NEW DAWN

Underneath The Underneath

For the Sake of Cooperation

Uchiha Sasuke enjoyed the texture of the bark on his back, the grass in his fingers, the warmth of the sun shining on his bandaged skin. He was leaning against one of the many tree's in training ground seven, waiting for his team. Team. The Uchiha thought to himself. He was on a team with him.

The indignant boy remembered the savage beating he had received only yesterday. It angered him to no end, that his skills had been unable to even defend against the dead last.

But also, he was excited. The blond had held back, he had somehow fooled everybody as he became stronger.

How?

Looking over at the would-be kunoichi, he thought back to the night before. At least now he understood why he was on a team with such a pathetic teammate as her.

0o0o0

He remembered her coming to the hospital to visit him and for some reason the nurse had given her charge of him! She was supposed to see to it that he got home safe!? At least it got him out of the hospital, he had thought. Yet, when he got home, he told her she could go and began his way to the Uchiha dojo…. Only to be yelled at as if she could give him orders!

"No training! You need to rest up and eat, and then, you're going to bed! If you even think of training when you're so hurt, you'll be back in the hospital for the rest of the night!"

He knew by the way she spoke that nurse had actually given her the authority to have him taken back by medics if she reported it. Besides, he could use the rest if he were going to be really tested tomorrow.

Following him inside Sakura had him show her to the kitchen. "I'll make you something to eat. You need to eat your fill tonight because sensei said it would be best to skip breakfast in the morning."

That was how he found himself eating with one of the few people he actively ran from. It wasn't that he needed to run so much as… she was annoying. He actually preferred Naruto's constant attempts to beat him, over the drooling of his female classmates.

When he finished eating, Sakura came back from the restroom, and told him she had drawn him a bath! And if that wasn't enough she pulled him to his feet and began undoing his bandages.

While she did this Sasuke was certain she was mumbling criticisms on the quality of how it was wrapped. It had been a simple civilian wrap; shinobi bandaging was only slightly different.

Once the bandages were off he waited for her to leave before getting into the bath. He still thought he was going to be peaked at, but a few moments of making sure she was gone and was able to relax.

The soak was good for his injuries and here, he thought over how his other teammate had beaten him. There was no way he had just gotten that much stronger, and that's when he realized, that the boy had been acting week on purpose, he hadn't even passed normally, so that he had been hiding his real strength, the shinobi way was the art of deception and it seemed Naruto knew it.

It also explained why Naruto was able to trick so many in the village, and how he somehow managed to evade the anbu for as long as he could. Many of their classmates had thought he was exaggerating or just plain lying when he told them. But now… Sasuke had no doubts about it.

When he exited the bath, he was startled to find out that his useless teammate was still there. And it only became more surprising when she took out a pouch of ointments and salves.

And again he found himself put out by a girl he avoided. He sat there in only his smallclothes as she applied the medical creams on the majority of his body. Then she re-wove his bandages in a very different form than they had been at the hospital. He had to admit it was a much better one. He had already begun feeling relief.

Next the new, pink mystery led her properly wrapped ward to his bedroom to be tucked in, much to the indignation and resistance of an even worse-ly humiliated Sasuke.

"If I come back, Uchiha Sasuke, and those bandages have been disturbed… I will make sure you stay in the hospital for the next week! Got it?" And for the first time, Sasuke found fear for one of the girls who chased him in the academy.

0o0o0

When he had awakened, he had been pleasantly surprised. It was as if all of his aches had disappeared over night! And they literally had. Remembering her earlier words about not eating because of the test their sensei was going to give them… The drowsy Genin decided to eat a quick meal. There was no point in skipping a breakfast for her stupid diet.

When Sakura arrived that morning, she changed his bandages again and this time she used combat tape on top of it, bracing all his joints and muscles. It restricted his movement a little but on the whole he felt as if he'd gotten stronger through this ordeal.

Sasuke had to admit that she had some uses. As she told him on the way here, apparently her top academic marks included how the body worked and the field medical skills, but they had not been used in practice. So she only knew the how's of the medical bandaging for shinobi, and hadn't actually done it on anyone before.

As his teammate babbled away, Sasuke thought over what she had told him. Keeping one of his ears turned towards her incessant voice in case she said anything else worth hearing.

He had never given much thought to the medical field. He knew his path was on the front lines, fighting; not in a tent, fixing.

