"Hatake?" Anko asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Shouldn't you be monitoring your brats?"
"A clone is," he waved off idly, cup of warm sake in hand. "Can't stay out there all the time you know, it's not like I am the one trying to be whipped into shape."
She just snorted, knowing very well his personal training regimes were, while not quite on the order of Gai's self-improvement efforts, quite demanding. "Well, you're going to want to be attending to those kiddos personally, and soon," she informed him, "Because we've got an escapee that was heading that way."
"Escapee?" Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow, "An actual one or a hope-crushing gambit?"
"Actual, unfortunately," Anko grimaced, "I'm about to head out and hunt, just wanted to give you a heads up."
"Right – thanks Anko," Kakashi shot back the rest of his sake, mourning its wasted quality as he tossed his payment onto the bar and vanished out the door. He wasn't too concerned, his clone could at least delay things or lead the escapee away, but it wasn't a good idea to just leave them out there unobserved with a threat like that in the offing. He wanted them to get their act together, not kill them. It'd been just about three weeks, they'd made decent progress and at least could tolerate each other, so he'd probably be pulling them out of the Forest soon and getting them onto a strict training regime.
Of course, the last time he'd designed a training regime it had been for introductory ANBU soldiers and re-integration training for long-term undercover agents, so he'd have to wait and see just what he could come up with for genin.
Meh, they'd live.
Naruto was terrified. He didn't show it – he was good at that – but he was genuinely terrified. First they had passed, miracle of miracles, then Kakashi-sensei had told them that people, powerful people, wanted them dead. He may not be the sharpest kunai in the drawer, but he knew that of the three of them, he was the one that was the most disposable. Sasuke was an Uchiha, the last one in the village, so he'd be a priority for the powerful people here.
Sakura, while from a civilian background, was the top of their class, and relations between shinobi and civilians could get rough so her being on a power team like this was a big bonus on that front.
Then there was him. Dead-last demon-container. If they got sent on missions that were just too hard for them, that they weren't ready for, he'd be more likely to live because he could heal really fast. But if he survived a mission that killed Sakura-chan or, kami forbid, Sasuke-teme?
He didn't think he'd last very long.
That didn't even take into account their past weeks in this freaking awesomely-cool-yet-scary forest. He'd saved Sakura-chan from a giant centipede, for all the gratitude he got, and she'd been super smart and helped find edible plants so they wouldn't be too hungry (he missed ramen so much), but then Sasuke-teme had gotten stuck and he'd had to fish him out of a tree too. He'd only grudgingly admit this in his head, and never aloud, but the Uchiha was more use than Sakura-chan, edible plant knowledge or no.
Then randomly their oni of a sensei (but he'd at least been honest and was trying and Naruto really didn't want to think about that too hard) showed up and started teaching them all something. Well, him and Sasuke something, he just made Sakura-chan run a lot (she needed it). And they'd managed to meet his requirements the first few times (by a miracle, really) which made Naruto wonder if their sensei was spying on them, to make sure they always just passed and just finished, so they'd always feel that pressure. He didn't doubt that if they started slacking, the man would show up and they'd regret it forever.
So he'd taught them traps. He'd taught them traps, gotten good at water-walking, sent clones out to search for food and an exit now that he knew they could give him memories, and they might even impress sensei enough to get ramen – he'd brought chocolate, right? So there was some hope!
Sasuke and Sakura were both working at building traps around the campsite, though none of them really thought their sensei would get caught in them, it was worth a shot, right? Besides, they had been told they needed to learn, so learn they would. Anything to hopefully bribe their way out of here and to a shower, real bed, and ramen.
Man he needed to stop thinking about ramen, he was trying to do katas on water and needed his concentra – knife to throat who the hell what just not Konoha not Konoha NOT KONOHA! – Naruto flailed in the water and spluttered, shouting in dismay before he managed to clench his jaw shut and scramble for shore. He needed to get to the others!
