Naruto was a good sensei. He was kind but he was fair. He was brawns but that didn't mean he didn't have brains. So, when his students did something so monumentally stupid he had to punish them.

They were currently lined up next to each other. All eyes were downcast as they were all ashamed. He thought it was as it should be. He was not pleased with his students. And that was a severe understatement. His arms were crossed above his chest as his azure irises glared into the souls of his genin.

"What the hell were you thinking?" His voice had always been heavy and booming but never had it taken to scaring them shitless.

"Sensei, we-" her little voice squeaked and he hated it but he couldn't hide his anger.

"It was rhetorical, Sakura!" He interrupted her fiercely causing the only female to flinch and the males to move closer to her sides. He took a moment to calm himself minimally. "You could have died if I hadn't shown up. Sasuke, I understand your hatred for your brother and your need to kill him in cold blood but you are nowhere near ready to face him. What's worse is you got your team involved in your schemes and nearly got them killed." He whirled on Kakashi. "And you. I expected more out of you, Kakashi. You're the most mature one here and you made the call to aid Sasuke in his endeavors. What would either of you had done if Sakura had ended up dead? Unlike you two she wasn't deemed a prodigy. She has no great name to back her abilities."

"Naruto-sensei, please—!" Sakura started again desperate for him to listen.

"Sakura—!" He warned but she wasn't yielding twice.

"We weren't going to fight Sasuke-kuns brother!" And this shut him up bringing about his curiosity.

"Then what were you doing?"

She looked to her left then her right, Sasuke and Kakashi were going to let her have the stage. She held her hands out and they unconsciously took one in their own. "We were trying to get you tickets to that Ramen convention."

"We were only going to the next village over. Got permission from the Godaime." Kakashi said oddly in a rather timid fashion but giving Sakura's hand a squeeze.

"We didn't know Itachi would be there. It was only supposed to be some stupid scavenger hunt contest. But I saw Itachi and—" Sasuke couldn't bring himself to finish. He was embarrassed that he reacted so carelessly.

Sakura squeezed his hand and finished for him. "—He lost control of himself, Naruto-sensei. But we couldn't just let him go up against him on his own. Kakashi-kun and I just sort of fell into step with him. Like it was instinct to aid him regardless of the enemy's power."

Naruto released a long tired breath. His genin were only trying to get him a gift. Wouldn't it technically be his fault that they ran into trouble? If not for him they would never have been there in the first place. He assessed them. They didn't seem to have anything wrong with them physically, though, Kami knew something wasn't right in their heads.

He ruffled Kakashi and Sasuke's hair while placing his forehead to Sakura's. "You did good. You didn't abandon your teammate. I'm proud of you but next time—" and he sincerely hoped there wasn't a next time. "Keep that anger in check, Sasuke? And you two keep your teammate in check. Even if you have to drag his ass back yourselves." He chuckled at the last part when Sasuke appeared to be exasperated.

"Yes, Naruto-sensei." Sakura confirmed in an adorable singsong voice while his boys nodded.

"Now that that's fine with…" The blond straightened and placed his knuckles on his waist. "Did you win the scavenger hunt?"

Sasuke smirked and whipped out four VIP passes to the ramen convention. "We weren't gonna lose to a bunch of civilians. Even with the handicap of not using our techniques."

The soon to be Hokage leapt for joy. "Alright, 'ttebayo! Let's celebrate with ramen!" The team groaned their disappointment but made for Ichiraku with a pep in their step. Naruto held Sakura back. "Listen, Sakura-chan, I didn't mean to belittle you or anything. I was just—"

The pinkette shook her head and smiled. "I'm not as strong as Sasuke-kun or Kakashi and I'll probably never be. And that's okay because one day I will be strong enough to be more than the only girl in their team. That's why I've asked for Tsunade-sama's tutelage and I'm getting better. One day they'll watch my back as I save their asses."

She giggled then went to catch up with her team leaving Naruto with a brilliant smile. He knew this team would make him the proudest of all the teachers in the village, one day. Today, however, ramen was on the brain and Sakura just announced that the last to make it there was paying.