But the little details she had memorized payed off big time when he needed them. Even as he walked to the training ground he could feel his body healing. A tingle there from the ointment, and itch here from clotted blood over his many lacerations.

If he was ever hurt, he would need medical aide like this to get him back in the fight that much sooner.

So maybe the dobe was right. He could use his teammates to help him prepare for his eventual clash with his elder brother. Sakura was a good bet for the medical needs his many battles would require. Not like he'd get out of every fight without a scratch. If he wanted to grow stronger he needed to fight strong opponents and that meant fighting against those who could cause him as much damage as he could cause them. And speaking of stronger opponents, could he really keep calling him the dobe?

How had Naruto been so fast!? How had he grabbed him with his foot? The beating he'd dished out was far… more… than anything the boy had been capable of in the academy.

Just how much had the boy held back? How strong could he be? The Genin was actually excited to test himself against Naruto… and not have to hold back for fear of setting his training back.

Yes, Uchiha Sasuke could use this team.

0o0o0

Uzumaki Naruto was not a morning person… Well not at first. It normally took him a few minutes to get going… Today should have been an exception. Days like this, when he was certain he would be 'showing the world how awesome he was' were supposed to be easy to wake up to.

Today was not easy to wake up to. He had been up all night in fact. Well… In a way. His clones had been out setting all the traps he'd planned out and many others they had come up with on their own.

This time around wasn't going to go the way it had last time. He had come up with the perfect lines for his introduction, and he was ready to attack Bastard-sensei with vengeance for last time. The fog over his memories seemed to begin lifting as he learned to meditate. He had spent most of the morning on one of Ten Posts in training ground seventeen, rightfully named the Circle of Pillars. That had been just after he had ran his first morning lap… aaaand eaten breakfast.

Yeah… It was good to know the future…

Anyway. He meditated over his memories not only of the future, but also of the traps his clones had lain the night before. It helped that he had used his shadow projectile jutsu and every single one of them was a cloned tool. He had no real tools out there. And while doing that, the clones had figured out how to throw them. He had the jutsu down!

Drawing them all on a scroll, he made a very crude map of training ground seven.

It was a small scroll, thin once rolled. He could easily slip it into Sasuke's pocket later. Addressing it "To Sakura-chan" he pocketed his 'trap-map.'

It was about an hour after they were supposed to meet. That meant they still had a few hours until Sensei showed up. It was time to join his teammates.

The excited Genin could barely keep his calm as he walked into the training ground. What would they think of his new uniform? He had intentionally worn the outfit Ebisu-Sensei had designed for him.

It's similarity to the anbu uniform should make him look more serious about being a shinobi, and would only highlight his improvement. Hopefully it would be enough for them to completely forget who he was before… Not that they remembered all the dumb things that had happened to him over the year that hadn't happened yet… It wasn't as if he remembered much of it either for that matter.

He could remember only bits and pieces, but he was certain he'd been humiliated more than a few times. The mission ahead of them, the Chunin exam, he knew he had faced Neji, and that he didn't like him, something was missing there... and something really bad happening just after, and then... Boobs? Something to do with blowing a frog up using a balloon. He wasn't sure about that one, but he could clearly remember a giant frog.

And then Sasuke.

He had left the village, they had fought, and Sasuke had killed him!

He didn't know why. He wasn't sure who was right or wrong. But Sasuke had killed him. So it must have been something big. Something that made the teme think he had to leave to kill Itachi...

Naruto saw the man's face in front of him. It wasn't as blury as the rest of his memories. But he had no idea where it came from.

The upcoming test on the other hand, was something he clearly remembered. And he didn't want to live down the thousand years of death again!

And even if he still couldn't remember much about the big mission with the mirrors and swords and things, he was sure whatever it was, the seven years bad luck didn't carry over...

How many mirrors had he broken for that to keep being such a clear memory? And what the hell! Was with the mask that kept showing up inside them… Was he going to get super ugly or something? Nah. Couldn't be.

He did remember a few things from the mission though.

Words.

The words that echo'd through his soul. He wasn't sure where he had heard them but he knew they had meant everything to him when he did. And now he would use them, and all the things he had learned over the last few days to make an image.

An Image that would become his new face. His new self. His first step towards becoming Hokage!

He had barely stepped into the training ground when the Uchiha forced him to dodge. The boy's foot passed through were his head had been.

