The First Flower of Spring

-Chapter Eleven-

Of Men and Dogs (Part I)

Naruto seemed to have already shed any vestiges of worry about their confrontation in the forest, which Sakura supposed was admirable in its own way. It wasn't that Naruto was shallow or stupid, which was what it first appeared to be, but rather that he clung so tightly to the present that no matter how tumultuous the past, he remained undisturbed by it. It was an extremely valuable trait for a ninja, whose greatest threat off the battlefield was the psychological distress caused by their lifestyle. Missions were often morally dubious, friends were apt to die, and few people were born killers.

In contrast, Sasuke brooded, amplifying even small incidents until he could dismantle and comprehend them in his own quiet, obsessive, unhealthy way. If their personalities were slotted into the clan's worldview, Naruto would have been born a main house member and Sasuke, with his inability to let the past remain in the past, would have most certainly been part of the branch house. But he would have never been chosen to Walk in the White Moon Garden, unless there was a deeply hidden aspect of his character she had yet to see. For the most important factor in a weapon was their ability to put their wielder and his or her best interests above their own desires, which Sasuke could not and would not do.

But while she frowned at the silently simmering Uchiha, who had a promise written on his features that boded ill for his opponent. You can measure a man, Kagami-sama had told her once, by how he responds to his own shortcomings. The strong accept and overcome them. The weak take them out on others.

And Shiki-dono? Sakura had inquired.

Kagami-sama had rolled her eyes. Shiki doesn't have shortcomings. Reality does, she'd quipped.

An announcement from the floor below snapped Sakura from her reverie, her gaze joining all the others in the room as the board lit and names began to scroll through almost too quickly to be read. Tension in the room ratcheted upwards by degrees until the names stilled and several genin hopefuls leaned forward eagerly to read the name displayed there.

Haruno Sakura vs. Yoroi Akado flashed across the screen and Sakura scanned the crowd of unfamiliar genin until her opponent stepped forward. Jade eyes narrowed as she assessed him.

Though his headband proclaimed he was from Konoha, she had never seen any of the members of the purple and white clad squad before this exam. While not totally impossible with the size of Konoha's shinobi population, it was unusual in the sense that Sakura had a very good memory. If she had seen them before, she felt she would remember, even if he had not been wearing the round sunglasses and mask.

In the case of Kabuto, who was quite clearly a medic, she could attribute it to his spending time in the labs and hospital of Konoha. And, admittedly, Sakura had never had too much of an interest in other ninja, occupied as she was with her training under her Haruno sensei as well as the Academy taskmasters. But it still niggled at her, that she would overlook another shinobi. Sakura estimated that he was at least five or six years old than her, possibly more. Within that time, he should have had an established career, even if he was still a gennin. Surely at some point he must have passed her in the street?

And what of their peculiar matching uniforms? The colors weren't Konohagakure's. And they certainly weren't flattering.

Sakura was startled from her analysis when Kakashi's hand descended on her shoulder. "Looks like you get to set the standard," Kakashi told her with that eye-crinkling smile. "Good luck."

She regarded her sensei seriously. "I hope I won't have to rely on luck, sensei."

Kakashi crouched down next to her, so that their eyes were level. He sighed. "There's something very strange about having to tell this to a genin, but Sakura, remember that this is a test. Don't use fatal force first."

"But second is fine?" she inquired cautiously.

For though Konohagakure was extremely peaceful as a whole, there were those among its population who liked the decadent taste of ambition achieved through easy, brutal means better than the starvation of stringent morals. Orochimaru was a prime example of that. Her first lessons had prepared her well for the reality of the world, not the rosy illusion Konoha tried to foster. Sakura could hardly see the point, for it seemed that it would only hurt more to believe in the illusion and discover it to be false than to find contentment in reality.

Kakashi searched her eyes, though she couldn't imagine what for. "If you feel that your life is in danger, yes."

Sakura nodded gravely. "I understand, Kakashi-sensei." Internally, she frowned, for that made it even more difficult not to violate Shiki-dono's mandate. A prolonged match, with her nerves as raw as they were, made it probable that she would slip into the First Flower. And with so many eyes on her, the slip would not be looked on favorably. Using a kekkei genkai in the field was one matter, but here? Shiki-dono would execute her for certain, even if she was his heir.

So it must be ended quickly. That was the thought foremost in her mind as she descended the stairs, meeting her opponent in the center of the ring. "You have been chosen for the first match," the referee announced, "Are there any objections?"

