A/n: I personally don't think Kakashi knew about Naruto's true heritage until after the timeskip, or else he definitely would have reacted differently. Also, don't hate on Sakura; she'll get a lot of character development. Just like Sasuke, and Naruto (you have to admit they were jerks when they were first introduced in this fic)

Chapter 7- A Team in the Making

"So this is where Naruto lives?" Kakashi glanced around the messy apartment, feeling a sweatdrop formulate on his brow. From the outside, it looked like a good place, and from the inside, there was no doubt that the furniture was top class, but…

"Yes well…" The Hokage smiled, moving a dirty pile of clothes with the tip of his toe, "It has a sort of cozy feel to it, doesn't it?"

"Sure," Kakashi answered sceptically, shooting the couch a wary look as if he expected termites to crawl out from its worn surface.

The Hokage must have sensed Kakashi's disbelief, "Well, it's three boys living together. What can you expect?"

"Three?"

"Oh yes, did I forget to mention that Naruto is also living with Sasuke of the Uchiha clan? The other member of your team? Hey, hey, you killed two birds with one stone! Now you can check out both of their abodes in one trip!"

"…are you trying to placate me, sir?"

"Not at all!" The Sandaime laughed nervously, but then turned serious a second later, "But really Kakashi, you'll not be disappointed. The last member of their little family here is a jounin under my express command, and I have no doubt that he's trained them well. Do not underestimate these brats."

"Oh?" That had peaked his interest, "Who is this jounin? And if Naruto and Sasuke were trained, how in the world did Naruto fail?"

The Sandaime sighed, "Don't ask me. Edward has always had good chakra control, but it seems that he couldn't pass it onto Naruto. By the way, shouldn't you be going to greet your team by now? It's past time."

"Hm…" Kakashi noticed the way the Sandaime had deftly averted his question on the jounin's identity, but didn't question it further. After all, this was the Hokage. With a nod, Kakashi quickly made a seal, and body flickered out of there. He supposed he should be early in his meeting with his new students…

He arrived at the academy two hours after the teams were assigned; it had to be a new record for him— usually he was three hours late. His eye curving into a smile, the silver haired jounin walked towards the classroom, wondering what exactly his academy students were going to be like. Well no, his mind was actually on his 'Icha Icha Paradise' series, but even in his own thoughts, it sounded better to be wondering about the Naruto and Sasuke that the Hokage praised so adamantly.

He slid open the stone door, distinctly heard the sound of a string snapping. Kakashi wasn't a jounin for nothing. He shifted his body, but one of the two kunai that came flying out still went directly to him; the other was to the left of where the silver haired jounin had originally been standing. But then, he wasn't a jounin for nothing. To him, it seemed as if the kunai came at a ridiculously slow pace, and he was easily able to dodge out of the way. Still, it wasn't a greeting he was too fond of.

Raising his eyebrows, he turned to his new students with a rather deceptive smile, "Pretty impressive; you were able to somewhat predict my movements. And, it totally had the intent to kill. Had I been anyone other than a jounin, it might have severely injured me. Hm… how can I say this...? My first impression is… I don't like you guys."

The blond opened his mouth to argue, but thankfully the pink haired girl stopped him. Good, Kakashi wasn't looking forward to a pointless argument this early in the afternoon, though he wouldn't have minded bringing down the blond a few pegs. After all, it was obvious that it was he who had set the trap. Well, perhaps if the blond actually made it to genin, then Kakashi would have a serious talk with the boy, but as of now…

The son of White Fang motioned for the three sulky students to follow him, and with a resigned glance between the blond and black haired boy, they did. As they climbed up the stairs, Kakashi examined his new 'students' with a critical eye; wondering what he could discern beyond the reports. Usually, the reports were fairly accurate, and Kakashi wouldn't have bothered, but this time was different. The Hokage had praised this team highly, and that was not something to be ignored.

"Told you it wouldn't work," The dark haired boy snorted, his voice quiet so to only be heard by his companions, but Kakashi picked it up anyway, "He's a jounin. Edward would never fall for that, so why would this guy?"

First was Sasuke Uchiha, the last and sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. Well, there was Itachi Uchiha as well, but somehow Kakashi got the feeling that Konoha didn't exactly recognize the rouge ninja as part of Konoha's clans. From the teacher's reports, Uchiha was an exceptional ninja, and a true genius. The only reason he hadn't graduated already was because he wanted to be held back a few years, saying something about how he wanted to learn more before he ventured into the uncertain world of being a ninja. From what Kakashi could gather, Uchiha was a wise ninja, and from the easy flow of his movements, also a competent one. There had to be a reason after all, why the Uchiha had gotten the nickname of 'Number One Rookie'.