Sopping wet, he left his bright orange jacket (dirty and cut up for bandages as it was) on the shoreline and ran for the campsite. "Guys!" he called, trying to keep his voice down but needing to find them fast, nearly shouting in relief when he spotted a head of pink hair building a foot-snare.
"Sakura-chan!" he hissed, the girl looking up and blinking at him, "Naruto?" she asked, "What's wrong now?"
"One of my clones just got slaughtered by some foreign nin," Naruto hissed, wide-eyed, "Where's Sasuke-teme, we need to arm the traps and get into some trees!"
If it were just him and Sasuke, he'd try and go for the foreign-nin, probably. He'd at least spam clones and send them after him, but with Sakura-chan here, and with them not having eaten or slept really well for a while, no new supplies forthcoming, it'd be better to hide and wait. If Kakashi-sensei was watching like he thought (knew, hoped, whatever) then he'd be here soon and they'd be able to just wait.
"Right," she nodded, wide-eyed as well, quickly covering up her snare and darting over to where Sasuke and another clone were insulting each other over their work. "Shh!" she hissed, "There's a foreign-nin in here that just killed Naruto's clone! We need to hide!"
Sasuke just raised an eyebrow at Naruto, who nodded in confirmation, dread settling in his gut when he recognized that arrogant smirk. Shit, the teme thought he could go deal with this guy himself. Damn it, Naruto was tempted too but they couldn't just ditch Sakura to go find this guy, odds were they'd miss him and Sakura would face him alone!
"What direction is he coming from?" Sasuke demanded and Naruto narrowed his eyes before shaking his head, "Not telling you, teme. Not if you're going after him."
Sasuke glowered, snarling, "I need to see how much I've advanced! We've sparred, you've gotten better at least, you have those clones, we can take him!"
"We don't even know who this guy is, he could be some ANBU type ninja, which we are totally not up for," Naruto refuted, unable to believe that this was coming out of his mouth but knowing he had to convince Sasuke this was a stupid idea. No one could go off by themselves, they had no idea where this guy was now because it was doubtful that he'd stayed where he'd killed Naruto's clone, and they had enough threats on their lives without seeking out a new one when they totally weren't ready.
"Fine then! I'll find him myself! You coward!" Sasuke spat, turning on his heel and sprinting off, Sakura crying, "Sasuke-kun! Wait!" but not running after him.
Naruto swore, and nodded to his clone, who took off after him. That one would at least try and persuade him and if that didn't work, try knocking him out. He needed to stay with Sakura and get her settled and hidden, then maybe he could risk going after that arrogant asshole.
"Come on Sakura, let's get to the hide," Naruto said shortly, reaching for her arm, but Sakura spun around and glared at him, "No!" she said passionately, "We're going after Sasuke-kun!"
"Why?" Naruto glared back, frustration at his crush's inexplicable affection for an asshole who would barely give her the time of day finally boiling over, "Why are you so loyal to him? He thinks you're an annoying, useless, weakling who's holding him back! He thinks everyone is an annoying weakling who's holding him back! I teach him about traps, about stealth, hunt for food, and he calls me dobe, he calls me weak and useless! What do you think he thinks about you Sakura-chan? Huh?"
"We go after him, and we get killed," Naruto frowned, crossing his arms and glaring at his feet, "I don't want you dying here."
"Well it's my life, and we're supposed to be a team!" Sakura glared back at him, bright red, "We are a team, so we're going after him! Even if he doesn't think we're a team, we are! So let's go!"
Naruto wavered, before slumping and agreeing quietly. What did it, honestly? She said 'we'. He was part of the team too. Personally, he doubted she'd be so ardent about going after him if he'd been the one to run off, but with that 'we' floating out there, he could at least pretend.
Following after her (if she set the pace, it'd take longer to get there, which was all to the good in his opinion) he glanced up at the trees worriedly and anxiously awaited a bursting clone. Hopefully sensei really was watching all this time, they could really use the help.