"No," her opponent answered swiftly.

"No, sir," Sakura replied in a measured voice, still intent on gathering what information she could about her opponent before the match proper. His clothes were dirty, which indicated a close range fighter, but he himself was unharmed underneath the grime of the forest, which could be either attributed to his skill or that of his medic. The fact that his teammate was a medic also increased the probability that he was a close range fighter, as the medic program as outlined and instituted by Senju Tsunade took medic-nin out of direct combat in favor of a support role.

"Then if you're ready, let the match begin," the strained voice of the referee announced, backing out of the way as her opponent crouched, a haze of blue chakra enveloping his right hand, even as his left slipped a kunai from his pouch.

Standard opening move, Sakura thought irritably as she dodged it, closing the distance between them quickly. She moved without projecting killing intent, for fear that her own desire to cause harm might trigger the budding process. One of her own kunai coming to hand, she flicked it at her opponent, who mirrored her earlier dodge. However, just as it sailed safely past his shoulder, Sakura brought her fingers together in a focusing seal and exploded the gaily waving tag that he seemingly hadn't noticed.

Though, as he reappeared quite near her and she had to flip out of the way, concrete cracking from the force of his blow, she had to upgrade her opinion of his abilities. But this was all simple taijutsu.

Slipping in behind him, Sakura swept him off his feet, but his glowing hand caught hold of her arm and in a flash, the older ninja had her beneath him on the ground, arm twisted behind her back, almost a mirror of how Kakashi-sensei had pinned Sasuke in their first meeting. Sakura's eyes narrowed, for while the hold itself was uncomfortable, he wasn't exerting enough pressure to break her arm or pop her shoulder out of socket. Focusing beyond the pain, Sakura discovered a leeching sensation.

Eyes widening, she quickly used her off hand, which the fool wasn't controlling in favor of yanking her head back by her hair, to unsheathe a kunai and jam it deep in his leg. The pain was enough to make him loosen his grip long enough for Sakura to break free, retreating a few steps to a safe distance.

Rather than giving her time to evaluate, Yoroi charged in again and they exchanged a flurry of quick blows. Yes, that's it, Sakura realized. He can sap my chakra. Each blow stole a little more. Sakura was willing to let the stalemate continue as she tracked the rate of absorption. She discovered it was annoying, but while she looked terrible, bruised and stinking from her encounter with the snake and the days in the forest, her chakra level was sufficient to assure her a good thirty seconds or more before her combat abilities began to decline, even if he pinned her.

With that in mind, Sakura allowed him to take her down, her head impacting hard against the floor as he pressed her head down with all the strength in his bulky forearms. "You're...stealing my chakra," she hissed the accusation.

He laughed, the self-satisfied laugh of someone who thinks they have done something remarkable and are pleased with themselves about it. "You finally caught on, huh?"

Sakura struggled not to sneer. A panicking genin might be trapped with a hold like this, but his position exposed to her the most vulnerable portions of her body. With one hand occupied in draining her chakra, he only had one hand left to defend. She had two and she was almost certain she was quicker than he, though he was stronger. "No," she said, "I noticed some time ago. The question is," and she strained upward, forcing him to put more pressure on her forehead, "can you drain my chakra before I disembowel you?" And, quicker than the words, she did just that, burying a kunaim deep in his abdomen. When he wrenched away instinctively, Sakura followed him, intent on making it a tearing movement, but at the last minute she remembered Kakashi-sensei's warning and retracted her blade, which came free with a sucking sound.

Blinking, Sakura could feel the beginnings of an incredible headache. Adrenaline had staved it off for a moment, but now the initial flood was beginning to wane. She did not think it was a concussion, but she was in no position to judge that.

She stared evenly at her opponent. "I've likely perforated something," she offered helpfully as the ninja clutched his abdomen. "If it's your stomach, you only have a matter of hours until your own stomach acid destroys your internal organs. I would recommend surrendering now and seeking immediate medical attention. Your ability does absorb chakra-but you seem unable to control the rate of absorption. You can also only do so with the palm of your right hand, which means that if you wished to continue this battle, you would have to engage me at close range or with long-range techniques. Unfortunately for you, it appears that your long range technique is extremely limited. Your physique suggests that you are accustomed to using a combination of brute strength and your ability to overpower your opponents, but your abdominal wound will severely limit your core strength unless you have remarkable pain tolerance."