"Yeah," The pink haired girl scolded, slapping the blond on the back of his head, "You shouldn't have done something so foolish, Naruto. Now did you hear, our sensei hates us!"

Next was Sakura Hanuro, the ninja with the highest written marks in the class. Born of a civilian family, she lacked physicals and had practically failed on that portion of the exam. However, she was extremely book smart, and could memorize anything. The question was, could she apply it? From what Kakashi had seen so far, it was a disappointment, but then, he hadn't seen much. Perhaps he could hold out his hopes for a little longer.

"I wasn't supposed to kill him!" The whiskered boy protested, crossing his arms, "I was just supposed to shock him a little because he was so late. That's all. Who knew he'd take it so seriously? Yeesh."

Last was the blond, from which Kakashi recognized as Naruto Uzumaki, the Kyuubi container. The reports had said he was loud, brash, and incompetent, and Kakashi at first was inclined to agree. After all, Uzumaki had supposedly graduated dead last from the academy. Plus, there was no prow in the blond boy's gait that indicated any superior taijutsu training, even if there was a certain noiselessness in the blond's movements. However, if Uzumaki had indeed set up that trap like Kakashi suspected he had –due to his prankster personality— then there was obviously more to the blond then met the eye. The older man also had to keep in mind after all, that Naruto supposedly lived with a jounin. Look underneath the underneath was the silver haired jounin's motto, and he certainly wouldn't fail its expectations this time.

"Ah, we're here." Kakashi smiled, and opened the door that was at the end of the staircase, leading the academy students to the roof of the school. Settling himself in a comfortable position, he watched amusedly as the three children arranged themselves on the floor— or at least, tried to arrange themselves.

Hanuro waited anxiously while Uchiha found a spot on the ground, and plopped down on it. A wide grin spreading across her face, the pink haired girl then quickly ran beside him, and seated herself next to him. Uchiha tensed, then shot Uzumaki a Look, purposefully scooting further away from Hanuro. The blond grinned pleasantly, then promptly sat himself between Uchiha and Hanuro, ignoring the disgruntled look the pink haired girl shot him. Kakashi let out a low whistle— this was almost like watching his 'Icha Icha' in action, except without the lemon.

Nonetheless, he had to get on, no matter how interesting watching the team dynamics were. After all, he had better things to do than to take care of green academy students, and the sooner he took care of this the better. "Well, let's begin with introducing ourselves."

"What do you want to know?"

Kakashi's eyes twitched. Were these genin idiots or what? He shrugged, "How about your likes, dislikes… your dreams for the future, and things like that."

"Hey hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?" Uzumaki demanded.

"Yeah, you look kinda suspicious…" Hanuro agreed, hugging her knees to her chest and looking at him warily.

Aw, he was hurt by that! Oh well… "Me? Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi… I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes… Dreams for the future… hm… And I have lots of hobbies."

The three children shared a Look. Kakashi smiled; good, they were getting along already! It meant they may actually have a chance of passing. Unlikely, but hey who knew? After all, nobody had expected Gai to suddenly become obsessed with green leotard. The silver haired jounin shuddered slightly at the memory, and decided to move on, "Now it's your turn. Let's start on the right."

"My name is Sakura Hanuro. The thing I like is… well, the person I like is…" Here, the pink haired girl glanced at Uchiha, and giggled shyly, "And, uhm, my dream for the future… uhm…? OH YEAH! What I dislike is Naru- er… My hobby is… well… hehe."

Great, a fangirl who was obsessed with one of her future teammates, and hated the other one. She wasn't even like Rin, who had at least treated Obito nicely. Sighing, Kakashi nodded to the next person, the blond in the middle.

"Yosh, my name is Naruto Uzumaki! What I like is cup ramen and beating Sasuke, and what I live even more is when Sasuke loses a bet and has to pay for my ramen. What I dislike is waiting three minutes for ramen to cook. Hobbies? Play pranks! And training of course! And my dream… is to surpass the Hokage and then have the people of this village acknowledge my existence!"

Er… why was this kid obsessed with ramen, and beating up his other teammate? This didn't bode well either, but then again, if Uzumaki and Uchiha truly lived together, it might just be a brotherly thing. Kakashi had seen loads of people who fought on a daily basis, but could work together well enough to take down someone twice their skill. And… Uzumaki wanted to Hokage, eh? Well, it was an admirable dream, but all in all an unrealistic one. If Uzumaki did by some chance pass, Kakashi would have to disillusion him. Now, the last one…

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are a few things I like, and a lot of things I dislike, including when people insult the people closest to me-" Here, he glanced at Hanuro. Touché, "-as for my hobbies? Training and learning, as well as travelling. My dream for the future… is to track down one man and revive my clan."