Kakashi was flying across the roofs, nearly at the Forest of Death. He'd left two clones in the Forest in case one dispelled on accident, and one had dispelled itself after the three idiots decided to go after an unknown-strength foreign-nin who'd already 'killed' one of their own. He'd been told Sasuke was sensible, was a prodigy but this was absolute stupidity. Naruto had been the voice of reason, of all people, and had only agreed to go after him when Sakura had made a somewhat impassioned speech about teamwork. He was glad they had at least gotten that piece down (though if they'd have done the same had Naruto run off remained to be seen) but Sasuke was going to have this arrogance beat out of him if it was the only and last thing he learned.
Leaving them to their own devices seemed to have gotten as far as it could. When this was over – if they survived and Sasuke had some sense beat into him – he'd be getting them out of the forest and having them report for the training regimen of their worst nightmares the following morning those little brats.
He finally hit the Forest of Death, heading straight for where his clone had a tracking seal in its pocket, hoping that the kids were still far away from the escapee, when memories hit. He expertly sorted through them and swore aloud, sending another burst of chakra into his legs and accelerating to nigh-unbelievable speeds. They'd actually managed to find the asshole.
Sasuke had gotten there first, the Naruto clone following him staying out of the way until the idiot genin was almost skewered, where the more sensible clone jumped in to try and interfere or at least buy some time. The clone was dispelled rather quickly, but before clone-Kakashi could jump down and deal with it, Sakura and Naruto-the-real-one burst into the clearing and Sakura didn't even think, flying for Sasuke with a cry while Naruto at least focused on the important part of the entire thing.
The dead-last was the one he had to work with the least, how was that even possible?
Sasuke shoved Sakura off with glares and grumbles, launching into the fray with Naruto, the pair exhibiting good instinctive double-teaming but not up to a jounin-level opponent even after the loving care of T&I. Didn't help that Sakura was just standing there, sure, a kunai in hand, but she looked about as useful as a helpless damsel in some television drama. It'd be a great way to lure people in, if it weren't actually the truth.
At this point Kakashi-clone intervened, deflecting a shuriken heading for a hopelessly slow (and out of breath, seriously?) Sakura before involving himself in the fight. He'd at least managed to fend the man off and give him pause when Sasuke was tossed his way and he could either dodge (and let him break a leg with how the kid was failing to correct his fall) or get dispelled.
The clone dispelled, and Naruto was now fighting alone. Shit.
Kakashi, unlike his idiot students, knew the value of intelligence, so paused, dropped down from his tree and suppressed his chakra. He had trained with Gai in chakra-suppressed subterfuge and shinobi arts after the man had managed to actually sneak up on him some years ago, so he would be fine and the advantage would be worth the inconvenience.
He quickly reached the forcibly cleared area and paused, light genjutsu keeping them from noticing him and assessed the situation meaningfully in moments.
It was shit. Sakura was being held by the escapee, the man's shaking hands holding a kunai to her throat, a deep gash on her face and tears leaking out of her eyes. Sasuke and Naruto were both standing there, both deeply shaken and Naruto, at least, visibly furious.
"Throw down your weapons, little genin," the man taunted, Kakashi recognizing him as an Iwa infiltrator brought in three weeks ago from Otafaku Gai. Lovely, this was just getting better.
Both boys hesitated, but reluctantly obeyed and Kakashi at least felt somewhat proud of them. They were still utterly screwed once he got them out of this. He quickly drifted around so he was in the Iwa-nin's blind spot, finding one of Naruto's clones lurking in a bush while he was there. Tapping the clone by the shoulder, he nodded shortly at the clone's relieved look and handed a treasured old, never-used kunai to him. With quick, overly obvious hand-signs (efficient sign-language, now on the list) he indicated the clone was to throw it into the ground at the enemy-nin's feet to distract him on Kakashi's signal. The clone nodded and crept around a bit so he was still in sight but had an angle for that kind of shot.