Her opponent grunted in reply and Sakura took a few confident steps forward, staying just outside of his reach. Another kunai was already in her hand. Feeling her emotions slipping away, Sakura projected the rage she had felt at Orochimaru's attack, born of fear, as a wall of killing intent, brutal and perhaps not as controlled as she intended, for she felt a chorus of gasps and felt the interest of a dark something suddenly focused on her.

But she did not relent, instead amplifying her intent with her confused feelings of worry and concern for Jun, her irritation at Sasuke for being a passive victim of the Sannin, endangering them all, painting Orochimaru's visage over the enemy before her. Without her willing it, she felt Shiho-nii manifest behind her, his sleeves and hair billowing. She pressed down on her need for victory, shaping it into a long, thin needle, which she drove deep into the imagined smooth muscle of her opponent's heart. She thought she could almost feel the organ as it stuttered, then stopped.

Time stretched between her and her opponent as he slowly fell to his knees, then wavering, collapsed on his side. "Sakura!" Shiho-nii reprimanded her sharply.

With one last dark look at her opponent, Sakura dispersed her killing intent. "You shouldn't have taken my chakra," she murmured as he gasped, his heart resuming normal function. "It appears to amplify that technique."

She watched on blankly as medics swarmed around her fallen opponent like white cockroaches, then she turned expectantly to the referee, who coughed into his hand. "Winner, Haruno Sakura!" he declared.

The guilt didn't hit her until she met Shiho-nii's eyes, which conveyed deep disappointment. I thought you were a better person, they said. You wanted to be better than what you were born to be. But then, without a single word, he disappeared. And with his absence, Sakura's victory became hollow. It was with a mechanical march up the steps. Even when Suna no Gaara's bloodthirst lashed out as she passed, she only frowned more deeply and moved on, ready to be scolded by Kakashi-sensei. In fact, by the time she reached Kakashi's side, tears were already leaking from her eyes.

Reading her expression, Kakashi sighed and crouched down in front of her again, taking gentle hold of her upper arms. Speaking to her in a very low voice as the next match was announced, warning her teammates off with a look, he said, "Sakura, look at me."

Meeting his single eye, Sakura tensed. Kakashi offered her a small smile, but she was not reassured. Shiki-dono had long ago separated that expression from being linked with comfort in her mind. "I think I've made you a little oversensitive about moderation. I'm not going to yell at you. Yes, he was a Konoha ninja. But that level of injury isn't unusual in this exam."

Sakura shook her head. "It's not that. He was draining my chakra. Many of the genin are already approaching chakra exhaustion from the forest. It wouldn't take much to kill someone." She bit her lower lip. "But I offered him the chance to surrender, then before he could decide one way or the other, I-."

Kakashi-sensei understood. "Killing intent. But did you do it in the expectation it would do what it did or did you intend that it reinforce your message?"

Sakura replied to him as honestly as she could. "I knew that killing intent could be used like that," and she leaned closer to Kakashi, who turned his head slightly so that her lips were closer to his ear, "Shiki-dono can," and she felt him start at the name, but she soldiered on, "but I've never been able to do it like that. He had just absorbed my chakra. It probably amplified it, like it was a genjutsu. That's why..." she whispered.

Kakashi patted her head reassuringly. "He'll be fine. Now, since you've made it into the finals, let's set back and enjoy the rest of the matches, neh?"

Sakura nodded, quickly wiping away the saline trails. She did not think Kakashi understood that she did not feel guilty for the shinobi's injuries, rather because she had fallen short of Shiho-nii and Kakashi-sensei's expectations, but his care was unusual. Unexpected. For Kakashi-sensei had always seemed rather distant. As if he didn't want to become too emotionally involved with them, but sometimes she got the sense that he was growing attached to them despite himself.

But though he had just comforted her, his eyes as he stood were on Sasuke.

-X-X-X-

Though the dull throbbing in her head continued and Shiho-nii maintained a stony silence even as he rematerialized, Sakura admired the battle that followed her own. It was too subtle to quite call it panache, but Shino certainly had a sense of dramatic timing and style, as well as an extremely developed jutsu for a genin. If not for the fact that it took time for the psychic link between symbiotic parasites and host to develop and his physical immaturity meant that his colonies were still small, Sakura would say the Aburame's skills settled him quite comfortably in the chunin range.