Track down one man? That had to be Itachi Uchiha. And revival of a clan…? Kakashi had to fight down a perverted giggle. He coughed into his hand, trying to at least appear professional, "So far for the introductions, tomorrow we'll start our duties as ninja."

"Yeah!" Uzumaki saluted, an excited grin on his face, "What kind of duties?"

"First we are going to do something with just the four of us… survival training."

"Why is our first duty a training?" Hanuro asked, looking confused, "We've had enough training at the academy."

Uchiha shot her a disgruntled look, but seemed to be too polite to say anything. Or he just didn't care, whatever. Uzumaki on the other hand, was far more vocal, though Kakashi had a funny feeling that that blond was actually trying to be nice, "We've always gotta train Sakura-chan! Or how else can we keep getting stronger?"

Hanuro glared at the offending blond, "Idio-"

"Actually," Kakashi decided to intervene before the children decided to have another long… erm… discussion. "This isn't a normal training. This time I'm your opponent."

At the questioning glances, Kakashi started to laugh, and when he told them about the exam, they totally freaked out. It was too funny. "Haha! I told you you'd freak out!"

"What? What? But Edward nii-san never had to go through this test!"

"Idiot," Uchiha muttered, "That's because Aniki's special, unlike you evidently. He's considered a genius, a real one. I may be smart but… Aniki's one of those once in a life time prodigies, a genius among geniuses. Of course he wouldn't have to be tested to see if he's competent."

Once in a lifetime prodigy? Then why had Kakashi never heard about him? But then again, Kakashi never really kept up with Konoha's ninja unless he had to go on a mission with one of them. Still… you'd think that he'd have met others like him… Or maybe these kids were just exaggerating. After all, the skill of a jounin no matter how horrible, was extraordinary compared to an academy student's.

"But… but… We've worked so hard to pass! What was the point of graduating?"

"Oh… that?" Kakashi decided to cut in, "That was just to select those who have the chance to become genin."

"Uhh… WHAT?"

"Idiot," Uchiha muttered again, massaging his temples, "Don't worry so much. All we have to do is pass, right?"

Uzumaki finally seemed to calm down, giving a decisive nod, "Yeah, that's right! We'll pass this no problem!"

"But it won't be that easy," Kakashi interjected; seriously, these kids were too overconfident! It'd get them killed in a battlefield. Did they seriously think they could take on a jounin? "Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skill on the training ground. Bring all the ninja tools you have and… skip breakfast, you might throw up."

"Might throw up?" Hanuro pulled at her hair, and Kakashi couldn't help the wandering thought that he was rather afraid of kleptomaniacs, "Is it that tough?"

Kakashi simply smiled, and handed her a pamphlet, "The details are on this paper, and don't be late tomorrow."

With that, he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

The next day, he arrived to the training grounds at his regular time. Three hours late. Heh, he figured that since he was so good yesterday, he really deserved a break today. As he neared the meeting place though, Kakashi smelt something odd. Surreptitiously, he glanced around, wondering what it could be. Whoever it was, they were sure good at hiding their noises; it was a shame they had never thought to hide their scent.

Nonetheless… "Hey guys, good morning!"

Uchiha had been chatting with Uzumaki, or so it seemed. They both seemed to be debating a scroll that was spread about before them, with Hanuro looking over Uzumaki's shoulder. Kakashi nodded to himself. Hmm good, they weren't just uselessly wasting time them. Well…

At Kakashi's greeting, Uzumaki turned, and Haruno jumped to her feet, both sporting a very familiar glare, "YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi ignored them, and dug into his pack, pulling out a small timer. Setting it on a tree stump, he clicked the time, "OK, it's set for noon. Here are two bells, your task is to take these from me before the time's up. Those who don't have a bell by noon... get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll also eat right in front of you."

"I'm so glad Edward nii-san made us eat breakfast," Uzumaki sighed, looking to the heavens. "I'm going to kiss him when we get back."

"Hn," Uchiha replied, but he was smiling all the same. "I'd like to see you try."

"What?" Hanuro screeched, "You guys ate?"

"You didn't?" Uchiha asked frostily.

"Well… well… that is…"

"Hey don't worry!" Uzumaki was obviously trying to salvage the situation, "We didn't want to either, but Edward nii-san threatened us with no training for a week if we didn't. He said that you always need your strength on missions, and if we were nervous, we should just eat a little bit."