He had rolled forward into the Uchiha's guard and as he came up he caught his rival's extended leg before the Genin could land from his kick. Lifting him up, Naruto tossed him bodily into a tree.

The Uchiha took no time bouncing back to his feet and pressing his attack. Naruto could almost see every move the Uchiha was going to make before he made them, by watching the muscle movements he had learned about the day before.

Not only that. But his speed was different. His movements were slow, far slower than they had been in Naruto's memories.

That was understandable. He didn't have his sharingan yet, and he hadn't learned to tree walk either.

Naruto vaguely remembered their battle when he died, but only just barely. Sasuke had been able to water walk then. It was no wonder he was so much slower. At least now Naruto understood why Sasuke was able to get so fast. He had been using chakra to make himself faster, like Ebisu had shown him.

But now, Naruto was the one who could do it, and Sasuke had no clue that he could.

Naruto easily avoided every strike, kick, and lunge Sasuke made at him.

Sasuke's movements were growing more and more aggressive, as his face became enraged. Naruto had him beaten, and hadn't even attacked once!

So this is what Ebisu-Sensei meant by not getting hit? The closet pervert was on to something there…

Finished pissing the Uchiha prick off, Naruto went on the offensive. He easily caught one of Sasuke's fists and slammed his own into the Stuckup teme's gut. As the 'Genius' curled over, Naruto whispered into his ear. Then the anbu look-a-like picked him up by the back of his pants, noticing the little sticker on the Uchiha's bandages with a suppressed giggle. Discreetly slipping the scroll into the boy's pocket, Naruto tossed him face first at Sakura, knocking them both over.

For a moment he saw her surprise… No, Shock!... No… Absolute complete fukin' mindfart! Her mouth was hanging open, her eyes were wide and comically bulged outwards from her face. She didn't even realized what he had done until the Uchiha landed on her.

She had just lost all her opinions of him in those few seconds. He caught himself before he actually thought that maybe now she'd go on a date with him. She had made her choice. She wanted Sasuke. And he had died to fulfill that promise. His chances with her were over the moment he had agreed to bring the teme back. Even if it hadn't happened yet, he had given up on her. It was time for him to move on.

Sasuke was up on his feet in moments, oddly enough he dragged Sakura up too. Her eyes looked at the Uchiha in almost as much shock as they had at him.

"Oi! Sasuke, you shouldn't exert yourself so much, sensei said he had a test for us, maybe you should be resting up for that instead!"

The Uchiha's glare at him hardened, and Sakura's look of shock finally came undone as her rage at him expressed itself.

"What the hell do you think you're doing! Attacking Sasuke like that! Again! You have no right to be telling him to rest, you jerk!"

Turning back to the Uchiha she grabbed his arm, and rather forcefully lead him back to his spot by a tree. "Sasuke, You really need to rest up. You shouldn't be fighting with that idiot in your condition! Don't forget that we still have no idea what Kakashi-sensei's test is going to be. He might want to do a physical exam!

The look on the Teme's face when she began giving him orders was priceless! Naruto actually had trouble holding his laughter in. Once he had control of his vocals again, he spoke, "It looks like Sensei is going to be late again. I'm going to take a nap. Sasuke, don't forget what you were told, eh?"

With another chuckle the Genin lay back and closed his eyes.

0o0o0

It was a nice nap that was interrupted. A good, happy, relaxing, comfy, interrupted by a kick to the ribs, nap. Courtesy of a less pretty than earlier pinkette.

It wasn't just him was it? Or did she actually lose her attractiveness for a few minutes?

Holding his side, Naruto climbed to his feet.

"Good of you to join us, Naruto." The nonchalant tone of voice, the orange book predominantly covering his already masked face, the silver gravity defying hair. Kakashi-Sensei, exactly as Naruto remembered him.

"It's not noon already is it?" Naruto turned to The Uchiha with his question. His rival simply shrugged.

"Let's start off by getting to know each other. There's no need to rush into any stressful situations." Their sensei began.

Naruto didn't hesitate. He jumped up and began introducing himself.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, training, and learning new things! I hate when people treat me badly because of my birthday being the same day as the festival."

At the comment about learning new things, he only heard one snort. I swear Sakura wasn't this mean last time, Naruto thought to himself. His sensei didn't even flinch at the hint about the kyuubi.