But despite these things, Sakura was more aware than many of her classmates that keeping talented students like Shino in the Academy for the duration was something new to Konohagakure and probably unique to their village. Any other village would not have had such a diverse range of skill levels in their graduating class-the system typically made it unnecessary for things like the bell test. Only the most skilled or those who survived the Academy program graduated, which lead to a greater diversity of ages on the same team, rather than the neat arrangement of their class into triads.

She watched the next fight with active interest, as it was the first battle that featured two people who had not been among the members of her graduating class. Though short, it was enlightening, revealing that Suna's Puppets Corps was still a strong influence in Sunagakure if they were teaching it as a primary discipline to genin. Though nothing like the stories she had heard or read of the infamous Chiyo, the Spider of Many Poisons who'd had a vicious rivalry with Senju Tsunade during the last war, or her grandson, Sasori of the Red Sands, the one they called the Scorpion and who had developed the modern Puppet Corps, it was pretty impressive.

Most genin didn't have chakra control developed enough to use the puppetry jutsu, which called for precision equal to or better than medical jutsu, which might have explained why those two fields often overlapped in Suna, providing medics with a offensive style that used minimal chakra and kept them safe from the heat of battle, but did not limit their activities like Tsunade's program often did. Each style required time and talent to develop, often to the neglect of the other. Each village simply chose the one they found less important, so Konoha had medic-nin with poor or only basic battle abilities, while Suna's medical program was almost seven years behind the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Not all of this was basic Academy knowledge-Shiki-dono wouldn't acknowledge a stupid heir, after all, but Sakura still frowned every time Naruto or Sasuke exclaimed over things that should be common knowledge. The libraries, even the small one at the Academy, maintained collections of Bingo books for the last thirty years, the truly classified missing-nin removed for security purposes, but by their expressions she doubted that they had ever bothered to research the specializations of other villages.

For their sake, she hoped neither of them faced Temari. If her fan was any indication, she had inherited a strong elemental ninjutsu affiliation with wind, which neither of her teammates would be prepared to counter. Sakura was sure she was prepared to counter it. Wind was tricky. It wasn't like earth or water or fire. Wind was an invisible force that could be used with deadly effect. Shiki-dono was proof of that.

It wasn't until she heard Naruto's whoop that she realized the next match had been announced. Quick eyes glanced at the screen and she realized that Naruto had been paired with a kunoichi from their class. Yamanaka Ino. She knew little enough about the kunoichi herself, but her clan was known for their interrogation techniques. Sakura would never belittle the T&I squad, but what they did was the equivalent of ninja office work. Rarely in the field and rarely matched against an opponent who wasn't already in custody, Sakura doubted the level of clan jutsu the kunoichi would have been able to master would be much use in the arena.

So, she too was glad for Naruto. "I'm gonna own this match," Naruto crowed, thrusting his hand out for a fist bump that went unacknowledged by his teammates. His enthusiasm didn't dim, though. Kakashi wished him luck and Sakura finger-waved him toward the steps.

"Don't celebrate a match you haven't won yet," Sakura called after him.

Without turning, he waved his hand dismissively. "Just you wait, Sakura-chan!"

"Hey!" Ino challenged, hands on hips before she marched down the stairs, "Don't get cocky yet, Naruto! Unless some sort of miracle happened, this match is going to end just like it did in the Academy. With you lying on the floor. Beaten," she said with the smug assurance of someone who had won many times before.

When they had both reached the floor, the sickly referee announced, "Fourth match: Yamanaka Ino versus Uzumaki Naruto. Are there any objections?"

Naruto punched one hand into his open palm. "Only that it took so long to get here."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Not from my side."

"Then if you're ready, let the match begin."

-X-X-X-

Naruto grinned as Ino charged into the fight. For a kunoichi, Ino was monumentally aggressive, which was part of the reason she'd won the top kunoichi slot and defended it from all comers. She wasn't afraid of hurting others or being hurt, she would psychologically railroad an opponent if left an opening, and she had a solid mastery of the Academy basics. She was a very good genin, but she put too much stock in her "ninja dignity."

She was also easily angered, vain, and afraid of most things that had more than four legs. So many years in the Academy together had left a deep impression of her personality on Naruto, who blocked her first strike and turned this brief first encounter into a taijutsu scuffle that ended when Ino planted a solid kick in his stomach, sending him tumbling toward the wall and gasping for breath.

But rather than pressing her advantage, she smirked. "What's the matter, Na-ru-to?" she turned the syllables of his name into a mocking taunt.