"If you're done?" At Kakashi's warning, the aspiring genin quickly shut up. Maa… this 'Edward' person was ruining his plans. Why oh why did two of his victim-er-students living with a jounin? Shaking his head sadly, Kakashi explained the rest of the rules in relative peace. "…and you'll have to come at me with the intent to kill."

"But!" Hanuro was the first one to protest, "You'll be in danger!"

"Don't be so sure," Uchiha's calm voice was glacial, "He is a jounin. Naruto and I have definitely tried to kill Aniki quite a couple of times, but we've come nowhere close to succeeding."

"Yeah," Uzumaki said tensely, digging into his pockets for a kunai as he lowered himself into a crouch. His loud, upbeat personality has seemingly disappeared, overshadowed by his seriousness.

Kakashi found himself smiling in spite of himself. There truly was more to these kids than met the eye, "Heh… it seems like I'm beginning to… like you guys. OK, let's get going. Ready… BEGIN!"

Sasuke threw something onto the ground, and the area exploded in smoke. Kakahsi eye smiled, and carefully made sure not to spread his senses too far. After all, he wanted to give the genin a sporting chance. A moment later, the smoke cleared, revealing an empty patch of… wait a minute, there was Naruto…

"Come here," The blond shouted, crossing his arms in a gesture of confidence, "And fight me!"

Kakashi blinked, then rubbed the back of his neck; was this guy an idiot? "Um… you're a little bit off."

"The only thing off is your hair!" Naruto shouted, his hands flashing through a quick series of seals. "Wind Release: Harrying Gale!"

Kakashi's eyes widened as a large torrent of wind suddenly slammed against him, rocking the trees around him. What the heck…? An academy student shouldn't have that much chakra! But then again, this was the Kyuubi container… Kakashi crouched ever so slightly, channelling chakra into his soles so he wouldn't be blown away. It was impressive, but overall, ineffective. That is, until he realized it was a combo.

Five balls of flame shot from one side of the woods, roaring with extra speed and power due to the wind. Sasuke! He knew it; the two could work together exceptionally well. Still, he wasn't going to go all out on a couple of kids, no matter how exceptional they were. His fingers formed together in a seal. A second later, the balls of fire smashed into the place he had been, incinerating the log that was now there. Ah, Body Replacement sure was useful against lesser ninja. Against a jounin, it would never work, since jounin hardly gave any of the quarter or time that was required to use the avoidance technique.

Kakashi had flashed towards the direction the fire had come from, knowing that now he had Sasuke's position, he could easily disable him. Really though… he should have expected more from the Rookie of the Year. As soon as he jumped off of the tree he had used Body Replacement with, a number of shuriken came flying towards him. Ah, a trap! He somersaulted backwards, deftly avoiding each and every one, feeling a smile creep up his face. These students were really impressing him!

He had about half a minute of avoiding traps —just how much had the kid set up?— when Naruto finally found him again. The blond didn't waste any time. He quickly put up his hands in a seal, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Kakashi whistled in spite of himself as six other Narutos appeared. A jounin level technique! Hehe… he really believed he was liking these kids more and more. With a war cry, the Narutos leapt towards Kakashi. There was no style in their fighting, but there was precision, and a great deal of coordination. The blond aimed towards Kakashi's pressure points, and though a lot of Naruto's movements were wasted, his style was made up for by his adaptability. Still, Kakashi decided it was time to end this. A quick body replacement did the trick. Confused, the six Narutos all looked at eachother, then shrugged, spreading out to look for them. Kakashi grinned, fingering the six kunai in his pouch; he knew about shadow clones. As long as he hit them, they would dispel. Hefting his weapons, Kakashi fired, making sure to aim at non-lethal parts. Only one figure would remain, and that would reveal the real Naruto!

…except all of them dispelled. Kakashi felt his eyebrows rise at this. What the heck…? Finally, he decided it was time to not be so focused on his pride, and spread out his senses. All three prospective genin, were very far away from him. Sasuke and Naruto were in one area, and Sakura in another, but for sure, the places where they currently were would have taken some time to get to.

Ah… now he understood. Since the moment 'Naruto' had found him, it had been a shadow clone. The real Naruto had left with Sasuke, leaving to regroup and come up with another tactic. The traps and the shadow clones had been used to distract Kakashi, as well as perhaps learn his fighting style. Now, the two students were far away, probably planning a way to take him down. But, now that Kakashi had spread out his senses, he noticed something… off.

He coughed, digging out his little orange book, "Hello Mr. Jounin, did you want to speak to me?"