"I don't like people who think they're better than others just because they have an advantage that others don't! And I can't forgive anybody who would betray or abandon the people who care about them."

He said this he gave a pointed glare to each of his teammates, making absolutely sure not to look at Sasuke any more than the others.

"My plan for the future is to become an awesome shinobi by following my five shinobi truths, and my five guidelines to ninjutsu!"

As Naruto declared his last statement his shoved his hand out to count on each finger.

"First! Never give up or go back on your word!" This was something he had believed for the longest time, even before the memories.

"Second! Hard work is the only way to become strong! There are no shortcuts to strength!" It was kind of funny. To think that the so called short-cut to strength that Ebisu sensei had been preaching was the same youthful dedication to hard work that had the Bushy-brows duo so tough. Not a shortcut at all!

"Third! True strength is found by protecting those precious to you! And fourth! When you have something precious to you, you must protect it! With both arms, with both legs and with every other part of your body!"

His memories of that mission, while a blur, rang clearly with those words. Both rules were dear to him. Even if he didn't know why.

"And finally, my fifth nindo!"

Naruto was ready to see how the Jonin reacted to his own words being parented before he ever said them. Not that he was going to say them exactly. That would be to much of a give away.

"Those who abandon their comrades are worse than the worst scum!"

Kakashi's reaction was a slight widening of his visible eye, and a narrowing of his peripheral vision as he began to re-reassess Naruto. Not that Naruto caught either of those. To the Genin, his sensei hadn't reacted at all.

"My Five Guidelines to Ninjutsu! One! A shinobi's path is Deception!

"Two! Always be ready! The best victory is a battle that's won without a fight! If you can eliminate the threat before it happens then do so!

"Three! If the enemy can't touch you, then they can't beat you! This means contact with fist or chakra! A genjutsu is far harder to evade than any kunai!

"Four! Anything available to a shinobi can be a weapon or tool, however if a tool isn't used to protect what's precious to you, then it is dead weight!

"And five! You haven't truly mastered A jutsu until you can do it silently, from every part of your body, without vocal commands, or hand seals!"

Each of his guidelines had been a lesson learned from Ebisu-sensei. Over the last day Naruto's entire view of him had changed. He had never had anyone teach him as much as that man had. And from the few hours they had spent together Naruto felt as if he had gained more than even the whole year of life that he had lost.

Taking a deep breath Naruto took the famous youthful 'nice guy pose.' It was time to finish with a closing statement!

"I am going to become Hokage! And I will protect all of the people precious to me! Believe it!"

With that said he sat back down, signifying that he was finished.

0o0o0

Hatake Kakashi was not a fool, No matter how many times he acted like one. And he was fully aware that there was something wrong here.

Naruto, asleep when he arrived, should have been bored and impatient. That small oddity could have been explained by him not sleeping well because he was too excited.

But what couldn't be explained was the outfitting. It was as close to an anbu uniform as one could get without being put under suspicion for impersonating the anbu. At the same time while his body language and attitude hadn't changed, he seemed calmer. He was more intelligent than he was a week ago, hell he was more intelligent than he had been at the academy yesterday!

The Jonin could see it. The boy knew things that he hadn't before. His rules and guidelines were a single step towards the suspicion that the Jonin felt festering in his gut.

The sandaime had rigged it!

There was no other explanation! The ex-anbu member had heard about the scroll theft, and that Naruto acquired a certain jutsu from it.

Obviously the Hokage had felt that the opportunity to force feed the boy knowledge via Clone Feedback was too great to pass up. This apparently had to have been payed for by bribing him with a new outfit and tools.

And that last Nindo of his...

It was as if The old man had been trying to mold him into Kakashi's own personal Obito-chibi!

How dare that old fool use his past like this!

Sasuke was the next to speak although he didn't get up for it.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like training, and testing myself against strong opponents. I dislike being caught off guard, or unprepared for something. My plans for the future are to test myself against as many stronger opponents as available, until I can kill a certain man, and then to revive the Uchiha clan."

The Uchiha was wrapped soundly in medical and combat tapes. Not the standard civilian wrap, or even the shinobi combat weave. Clearly the one who had done it, had studied extensively on the human body to maximize the range of movement and durability of the weave.

The Jonin was mildly surprised at the extent of the boy's wounds. Nothing too damaging was done, but the total amount of minor injuries spoke of rage and violence. He couldn't believe his ears when he was told all that had happened to the boy.