Kakashi flexed his hands thoughtfully, listening to taunts and shaken demands before nodding sharply and shooting forward, kunai landing in front of the Iwa-nin who had just enough time to shout in alarm when – crack – he was dead, neck snapped and Sakura shoving the arm away and stepping away, shuddering as she stared between Kakashi and the dead shinobi in shock.
Naruto got a distant look on his face before stepping forward and picking up the decoy kunai, Kakashi unable to entirely ignore the pang at seeing him blankly pick up a sealed kunai he should have recognized, he should have known. "Here Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, cleaning the kunai and handing it back, Kakashi accepting it with a nod and looking the three over. Sakura was shaking in shock, cut across her left eye still bleeding but her gaze tracked his motion so at least her eye itself wasn't damaged, skittering off her skull he would guess.
Sasuke was pale but sullen, fists clenched at his side and standing at a rough approximation of attention, bruises blossoming and scrapes oozing drops of blood. Naruto had some bruising and scrapes but they were already fading, Kakashi watching with some jealousy. Bloody Uzumaki constitution was good enough as it was, add in the fox's regenerative capabilities and it just wasn't fair.
"The three of you, are quite possibly the luckiest morons I have ever had the displeasure of working with," Kakashi said lowly, dangerously. Naruto looked mulish, probably resenting it when he'd actually tried to be sensible, he'd have to correct that, but the genin didn't say anything (the boy was a fast learner outside the classroom, it seemed).
Sasuke, his little genius, actually tried to argue. He actually tried to object. That arrogant little shit, who the hell had been fluffing his ego so damn much? Oh, that's right, everyone. This was going to be a fun lesson to teach.
Not even listening, he blurred forward and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, lifting him off his feet and shaking him. A punch would have been nice, but he didn't know how badly he'd actually been injured and worsening cracked ribs would not put him into anyone's good books. The genin shut up, shocked, and Kakashi tossed him away, Sasuke rolling and scrambling back to his feet, Kakashi flaring his killing intent to keep him quiet.
"Shut up," he whispered, voice still carrying clearly in the clearing, "You are a disgrace. Your teammate tells you a threat of unknown strength, clearly more than capable of taking out one of your teammates, even in less-than-solid form, and you decided to test yourself? Oh yes," he nodded at Sasuke's startled look, barely there but too obvious for him, "I heard all of that. Wanted to test your capacity hmm?"
Sasuke blanched, swaying at the somewhat cruel reference but Kakashi couldn't bring himself to care. This little shit had nearly gotten his teammates killed because he was an idiot. He deserved every bit of it right now, and needed to realize just what the hell he had almost done.
"Naruto, escort your teammate to your camp and wait there for me to collect you," Kakashi ordered the orange-wearing genin, who nodded with a hesitant glance at Sakura, who was still shaking.
Kakashi stepped over to her and scooped her up into his arms, the pink-haired girl curling into his chest and shuddering, tears running down her face still. He almost sighed, comforting was not a particular talent of his, but she seemed willing to take what little he could manage. "I will be taking Sakura-chan to the hospital. Once she is settled I will come back for you."
Naruto nodded at that, clearly relieved, and Kakashi took off, trusting them to at least not be complete morons. He'd have to report the Iwa-nin's death when he got there too, but that shouldn't take more than a few moments. If he was feeling particularly generous, he wouldn't mention Sasuke's moronic move in the written report and make the entire thing sound like an accident. The Sandaime would hear the truth, of course. He'd probably be rather pleased with Naruto's progress.
Sakura was furious. Sensei had rescued her, and the boys had tried, but she'd been utterly useless. By the time the medics got to her, she'd managed to stop crying and sensei even stayed with her, sending a clone off to report the death of that foreign-nin and then collect the boys. The sympathetic nurse helped clean her face of all the blood and a medic-nin came by and said quietly that he'd be able to heal it, but there would be a scar. It was just too ragged of a cut.