The leaves ruffled, and a second later a blond haired, golden eyed boy jumped out, his forehead protector on his belt, "I just wanted to see how the famous Copy-nin Kakashi would test his prospective students."

"Ah?" Kakashi asked as if uninterested, but inwardly he felt a little wary, "And whom do I owe the pleasure of speaking to? You seem to know me, but I don't know you."

"I guess I'm not that famous then," The golden eyed boy smiled, showing all teeth, "And of course I'd know you, and your impressive fail record."

"Oh, now I see. You're Naruto's and Sasuke's older brother, aren't you?" Why else would he care so much about how Kakashi tested his students? So now at least Kakashi had a first name; 'Edward nii-san'. "I'd appreciate it if you don't interfere with my exam."

"I have no intention of interfering," The blond rolled his eyes, flipping his braid behind him, "They'll pass all on their own."

"Oh? What makes you so confident?"

"The objective is teamwork; Sasuke and Naruto have that in spades."

"Oh, so you've figured that out?" It wasn't meant to be figure-out-able. Despite the speech Kakashi gave every time he tied a student to a tree trunk, the objective wasn't actually ever meant to be figured out. The students were supposed to pass on the second chance, and the second chance only. The reality was, that in the world of ninja Kakashi was one of the select few who actually cared about teamwork. None of the other jounins tested on it. The bell test could be considered eccentric. So, how in the world had this blond jounin figured it out?

"Wasn't that hard," The blond shrugged, "Once I looked at your records."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, putting away his 'Icha Icha' book, keeping his voice deceptively calm, "So you know my name, and apparently my history… it seems you have me at a disadvantage."

"You'll get to know who I am, if you pass them." With one final grin, the blond disappeared in a swirl of water strands, leaving only a puddle behind. Hmm… so he had a water affinity, then. How arrogant the kid was, but then Kakashi supposed he himself was arrogant when he was young. Anyway, it wasn't his problem. He had an exam to complete.

Pushing the encounter out of his mind, Kakashi slowly walked towards the pink haired girl's direction.

She was, disappointedly, not hard to find.

"How can I convince Sasuke to work with me?" Sakura muttered, her head lowered as she wandered aimlessly around the forest, "How, how, how? They're best friends, I know that, but I have to be on the same team as Sasuke! How could I possibly break them up?"

Kakashi frowned as he followed her, listening to her ramblings and half baked plans. Yes, he understood that most females of her age only cared about boys, but it was still disappointing to hear nonetheless. Heck, she was even planning to sabotage one of her teammates!

Letting out a small breath, Kakashi jumped from his perch on the tree and set up a whirl of genjutsu. Sakura turned, but not quick enough.

She was sadly easy to take out. Unlike her two teammates, she did not show Kakashi any hidden abilities, and fell easily to a low level genjutsu that she should have easily been able to dispel. Kakashi sighed; if this team passed, he would have to work on her.

With a shake of his head, Kakashi started walking towards where he had felt Naruto and Sasuke last. Surprisingly, he didn't even have to search for them.

Not too far from Naruto's and Sasuke's hiding place, Kakashi suddenly felt someone rush towards him with the intent to kill. Kakashi paused, is eyes curving upwards ever so slightly. Well well well, this would certainly be interesting.

A few seconds later, Naruto burst from one of the bushes.

So then, they had somehow tracked him. Kakashi didn't exactly try to leave his trail unnoticed (heck, if he had, no one less than an ANBU captain could have found him) but still, he hadn't expected genin -especially those who were not specialized in tracking- to find him so easily. Sasuke and Naruto were definitely an interesting pair.

Naruto made a familiar cross shape with his fingers, and a moment later the air filled with smoke. Before the smoke even cleared, Kakashi sensed the charge, and acted accordingly. By his estimation there were twenty clones, and Kakashi was pretty sure that the Naruto he had seen earlier wasn't the real one. So then, what were they trying to accomplish?

The clones charged, all of them pushing towards Kakashi with that astonishing taijustu and coordination. Ah, so Naruto was trying to push Kakashi back, was he? How cute…

Well, Kakashi would let him, for now. After all, he wanted to see what Sasuke had set up. He flipped through the air, landing exactly where the clones intended for him to land. No sooner than he had landed, a splay of kunai came flying out of the branches.

Kakashi grinned, and deftly dodged them all, though he knew he was still being led somewhere. Nonetheless, it was a smart plan. Changing it up from people to traps tended to startle most people and lead them into thinking they weren't being deliberately cornered. Too bad for them Kakashi wasn't 'most people'.

And… too bad for Kakashi that he wanted to see what his prospective students could do.