An ambush with shadow clones could understandably result in Naruto's victory, But his few checkups on the boy over the last year or so had him certain that there had to have been an exaggeration about how ruthless it had been. Seeing the outfit and the slight, but drastic changes in Naruto, almost changed his mind.

Sakura spoke next, the kunoichi clearly hated Naruto and even more clearly had a crush on Sasuke. Mentioning how taking care of him had made her feel, and how caring for his children would be a rewarding life... subtlety must have come as hard to her as it did to the previously orange boy.

But no point in wasting a minor opening, so the Jonin gave an offhanded comment that maybe she could be the team's medic.

Her eyes brightened up at that.

With their introductions over he said a few words about himself and offered to explain the test.

Taking out the two bells he told them the rules, explaining as he did that they were not Genin yet.

When the possible medic objected that one of them was injured he merely replied that they may have to finish a mission injured, so there was little difference. It was a shame that the Uchiha was hurt as badly as he was, but that didn't mean he would change his test…

And if they failed, they would go back to the academy, and he would eat their lunch in front of them.

His eye narrowed when both boys subtly became amused. Sakura was the only one to react with the panic he had expected.

"So I'm guessing both of you boys ate breakfast." They looked at each other and Naruto's grin was almost reflected on the Uchiha. Almost.

"Even after I said you'd throw it up!?"

It was Sasuke's reply that came, just another thing the Jonin hadn't expected. "Even if we vomit, it was early enough that the nourishment has been absorbed. Neglecting to feed your body out of the fear that you might vomit is like not sharpening your kunai because someone might cut you with it."

At that he even sent a small glare at the pinkette… Message received?

"I'm not taking stupid risks when it comes to my shinobi career!"

Each of them had straightened, they were all ready to fight.

One last thing and he would start the timer.

"I am a Jonin, against me you will have very little chance of victory. So come at me with the intent to kill!"

There eyes hardened, He shouted "GOO" and two of them vanished…

With a sigh, the Jonin look at the remaining would-be Genin, and raised his eyebrow.

"Sensei, Do you mean it?"

Naruto was in a ready stance, but his head was down, his eyes just barely visible, were almost cold.

At his lack of response the Genin spoke again. "Do you really want me to attack with the intent to kill?"

Ah! That was it. The poor not-even-a-Genin obviously thought he had a chance of hurting a Jonin. No surprise there, he had already beaten a Chunin with relative ease.

"Naruto, It's okay. I'm far above Mizuki's level. I won't die. So hold nothing back!"

"You mean it, No holding back, I can use any tool I have to kill you, and I won't be punished for it?"

That question wasn't as unexpected as anything else Kakashi saw today. There were only two possible reasons he would ask a question like that. Either he was asking for permission to use that chakra, or Mizuki had been punishing him if he ever got too good.

"Use only whatever you feel comfortable explaining to your teammates. But don't hold back out of fear of the consequences, even if I am hurt, you won't be punished."

There. That should help his resolve. It not only hid the first reason while letting him know that if he wanted to explain it to his teammates he could, but it also let him know there would be no punishment if he did use it. And it ensured he knew that victory wouldn't get him in trouble here.

Kakashi was mildly amused when a small amount of killing intent flickered to life in Naruto.

"Don't underestimate me sensei!" The Genin looked up at him with a snarling face. And the level of killing intent he was producing spiked! "I'll kill you!"

The Jonin could actually feel the chakra flowing through Naruto, it was unreal! It certainly wasn't that chakra, but his own. How much had Naruto been holding back exactly!?

If this was what the boy was talking about then it explained a lot! All those times he would escape pursuit, his many successful prank infiltration's, even the easy defeat of Mizuki!

In a flash Naruto's fist slammed into Kakashi's open palm. His speed was at least Chunin! And the power behind the fist. It almost felt like... Gai!

0o0o0

Sasuke remembered this feeling clearly. It was the same as when Naruto had said those same words to him. Terror! The complete and absolute certainty that he was going to die! If not for the knowledge that Naruto was on his side, the Uchiha might have fled.

He remembered the words the dobe had whispered in their spar.

"Sensei's test is going to be a trick of some sort, you need to look underneath the underneath… under his words to what he's trying to get out of saying them, and under that to why he would want that result! But above all, we need to work together no matter what he says. The scroll is for Sakura."