Naruto grinned more widely, "Nothing, Ino." Forming the hand seal, he soon had Ino surrounded by clones, which she eyed disdainfully.

"Naruto, with your level of skill, it will take more than replication to beat me." She punctuated this statement with a powerful roundhouse kick that caused the nearest clone to disappear in a cloud of dust.

Naruto was a little offended. His taijutsu wasn't that bad. It had been rock-steady in the middle of the class, his position only ruined by poor attendance and dismal test scores. And he knew that he'd improved tons since he'd started training with Sasuke and Kakashi. Sparring with them meant either upping his level of skill or eating dirt constantly and Naruto didn't have the kind of personality to allow the latter.

So Naruto knew he had improved, because he could put even Sasuke on the defensive now without resorting to tricks. But with tricks? Sasuke might have been lauded as a genius, but his imagination was nothing to write home about. Things he regarded as silly or stupid kicked his ass all the time. Well, Naruto admitted in fairness, most of the time. And the naked woman thing never got old when used against Kakashi-sensei, until the shock had worn off and Naruto had started feeling just a smidge violated whenever Kakashi fought his well-endowed blonde version.

Naruto had been terrible at most jutsu in the Academy. It wasn't until the tree climbing exercises in the Land of Waves that he had realized his problem. He'd been using too much chakra, as the tree had demonstrated violently when it had exploded from beneath his feet or his henge had disappeared, or too little, like when he'd slipped from the tree or when his henge was deformed. Well, that and the henge assignments had been terrifically boring. Strutting around town as a naked lady and making grown men faint? That was hilarious. Turning into Iruka-sensei and being graded on being accurate to life? Not so much.

And he knew Ino and Sasuke both would probably give him the beating of his life for this later, but, really, he couldn't turn down such an obvious advantage. Even if it did mean transforming himself into a totally naked Uchiha. Or, rather, eight totally naked Uchiha.

Several girlish shrieks of mingled embarrassment and delight came from the stands and he could almost hear Kakashi-sensei groan. He did hear Sasuke's harsh, "Naruto!" but he paid him no mind, focusing instead on the slack-faced Ino, who was simultaneously turning very red and trying very hard not to let her eyes travel lower than his collarbones.

"This is sexual harassment!" she protested in a tight, thin voice. "Naruto, change back right now!"

Knowing it would piss Sasuke off, he deepened his voice just as bit below Sasuke's usual level as he asked, "What's wrong, Ino? Don't like what you see?"

"Ye-Naruto! This is a match!"

Naruto raised a hand and beckoned her forward. "C'mon. I'm waiting."

That finally set her off enough to have her charging forward again, but her concentration was ruined. It was only a short time before she left a gaping hole in her defense, one he was quick to take advantage of, punching her hard enough in the stomach that the breath rushed out of her lungs before she started vomiting and trying to breathe at the same time. While she was gagging on her hands and knees, Naruto symbolically tapped the back of her neck with a kunai, dispelling his henge at the same time.

He stared expectantly at the referee, who coughed into his fist, then announced, "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto grinned broadly, then turned his attention back to Ino. "Hey, you gonna be okay?" he inquired.

"Give me five minutes, then I'm going to beat your face in, Uzumaki," she snarled.

Naruto backed away. "Yeah, you'll be okay."

When he reached the second level, he noticed that Kiba sent him a dirty look as he crouched next to Hinata, who was blushing so red that Naruto was surprised she had enough blood to keep shaking her head like that and covering her eyes.

Sasuke was scowling at him so deeply Naruto was afraid he was going to strain something. "What did you think you were doing?" he growled.

"Winning," Naruto declared, shooting him the victory sign. "Oh, come on," Naruto complained when Sasuke didn't relax. "It wasn't like it was actually you out there." He peered at his teammate more closely. "Are you embarrassed? Because it looks like you're blushing."

Kakashi's hand clamped down on Sasuke's shoulder, preventing him from enacting the violence clearly written on his expression. "That has to be breaking some sort of rule!" Sasuke protested.

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, it's kunoichi who usually get the honeypot missions, but the reverse happens on occasion. You won't get the supplementary courses until you hit puberty, but Ino should have been able to overcome her embarrassment. She knew it was only a jutsu, after all. And there are many genjutsu that use seduction rather than fear or pain as their core element for distraction. However, Naruto, you really shouldn't have done that to a female comrade," he told the blonde sternly. "Apologize to Ino once the matches finish."