He jumped backwards to avoid the last of the projectiles, landing softly in the clearing, the various leaves cushioning his fall… hold on, leaves? Why were there so many leaves, if it wasn't autumn…?

And then he realized it. No way!

Eyes widening, Kakashi tried to leap away, but it was too late. The ground beneath him fizzed, and suddenly he felt his limbs leaden, the air gaining a heavy weight. Now, the thought of moving seemed treacherous, and even when he saw Sasuke jump out from the branches of a high tree and make his way towards the jounin, Kakashi could not contemplate the thought of moving.

"You're caught," Sasuke's smile was decidedly evil, "Not even a jounin can escape from a seal. Especially not Naruto's seals."

"Oh man," Naruto had just appeared, coming out of hiding behind a bush. Leaves and stray twigs were sticking out from his hair, but he was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at Sasuke, "Oh man Sasuke, how do you always know these things?"

Sasuke snorted, giving Kakashi a decisively superior look that Kakashi just knew he had to correct later, "It's not hard to predict. There are certain instincts that people will follow. Well, ninjas are trained out of those instincts, but since Kakashi-sensei is supposed to be testing us, I figured he would follow them. There was over a 90% chance that he'd end up in this clearing if we set up the traps a certain way."

Ah, so they had even thought that far. Impressive really; wasn't ittle Sasuke the perfect little strategist? They had actually forced Kakashi to use some of his real ability, and they had trapped him in something that even he could not escape from. Kakashi's limbs were too leaden to make seals even. Honestly, the kiddies would seem to be able to get the bells.

It was such a shame, that Kakashi had thought even farther.

Kakashi dispelled in a poof of smoke.

Naruto's and Sasuke's mouths dropped open.

Kakashi smiled, slipping into view from behind a nearby tree, "Naruto-kun, you aren't the only one who knows how to do a shadow clone."

Naruto went red in the face, a finger rising accusingly at the silver haired jounin, "You- you-!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, a hand going to his belt, "It's fine Naruto, we'll just take the bells now."

Unfortunately for them, time was up.

Naruto's eyes went as wide as saucers, his head whipping towards the direction of the bell. His face turned ashen, "No, no, no!"

Even Sasuke didn't look very good.

Kakashi giggled, "Hehe, looks like your time is up."

Motioning for the children to follow him, Kakashi quickly made a lightning clone to wake up Sakura, and bring her to the tree stumps. The clone made off at a breakneck pace. Walking slowly, Kakashi decided he should cheer up his students a little, "Very impressive seal, by the way. If I didn't have the foresight to make a clone, you might have gotten a bell."

And it was an impressive seal. Kakashi himself was a seal master, though not nearly as good as the one who taught it to him. To make a time/space seal like the one Naruto had… well, it certainly spoke to heights of creativity and talent. Kakashi had watched as Naruto set it up, while Sasuke was setting up the traps. He hadn't wanted to miss whatever strategies they came up with, after all.

Naruto instantly brightened, "Wow, thanks sensei!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, putting his hands in his pocket and kicking at a random piece of rock. Aw, poor rock. But then Kakashi supposed, Sasuke did have a reason to be upset. After all, it was obvious that the two had more talent than most chuunin, yet they hadn't been able to pass a genin test. "Idiot, can't you tell he's also insulting you? He's saying that most people have that much insight, and we're idiots because we didn't."

"But we did have a secondary plan," Naruto whined, then turned to Kakashi with determined blue eyes, oddly reminding Kakashi of someone whom he couldn't quite place. It nagged at him, and he had long ago learned that his instincts never failed. But… who? "We would have pwned you if it weren't for the alarm, believe it!"

Nope, not really. Kakashi had seen them talk through their secondary plan too, just in case the first one didn't work. Though it was impressive, and it would have forced Kakashi to bring out more of his abilities than he was willing to show… well. Kakashi's eyes curved up into a smile, "Yes, I know. I was watching you guys the entire time."

"Yeah, so you know how awesome-" Naruto suddenly stopped his rant, blinking, "Wait, what?"

"I thought I sensed something," Sasuke muttered, shaking his head and fixing Kakashi with a piercing black eyed stare, "So it was you."

Eh? How in the world had a kid sensed him? Sure, Kakashi acknowledged that these two were far ahead of their peers, but to sense a jounin? It was bordering on the edge of ridiculous.

Just then, his memories filled with that of his latest clone's. Ah, so then the deed was done. Giving the two boys an eye smile, Kakashi suddenly picked up his pace, now running towards the tree stumps. Now, there was no more reason to dely. He arrived at the scene with Sakura already tied to the tree, conscious and glaring balefully at him. A second later the boys arrived.