She only nodded, still internally fuming. Inner Sakura was ranting and raving and screaming about how useless she'd been, about how helpless she'd been. What good was being the top kunoichi if all she could do was stand there and shake and cry and look pretty? What good was working for Sasuke-kun if she probably wouldn't even live through being on a team with him?
"Sensei?" she asked finally, looking up after the medic-nin had left to fetch some cream that would at least help with the scar before letting her go. The silver-haired man looked up from where he was sitting in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs, reading his orange book, and tilted his head to the side in mute question.
"Do you think – I could use a genjutsu?" she asked, waving a hand at her face and biting her lip at his raised eyebrow, elaborating, "My parents – I – I don't want them to be upset. And we were just training if I can just keep it up until we have a mission then – I mean. They won't be too angry."
"While I do think you have the chakra control necessary for a genjutsu, you don't have the reserves for such a long-term one. It's going to be a long time before you three go on a mission where you could conceivably get a scar."
She still stared at him stubbornly, before lowering her gaze to her hands. Her sensei sighed and said, "I can teach it to you, on the understanding that if your parents find out, you are responsible for this and I advised against it. In fact, I will disown teaching you the genjutsu and say I thought you had informed them of the incident and even told them to feel free to contact me. Understood?"
Sakura nodded, looking up at him hopefully and eagerly listening to his basic explanation of genjutsu in general and the one she would be applying – a less extensive and longer lasting henge – in particular. She could tell that if she went through with this and it didn't work, and her parents did find out, she'd be in even bigger trouble, but she had to try. She had to.
Besides, if she did this, and made it last, that would make her chakra reserves bigger, right? It would be good practice, and she needed to get better.
Kakashi watched his female genin out of the corner of his eye as they made their way to Naruto's apartment. His clone had reported the death and given a basic outline of what had happened, but had requested the evening to go over things with his genin and been granted it. Fetching Naruto and Sasuke, who had been sullenly glaring at each other in their campsite, he called team-meeting and Naruto offered his place with only mild urging. Kakashi didn't want any of these brats knowing where he lived just yet, that was for certain.
Sakura was a bit of a surprise. Apparently what he'd mistaken for shock and terror was that, yes, but also with a more-than-usual dose of self-directed rage. Her initiative with the genjutsu was a pleasant surprise. It was currently on and making it appear she hadn't been injured at all, though she still looked tired and dirty; that was the difference between this one and henge, it didn't change her whole appearance, just taking a fragment to illusion and letting the otherwise natural looks seep through.
It wasn't used too often, but Kakashi was probably the one who used it most. Making his eyes match and changing his hair color was much less chakra-intensive and a ridiculously effective disguise.
It'd be interesting if she actually managed to ration her genjutsu use appropriately to keep it from her parents. He probably wasn't supposed to encourage deception from parents but he was a shinobi, lies were what he did, and besides that, he agreed with her. Their pretty little daughter coming home scarred for life from training was not exactly something they would be happy about. Not that they could do anything, until she served for six years she was stuck. It was in the contract of the academy, and she'd both graduated and passed his test so there was no way out for her.
On one level, he felt a little bad for those who got into this sort of position and were truly unsuited for shinobi life. On another, he didn't really care all that much because they had signed on for it, and six year olds were perfectly capable of making life-changing decisions. He'd done that and more at the same age, after all. They had to take responsibility for their agreements.
They reached Naruto's apartment and he sighed. He'd worked with Naruto as a guard before, but seeing the boy live in this apartment complex by himself, when he clearly wasn't ready for it, as even he would now admit he hadn't been at the age Naruto started, had been painful. Was painful, really, especially with how much potential he was finding the boy had if someone had just taught him. All of them had potential, but Naruto's was just easier for him to see and plan around. And honestly appeared to need less work to draw out – bit of attention, some basic guidance, and a looming threat – done. The other two… well. It would depend on how long this initiative of Sakura's last.
Sasuke though – oh yes. He would take quite a bit of work indeed.