"But Kakashi-sensei...," Naruto whined without any real enthusiasm, because upon reflection he thought Ino would have preferred that he transform all his clones into giant spiders with those creepy, clicky mandibles.

Kakashi kept his hand on Sasuke's shoulder as he forcefully turned the other genin toward the arena and directed his attention to the next match. It was the rude Sand chick and a girl with panda hair, so he felt free to glance over at Sakura to gauge her reaction to his transformation.

Apparently feeling his gaze on her, Sakura turned her head slightly and raised a brow. Completely unaffected. Naruto grinned and the very edge of Sakura's lips tugged upwards. But then her eyes went back to the match, calculating and intent, and Naruto eagerly aped her.

-X-X-X-

When his name finally came across the screen, Sasuke was very, very pleased. His opponent, Tsuchi Kin, seemed to share his sentiment, though her expression seemed more a leer than battlelust. He made a mental note to beat Naruto within an inch of his life when Kakashi wasn't watching.

A/N: I will also be posting this A/N at the beginning of the next chapter when its released because I've gotten so many guest reviews asking why I don't like Sasuke. I like guest reviews, generally, but if you're going to ask questions you actually want answered in a timely manner, please sign in. Or be prepared to recheck chapters so I can use the bulletin board method.

I don't dislike the Sasuke of Part One. In Part One, he and Sakura were my favorite characters. One because he was already interesting and the other because I saw the potential that was never realized in the manga but gave me plenty of territory to explore in fanfiction. In Part Two, Sasuke was still talented to the point of stretching credulity, but emotionally I favored Itachi, long before the revelation actually came out. And then we got to the War arc and I've stopped reading.

In this fic, besides changing up Sakura, I'm using underutilized character traits that are hinted at in the manga but never explored. The anime opens with Naruto running from jounin after a prank on a huge scale. Therefore, though we never see it in battle, Naruto must be both a trickster (though with a twelve year old's sense of humor) and somewhat skilled at skulking about, which would be only reasonable after years of mistrust and verbal abuse from the villagers-which, having endured from such a young age must also have given him some survival skills, though we never see them. I am not really giving him new skills, just having him utilize ones that are often forgotten so we can pound on enemies shounen-style. And as to his mid-class taijutsu rather than bottom of the class? Sure, Naruto isn't in the range of Sasuke or even Kiba, but there are also a ton of faceless genin in their class who don't make the final cut. Naruto couldn't be absolutely bottom of the class in everything, especially something like taijutsu that doesn't make use of much chakra. And, again, I think at least in reality there would be a few villagers who would take the harassment to physical abuse, so in this world I imagine that while Naruto isn't much of a trained shinobi, he knows some dirty street fighting tricks that kata would never teach.

As to Sasuke, I am not putting him down. But, because he has spent his entire childhood being lauded for his skills, I don't feel the need to reproduce them in full here. Kakashi is rarely impressed with anything, Naruto would never admit the blatant superiority of his opponent, and Sakura is making unfair comparisons-Shiki is barely human and Shiho-nii enjoys a kind of deified status in her mind . And these, along with Sasuke's, are the only three viewpoints you get. I am taking away Sakura's hero worship because it is part of my greater plan for Sasuke. I am breaking down his character so I can build it up again in a manner more suitable to this fic-just in the same way that a basic training program for the military would do. Sasuke, in Part One, had many unexpectedly warm aspects to his character. This was, as a matter of course, overshadowed by his arrogance and basic belief in his superiority over the other genin. I am making him face his weaknesses and grow stronger as a person before I let him advance as a shinobi. I will give him the Sharingan. I will give him battle prowess (not that he doesn't possess it already-but I'm not spoiling his battle with Kin, which I have already planned out and it won't change). But not until he's developed the areas in which he is severely lacking. It is necessary so that you don't have to read the millionth Sasuke defects from Konohagakure arc. Been there, did that in Five Kingdoms. So, if you must see it as criticism of his character, look on it as constructive criticism. I have not taken anything away from Sasuke except his development of the Sharingan and while I've given Sakura a new skillset and outlook, I have not really added anything to Naruto's character, except for making him use already developed skills in manner of a half-way intelligent person. Look past this short term equality between the team members, in the sense that both Sakura and Naruto have already won their battles, to the long term.

Wow, that turned into more of an essay than I expected. At any rate, please keep reading and reviewing, because feedback is always interesting. Especially when I try something a little different from the norm.