"Eh?" Naruto exclaimed, taking in Sakura's position as he skipped over to the pink haired girl, "Sakura-chan! What's the pervert done to you?"

Kakashi sweatdropped.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Sakura, then turned to Kakashi with an expectant air, "You delayed us so you could tie up Sakura with your clone."

Kakashi eye-smiled; very impressive indeed. Sasuke had figured it out in a glance. "My, my, aren't you a smart one? Yep, Sakura is the unfortunate one who's been tied up, since she was the one who was the farthest from getting a bell."

It was true. Sakura had been taken out by his shadow clone, whereas Sasuke and Naruto had forced Kakashi to reveal at least part of his true abilities. The gap was so large a world wonder could be made from it. Then again, Sakura had come from a civilian family, and Kakashi should really give the girl more credit. Comparing her to Sasuke and Naruto who had trained under a jounin was unfair, really.

The academy didn't teach children anything particularly useful in becoming a ninja, since most of the attendants never became ninja anyway. It would be harmful to the ninja system if all of the sudden civilians could do advanced techniques. Then, why would they need to hire ninja?

This Edward person must have been really confident that Sasuke and Naruto would become ninja. Then again, why wouldn't he? After all, one was the Uchiha heir, and the other was the Kyuubi's jailor. They would eventually become ninja. Whether or not today though… that was the question.

"You guys look pretty hungry," It was lunchtime after all, and even if they had eaten breakfast, it would have been at seven am. "Oh and… by the way, something about this training… well, there's no need for you guys to go back to the academy…"

He purposefully waited for their hopeful, excited expressions, before he crushed their dreams. Oh yes, he was cruel. But then, they needed to learn that the ninja world was a cruel one.

"You mean, all three of us…?"

Kakashi smiled widely, almost feeling guilty for what he was about to say. Almost. "Yup, all three of you… should quit as ninja!"

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then-

"Quit as ninjas?" Naruto demanded, pounding his fist into the tree stump next to him, making Sakura flinch, "What does that mean? OK, OK, we couldn't get the bells but… we were close! Why do we have to quit?"

"Because all of you… are just punks who don't deserve to be ninjas. Are you underestimating ninjas, huh? Why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training?"

"Huh?" Sakura's face was the epitome of confusion and nervousness, "What does that mean?"

Kakashi sighed; she was supposed to be the smart one, but she was turning out to be the one farthest from the mark. "Basically… you guys are not understanding the answer to this test."

Naruto cocked his head, "Answer?"

"Yes… the answer that helps you past the test. Naruto, you've actually gotten part of it along with Sasuke, but not enough!"

"So what is the answer?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "Teamwork."

"B-but! Sasuke and I did work together…"

Kakashi sighed, "And did you get the bells? No, but you were close. If you had added a third member to your team, you could have very well succeeded. Besides, it wasn't hard for you to and Sasuke to work together, because you've been living together for a long time, but what happens when you suddenly must work with someone new, huh? Naruto, you thought that if you and Sasuke could both get a bell each, that'd be great, but you completely forgot Sakura, who's supposedly your crush! Sasuke, you thought that Sakura was completely useless, but she did graduate as the ninja with the written highest marks in class for a reason! And worst is Sakura, who instead of trying to think of ways to defeat me, wasted all your time thinking of ways to convince Sasuke to abandon Naruto!

"The purpose of this test was to see whether you can forget about your own interests… and successfully work together, under these designed circumstances. Of course superior individual ability is important to a ninja, but what's even more important is teamwork. A teammate is supposed to be someone you can fall back on, someone who covers your weaknesses. Sasuke and Naruto, you've already seen how much more you can accomplish together, and you can accomplish even more so with a third member. You're both exceptionally good at high jutsus, but what about chakra control? I've heard that Sakura is rather good at that, and you guys would have benefited from including her in all your plans. Who knows, I might have even been defeated. Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades I danger, and even get you killed. For example…"

As soon as Kakashi finished the sentence, he moved. Flashing behind Sasuke, he grabbed the Uchiha by the back of the collar and dragged him to the jounin's original position, all in the space of one second. Holding a kunai to Sasuke's throat, he raised his brow and dared Naruto to move. "Naruto! Kill Sakura! Or Sasuke dies!"

"What?" Naruto glanced around wildly, then charged at Kakashi with spiteful fury, "You bastard, I'll kill you instead!"

Kakashi easily caught Naruto's arm, and giving the blond a cold stare to show that Kakashi could beat him at any moment, Kakashi let the two boys go. "You see? If a hostage is taken, you will have tough choices and then die. You will be risking your lives in these duties."