It was a clear hint that the dobe knew what the test was. He had inside information! And the fact that he would pass it to him like that could only mean that they weren't simply waiting for a late teacher. The Jonin was watching them! So when he landed from the toss, he passed a message to his landing pad and deftly transferred the scroll as per instructions. Foregoing the payback spar he had desired in lieu of keeping his true abilities his own until the test.

When Naruto moved, his body seemed to vanish! He was fast! What ever punishment he thought he would get for not holding back must have been there for a long time! There was no possible way to get that fast overnight!

Sasuke didn't know what happened between the dobe and their taijutsu instructor, but it had to be directly relevant to his secret skill.

Was Naruto getting punished unless he held back? or had he accidentally killed their sensei? It didn't really matter anymore. His secret was out.

Naruto's quick maneuvers of hand to hand had almost caught the Jonin several times, what ever it was Naruto was doing had managed to push the Jonin from his crouching position.

Then Naruto leapt back and when he landed, he wasn't alone!

What was that jutsu! Naruto had never been able to perform the clone jutsu, and yet their sensei was dodging these ones like they were solid!

It almost looked like he had their sensei cornered when the Jonin struck out and killed all of the clones, with a single hit to each.

When the smoke dispersed there were no Naruto's left. Where had the original gone!?

He was about to come out to try his own luck at the Jonin when the entire area was covered in Kunai from above. The Jonin leapt away and all the kunai vanished like the clones had. Naruto landed back on the ground where his clones had been killed.

His anbu-ish uniform, added to his speed and movements perfectly granted the illusion that he was a real shinobi.

There was a single moment of pause between them, then out of nowhere Naruto threw himself to the ground. Another four kunai flew right over him at their sensei.

Sasuke shot a look at his other teammate. She had been the one to throw those! And she was on the move.

The Jonin dodged the kunai of course, but his leap out of the way put him in mid air, with Naruto on the ground out of his line of fire, the airborne shinobi was an open target for the Uchiha.

Taking the advantage, Sasuke leapt out catching their sensei with a quick taijutsu combination. Which the Jonin bizarrely used to launch himself back towards the ground. The moment his feet touched down though, Naruto's feet hit him square in the gut, just before Naruto burst into smoke as a Giant Shuriken almost cut their sensei in half. The sacrificed log fell to the ground in cleanly split apart.

Sakura was on the move again! And clones were everywhere making noise. Sasuke took the chance to silently slide back into the trees. When the clones found their sensei, he would join the fight immediately.

0o0o0

This was soooooo Bizarre! She had been dreaming of being on a team with Sasuke for who knows how long and it was never like this! Not that she hadn't considered that Kami would require a balance to be kept and put her least favorite person on the team with her most favorite. But even in the fantasies faulted by universal balance where Naruto was a member of the team, Sasuke had always been the one in charge!

Except in those ones. Her inner-self almost made the kunoichi blush. The ones where she was in charge were unrelated to this issue… She couldn't believe that Sasuke had told her to 'follow Naruto's lead, He has information we don't, keep the scroll hidden'

That was what he said to her, while lying on top of her! It was wrong!

First it was the beating the Baka gave her poor Uchiha, yesterday, then he mocked him today! And now, Sasuke wanted them to let Naruto lead!

It was madness! Insanity!

It seems to be working too! Her inner-self admitted.

When she opened the scroll that was placed in her hand when her crush pulled her up, she felt her heart and jaw drop at the same time!

Well, it wasn't Sasuke's declaration of love… It wasn't even his handwriting! No, instead she held a sloppy, grungy map of the training ground. The poorly written key signified that the grounds were layered with hundreds of traps. Not ten or twenty, not even a single hundred… but hundreds!

No wonder Naruto had needed that nap! He had been up all night setting traps for their test! She kind of felt bad for kicking him as hard as she had.

Well she'd never doubt Sasuke's plan's again! If he said to follow Naruto's lead then follow him she would!

It was as if the baka was a different person entirely now. He was calmer, smarter… Way way way waaaaaaay smarter, He had a plan, and he was actually outfitted properly. His movements in the brawl between him and Sasuke-kun had been at a level beyond anything she had seen in person.

And there was that. The kunoichi shuddered at the thought of that horrible feeling she'd gotten when he told sensei not to underestimate him.

But now his fight with their sensei was almost impossible. Sakura knew that movement like this was normal for shinobi, but not him. He couldn't move like that if his pants were on fire!

