him. "But why do you think I didn't like it in this instance?"

"It was a test."Sasuke answered again in a cold voice.

"Ok Sasuke, let me ask you this, do you think you could fight a jonin?" Kakashi asked in a stern voice. After Sasuke didn't answer Kakashi continued, "Anymore than Sakura can?" Naruto gasped like he'd finally understood, but Kakashi held up his hand and kept looking at Sasuke. "Did it not look like Sakura had the situation under control?" He was gaining momentum now and Sasuke was refusing to make eye contact. "I showed you a moment's fear and you jumped in, if this were a real mission you could've gotten both of you killed." If it was possible to set the ground on fire with only a gaze, Sasuke would be doing it. "Naruto tell me why you and Sasuke don't have a bell now." Kakashi finally released Sasuke from his gaze and looked to Naruto.

Naruto looked up from the ground and answered, "Because we didn't trust Sakura-chan, even though she's a badass and knew what she was doing." He finished and looked back at the ground withdrawing into guilt. He didn't notice the bell coming at him until it bounced off his head and into his confused grasp.

He didn't say anything, just looked at the bell and thought about everything that had happened. Kakashi accepted his silence and started talking to Sasuke again. "Sasuke, why don't you have a bell?" He didn't respond and showed no sign that he intended to. In the blink of an eye, Sasuke was pinned to the middle post, that Kakashi had been leaning up against. Then he tied him to the post before he could recover and stepped away, turning his back to Sasuke and addressing the other two. "Sakura, Naruto, it's time to train." He led them a couple yards away and had them spar. For the next hour or so they worked on Sakura's hand to hand against Naruto's clones. Then they moved to genjutsu, Kakashi taught Sakura a new illusion and had her use it repeatedly on Naruto. After an hour or so of that, he handed each genin a slip of paper.

"Channel your chakra into these," Kakashi offered them as an explanation. Sakura did it immediately, but Naruto needed more help from their sensei.

"Eww, what does wet dirt mean." Sakura asked slightly disgusted as she whipped her hand back and forth, slinging mud onto the ground. As she was asking, Naruto's piece tore down the middle, and then each slip continuously halved itself until it was dust.

"Looks like Sakura-chan has an earth affinity with a strong water secondary affinity." Kakashi happily informed, "And Naruto has the same affinity as his dad, wind."

Naruto looked so stupidly happy that Sakura couldn't help but pull him into a tight hug. "Are you going to teach us a jutsu Kakashi-sensei?" She asked after she finished hugging Naruto.

"We'll start with channeling your chakra into your element, but let's wait until tomorrow's training session." Kakashi told them with a glance towards Sasuke who was still tied up. "Here's some basic information for you to read first," he said, pulling two small scrolls out of his kunai pouch and tossed one at each of them. Then they walked back to where Sasuke had been for several hours. "Do you know why you don't have a bell Sasuke?" Kakashi asked him again.

"I'm overconfident." Sasuke's voice was tired.

"That's right, you're cocky, and pride is only beneficial in small doses." He cut Sasuke down and asked him another question, "That said, how can you help your teammates with their training, and how can they help you?"

Sasuke thought about the question for a few seconds. "I can help with ninjutsu, my clan has been training me in using elemental chakra since I was a kid." Sasuke's eyes were fixed on the ground, "Naruto can help me with my taijutsu, and Sakura can help me with genjutsu and chakra control."

Kakashi looked pleased with Sasuke for the first time since the test had begun. He was slightly more aware than Naruto had been and caught the bell Kakashi-sensei threw at him. "That's only the beginning of how far you can push each other, but good job."

Sasuke looked up at his Sensei and then his teammates and smiled. Naruto immediately went in for a hug, and both of them looked expectantly at Sakura. "If either of you doubts me like that again, you'll be working a lot harder for my forgiveness." Sakura stood her ground for a moment letting each of them nod in affirmative before she joined the group hug.

Their sensei looked pleased by the reunion, "That's it for today, be here tomorrow at 7am sharp." Kakashi-sensei told them before he disappeared in a plume of smoke. On the walk home Sasuke gave them tips on the things he'd noticed after being forced to watch their practice, Sakura was mostly lost in thought. That could've been a lot worse, Sakura thought contentedly when their house came into view. But tomorrow will be better. Before she knew it they were at their shared home in the Uchiha district. She and the boys went inside, eager to tell their parents about their first day as genin.

A/N

So this is out a little later than I'd expected, I wrote it earlier in July but I was too busy to edit it. I'm not entirely pleased with the pacing but I'm still getting the hang of that. I hope to start making the chapters closer to 4,000/5,000 words (this ones at about 3.5) But other than that I'm pretty happy, so please review, it really encourages me to get to it when I know y'all are enjoying the story!

-Bruce