Sighing, Kakashi walked over to the all too familiar memorial stone, his eyes clouding over with memories, "Look at the number of names on this. These are ninjas who are recognized as heroes of the village. But… they aren't just normal heroes… They are all heroes who have died while on duty. This is a memorial. My best friend's name is also carved here…"

He let out another sigh, as if the revelation had changed his mind, and that this was not all a pre-planned event. "You guys… I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch, but don't give any to Sakura. Out of all of you, she is the one that was the farthest from the mark, and if anyone gives her food they will fail immediately. Got it?"

With his point made, Kakashi disappeared from the spot in a poof of smoke, landing not too far away behind a nearby tree. Carefully, he masked his presence so that even ANBU would have a hard time sensing him. If the three did end up passing, he'd have to check up Sasuke's chakra-sensing abilities.

"Uh…" Sakura's voice was weak, "It's fine hehe… I really was just useless anyway…"

Naruto shot Sakura a concerned glance, then looked at the black haired Uchiha, "Sasuke…"

The other boy sighed, "Yeah, do what you want Naruto, I don't sense Kakashi nearby."

"Yatta!" Naruto pumped his fists into the air, and promptly handed Sakura his lunchbox.

The pink haired girl stared at him in shock, "Na-Naruto…"

Sasuke shook his head, a slightly rueful grin on his faces as he picked up his chopsticks, and plucked out a piece of chicken from his box. He held out the chicken in front of Sakura, "Naruto, you are honestly the worst idiot I've ever met. How do you expect Sakura to eat when she's tied up?"

"Oh…" Naruto scratched his head, looking sheepish, "Oh yeah…"

For a moment, Sakura simply looked pleased that her dream guy was going to feed her, but then she shook her head, "What are you doing? You'll get expelled!"

"Without food, you'll just be in the way and that will only hurt us," Sasuke shrugged, then jerked his head towards the orange-clad boy, "Besides, this idiot's been desperate to hand feed you ever since-"

"Sasuke!"

Kakashi decided it was enough. Using a quick body flicker, he landed in front of the three genin in a puff of smoke. "YOU GUYS…!"

Naruto jumped backwards, his hands already in a seal. Sasuke stayed down, reaching towards his kunai pack.

Maa, maa, they were so paranoid. Kakashi allowed his face to relax into a smile, as he finally finished his sentence, "…pass :3"

The three genin blinked at him, looking disbelieving. Hehe… he had tricked the genin so many times today; now they wouldn't be able to look at the food in front of them without thinking there was some sort of trick. Mission accomplished!

"Pass?" Sakura looked to be in shock, "Not that I'm complaining but… why?"

Kakashi licked his lips, getting ready to explain, but somehow he found it a lot harder than he thought it would be. "You guys are the first…"

"Huh?"

"Everyone else would just do whatever I told them." He thought back to those stupid, stupid kids, as one by one they disillusioned him about the world. None of them could understand the objective, the importance of being on a team. He had lost all hope… "They were all just morons. A ninja must see underneath the underneath; those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash… but you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades… are lower than trash."

Stunned expressions met his speech. Kakashi coughed, then allowed his face to slide into a smile again. The past was the past, he couldn't dwell on it now. He had a team to inspire, after all. The silver haired jounin grinned, giving a thumbs up to his new students, "That ends the training. All of you pass! OK! Starting tomorrow Team Seven will begin its duties!"

"Yatta!" Naruto jumped up, pumping his fists into the air. Pulling Sasuke up, the blond started to dance around with the resigned Uchiha, doing a victory dance, "We passed, we passed, we passed! Wait until I tell Nii-san!"

"Oh yea…" Here, was the perfect opportunity to inquire on the identity of the mysterious blond, "Who did you say your 'Nii-san' was again?"

"Huh?" Naruto stopped his dance, cocking his head at Kakashi in contemplation, "Oh right, we never did tell you, right? I guess as our sensei now, you should know! Our Nii-san is the super awesome, super powerful jounin, Edward Elric!"

Kakashi snorted that the introduction, but then froze. Wait, Edward Elric did he say? As in, 'Edge of Death Elric'?

A/n: Ahhh... I love writing Kakashi. Reading this over, I have to laugh at some of his inner commentary. As for Sakura, I know she seems like an A-class jerk in this chappie, but the truth is that she was an A-class jerk before Chuunin Exams. Don't worry, she'll get better, in both personality and skills.

Question: Would you guys like to see Naruto and Sasuke perform in the chuunin exams? It's not really relevant as far as plot goes, but they'll really be able to show off their skill. So... should I write it?