Taking another glance at the map, Sakura found the first trap close to her and looked it over. It was eerily similar to something he had made to launch paint balloons at Ino and her friends in the academy that time Ino had made her cry…

The traps were simple enough to figure out. There were launchers, which she could release on her own, and many others that she could cause to go off by hitting the trigger when her sensei got near. Others still, would be released only if set off by the battle. She silently hoped that Sasuke-kun wouldn't get caught by one!

Their fight had moved so she moved with it. There were so many traps listed on her new map that it almost didn't matter where she went, she was never too far from one. And when Naruto hit the dirt, she knew he had given her the opening. Releasing the catch she sent the four kunai at their sensei. And when he dodged Sasuke appeared! His fast movements had sensei flying at the ground. Right into the line of fire of another clone's drop kick.

Moving to the next one she hit the release as soon as she arrived. The giant shuriken was flung at their sensei, who used a substitution to escape.

The next half an hour went like that, Naruto-Baka would keep Sensei-teme moving and leading him into traps and She would set them off, forced to deal with the clones and her many projectiles, the Jonin left himself open, and that was when Sasuke would pounce. Naruto even got him into the lake where Sasuke showed his cool fire style and boiled the water, turning the replacement log into ashes.

They were getting closer and closer to bringing him down. And there it was! an opening that was too good to be true, one of the bells had broken off his belt… and was still hanging at that same distance for half a second without inertia…

The Jonin was using his chakra to dangle the bell out as bait!

Not wanting Sasuke-kun to be caught she moved as fast as she ever had and instead of taking the bell and landing in his trap she plunged her kunai under his rib. Both her teammates' attacks landed a second later.

But the Jonin was gone.

0o0o0

This was by far the best team he had ever tested!

With Naruto sending a mass of clones at him wave after wave, he was kept busy while the other two would prepare their own attacks.

The one time he had tried to swap with a clone and hide among them the original would vanish and they would all be pelted by kunai from above.

During his fight with the Anbu-esque Genin, Kakashi was constantly targeted by a relentless onslaught of projectiles. They would even take out Naruto's clones when the opening presented itself.

Haruno wasn't anywhere near the disappointment he had observed from before, to think she had layered the place with traps beforehand was unusual especially for this generation of female Genin. Not only that, He couldn't seem to predict where she would strike out from! None of the information he had on her helped him to expect her most logical trap placement. She had actually used one trap to set off six others that were all in the treetops!

It was as if she had a completely separate personality picking the locations of her traps.

And every time he had to recover or would go off balance, Sasuke would strike. He had precision, and an arsenal of small fire jutsu that most Genin wouldn't be able to use, and the large fireball he sent at him was well beyond any of the current batch of Genin he had seen in the academy this year.

The copy-nin was most surprised at the raw speed and strength Naruto had. It was so disproportionate to what he should have that it almost made up for his horrendous hand to hand skills.

Those, oddly enough, posed their own problems. His style was so bizarre, and almost counter-productive that it was hard to follow. And worse, was that it had points of absolute fluidity and precision littered throughout it at random.

Kakashi couldn't predict anything with his movements. He was almost tempted to open Obito's eye until he heard the Genin's arm dislocate for an especially nasty jab to his throat.

The kid was taking damage to use this style! No wonder they told him to knock it off! Then Naruto used the shadow projectile jutsu… Kakashi had known about the scroll theft, and he was informed by the Hokage the boy hadn't learned any other jutsu! Naruto couldn't have figured it out on his own could he? That was just absurd!

All together their teamwork was unexpected, they hadn't even tried to compete, working with one another from the very beginning!

He had tried not to move any faster than a high Genin speed but at this point he had been forced to move at mid-Chunin speed several times to avoid being hit by a stray fist or kunai, and the Uchiha had almost forced him into Jonin level speed with his quick turnaround attempt at the bells. Flipping upside down and launching off of a clone at them.

The copy-nin was almost willing to let them take the bells, just to see how they would resolve his little ruse...

And so, he tried to arrange an opening, letting the bells go. But instead of his Genin taking the bait, the Jonin had taken a blade and found himself bleeding from a vicious stab to his side, courtesy of the pinkette. Obviously she had thought the opening had been a trap, and prevented her teammates from getting caught in it.

