A/N: Hi, everyone! You didn't think I was dead, did you? I'm terribly sorry for taking this long to update. This chapter is a bit short, so I promise to publish the next one in a few days.

"It didn't work, huh" Naruto mumbled as he strolled down the street with hands in his pockets.

'Of course, it didn't. You idiocy never cease to amaze me' the demon taunted. 'Who on Earth will abandon their dream just because some stranger asks them to?'

'I just didn't think before I acted' Naruto admitted.

'As if you actually do it usually'

'I need to talk to him again' Naruto continued, ignoring the demon's comment. 'I'm sure, I'll get through to him this time'

'Try to figure out how to do it without him fleeting again. We don't want to make a fuse, chasing him down throughout the village' The Kyuubi observed.

/o/o/o/o/o/o/Scene shifting line/o/o/o/o/o/

The gray-haired jounin was leaning against a tree, absorbed in reading. He wasn't really good in originating punishments after all. The best thing he could muster was leaving his students to train without his help. Was it any different from their usual course of training? Sure it was. Once he actually did give them some tips about using their chakra to walk up the trees, didn't he? So, now they must be suffering without his wise recommendations.

However, the only one who seemed to be actually disappointed by the punishment was Sakura. She sat aloof on the grass, preserving a safe distance from the open ground where her two teammates were sparring. The boys were so engulfed in their fighting that she could not find the right moment to ask one of them to switch with her. Or more likely she wanted to ask Naruto, so she can have Sasuke all to herself. Eventually the opportunity turned up and she got the chance to do so as the spar between two genins was gradually turning into a brawl.

'The hell are you doing, Teme?' cried Naruto, rubbing out some blood from his bitten lip, which came out as a result of his chin suffering a powerful kick from Sasuke.

'It's not my fault that you can't avoid a kick like this, Usuratonkachi' replied Sasuke evenly, though his expression was close to what one might call being concerned.

'Let's see how you'll gonna avoid my kicks if I get serious, Bastard!' Naruto jumped to his feet.

'I'd like to see you try, Dobe'

'Teme!' Naruto grabbed Sasuke by his collar and was about to punch him in the face when he received a blow in the head from Sakura.

'Aww, Sakura-chan, why did you do it?' the boy wined, clutching his head.

'Stop messing around, Naruto! If you can't fight properly, go and cool down first. It's my turn to spar with Sasuke anyway' she giggled at her last sentence.

'If you say so, Sakura-chan' Naruto signed and walked away from the clearing to give his teammates some room to spar. He wanted to sit near his sensei, but decided against it, and headed towards the forest to take a walk, briefly informing his team about it.

'Let's get started' Sakura said expectantly, trying to catch Sasuke's attention, who at the moment was studying Naruto's retreating back.

'Hn' replied the Uchiha, tearing his gaze from the sulking Blond to take the fighting stance and face Sakura.

TBC

Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate them!

Atomic-Diamonds-Afterimage, thank you) I'll do my best to make this fic interesting.

Crystalzap, ha-ha) I'm sure Kakashi got there not more than 10 minutes before the kids did))

piratepenguin666, the disguise is temporary, so wait just a bit longer. And, yeah, it's not really going to be cannon.

troutman30, I wonder if Naruto will ever forgive me for making him an idiot. But I'll make up for it) I'll explain why older Naruto did acted this way. And well, what team test? That was just their regular training, I'm sorry if I couldn't make it clear.