He still couldn't believe he, a Jonin, had been stabbed, by the least of the three Not-Even-Genin. Even as he held a hand to the bleeding cut, not too deep. She had barely punctured the skin before he'd moved.

If her lunge hadn't been so unexpected it never would have landed... How was he going to live this down?

The timer should have gone off already, and seeing no real end to this constant assault, Kakashi decided to show them exactly what a Jonin was, and what it meant to fight a losing battle.

Vanishing from their area he waited until the bell finally went off. Once it had, he reappeared next to the originals of Sasuke and Naruto at the same time… the Genin wasn't the only one to use a shadow clone.

With the words "My turn!" His fists slammed into their guts targeting stomachs specifically, immediately causing them to puke. After all, he did say they'd throw up breakfast. All of Naruto's current clones burst as a third Jonin's suiton jutsu struck. Then at a low Jonin's speed he and his clone began smacking the boys from every direction with a single open hand from each of the clones. At the same time, the third Kakashi targeted the trap user, and sent small fist sized bullets of mud raining down on her.

Every time Naruto tried to create clones they died instantly from the most painful nerve strikes he knew. When the Uchiha tried to curl his arms were dislocated. No matter where Sakura went, the mud kept pelting her and when she tried diving under water he electrified it. And almost immediately the three of them were bruised, bleeding, and unconscious.

Kakashi looked down at them once they had been lain down on the grass and hosed off with a clean suiton jutsu.

The first team to have ever passed his test…

He could barely understand it. From what he'd learned about them yesterday, Naruto had attacked the Uchiha in an ambush, likely with his clones, though he didn't have any real details, the boy was soundly beaten and the Uchiha should have been eager to fight against the blonde. Furthermore Sakura had a passionate dislike for the boy while the clan survivor had the same feelings for the girl.

It didn't add up.

But then again it kind of did. If Naruto's attack had been as brutal as he had heard, then the Uchiha may have began respecting him, the girl could have taken his cues and followed Naruto's lead. Accepting him as the alpha of the group, especially after that pressure of Killing Intent.

And it was obvious that she had rebandaged Sasuke this morning. The Uchiha definitely hadn't seen the 'Property of Haruno Sakura' label placed on his lower back, by the girl's bandages.

The tramp stamp was only visible to him, because they had been fighting.

Altogether the Jonin had one hell of a team to start with.

~ Note ~

Yeah Sakura must have known some of the medical stuff in canon but she wouldn't waste it on Naruto and Sasuke never seemed to get hurt. You might think she would have used some when He was bitten but what could they have possibly taught in the academy about a curse seal?

Also it is entirely possible that she would look it up before going to see him in the hospital. Or later that night!

Sasuke's new intro is due to not hearing Kakashi's first!

Sakura's changes are mostly because of her extra time spent with Sasuke the night and morning before, as well as the shocking change in Naruto, and Sasuke's own command to follow Naruto.

Kakashi doesn't know Ebisu is training Naruto. So the Genin's skills had to come from somewhere.

He hadn't checked the place out that morning, And since Sakura was the one who was setting the traps off he assumed it was Sakura who had set them up.

Of course, she wasn't the one who set them up, so he couldn't predict where she would strike from.

How hard would it be for a bookworm like her to know how to use them anyway?

Also! There were as mentioned, Hundreds! Of them! So she only needed to go to the simplest, and best angled ones. And since it was Naruto who set them up and not her he couldn't predict what traps she would use! While the boys kept him to occupied to track her movements through the horde of clones that kept swarming him.

Her landing a stab on Kakashi was purely because he hadn't expected it!

Sasuke and Naruto fighting together are a force to be taken seriously! Even at that stage! Remember, In Canon, Sasuke surprised kakashi and almost got the bells! Well, his skill and an Improved Naruto working together, with additional cover fire from Sakura would more than force the Jonin to move!

Most items in all my Naruto fan-fictions will be based off of T8: Retroversion's timeline. Many of these details will be universal across them all.

Meaning any mission or OC, or other major details will be included, based on their background and trigger events.

{This will not include Kurenai's conspiracy or Hinata's abuse}

While T8: Retroversion will be my main Fic, Five others are on my list to work on at the moment: LATE Naruto: Life After the Ends; Uzumaki: A Lone Fox; The Thousand Ninja; Village Hidden in Plain Sight; and Wisdom of Chance. Descriptions on profile.