Yo, my fellow readers of stuff. Good to see you! Are you well? I hope you're well! Here's the next chapter. It's focused on Team 7's failure entirely, and, well, I wouldn't say it's TERRIBLE. Could be worse. But it's not great. I will get to the action soon. I'm just setting up stuff. ALSO, Team 10 chapter, hopefully coming soon! ^.^

READ TEH DISHCLAIMEH: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. IF I DID, THAT'D BE SLAVERY, AND SLAVERY IS BAD, M'KAY?

"You all fail, my cute little not-students!" Kakashi chirped cheerfully.

All three soon-not-to-be ninjas stared at their not-sensei in disbelief. Kiba's mouth flapped open and shut repeatedly, yet no sound came, as his face got steadily redder. Sakura's eyes were stretched wide open, and she was grinding her teeth together. However, she took no further action, and instead watched Sasuke for his reaction.

If Sasuke got angry, she would pummel Kakashi. Ropes or no ropes, she'd escape, and rip out his stupid gravity-defying hair, pull off his mask, and pull out his mysterious other eye.

Sasuke, however, barely moved, his smug smirk frozen on his face.

"Why?" came Kiba's strangled voice.

"Because, it takes more than a head-band, and some flashy ninja moves, and a name-tag that says: 'Hello, I am a ninja', to become a ninja, Kiba-kun!" the Scare-crow Sensei replied, his ever creepy eye-smile still present.

"What?" Kiba asked, his voice now louder, clearer, and angrier.

"Well, those who dis-obey the rules of the Shinobi are scum, right? Well, those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum," Kakashi explained. Sakura noticed his voice, while still keeping a cheerful tone, had become a lot more hollow... almost cold.

Sasuke's face slipped into an expression of confusion, whilst Kiba did one of those little anime gasps that sound like someone just yanked on his weenie. Sakura bowed her head slightly, in shame.

"Explain," ordered the young Uchiha, finally deciding to get involved.

Kakashi sighed.

"Sasuke, as soon as I said 'Go', you sprinted off into the trees alone, totally disregarding your team-mates," he said, now looking at Sasuke with slight exasperation.

"I don't need them. They'd only get in my way..." muttered Sasuke, trying to avoid looking at the Jonin or his fellow Genin. However, he couldn't help but glance over at them, and his stomach squirmed slightly at the hurt look on Sakura's face, and the look of angry shock on Kiba's.

"Sasuke, one day you might be on a particularly dangerous mission. You might get cornered. You might need help. That's what comrades are for. That's why we make these four man teams," Kakashi said, gesturing to young ninja with his hand.

"Hgn," Sasuke replied, once again falling silent.

"Well, what about me, Kakashi-not-sensei?" piped up Sakura, still glancing reproachfully at the Uchiha.

"Apart your below-average skills, your fan-girlish tendencies, and refusal to work with Kiba for the simple fact that he dislikes Sasuke... nothing much," said Kakashi, raising his visible eye-brow.

"What do you mean 'below average skills? I got 100% on ALL of the tests, and my chakra-control is perfect!" protested Sakura, flushing deep red.

"You may have done well on the practices, Sakura, but you have almost no ability outside of a controlled testing environment. If your performance in this exercise is anything to go on, I'd say you'd barely survive a week outside of the walls of the Konohagakure. Your TaiJutsu is really quite bad... I'm surprised you manage to punch Naruto with any effect at ALL... and I've barely seen you use any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu outside of a simple Bunshin," Kakashi explained, frowning slightly.

Sakura bowed her head in shame, as she attempted to hold back tears.

"And the worst thing? You're very intelligent, Sakura. These are all things we could have worked on as a team. It's simply the fact that you refuse to work with Kiba that I failed you," Kakashi said, a hint of regret and disappointment in his voice. Sakura closed her eyes, and remained silent, hoping her hanging hair would cover her wobbling bottom lip from Sasuke.

It didn't.

"And me, Kakashi-not-sensei?" asked Kiba, his anger replaced by an expression of sheer puzzlement. Akamaru bobbed his head slightly from atop Kiba's hood, whining quietly.

Kakashi turned his head to face Kiba, observing the young boy with his visible eye.

"Well, Kiba... to be honest, I believe that you are the one least deserving of failure here," the Jonin sighed, scratching the back of his head.
Kiba frowned in confusion, but said nothing, prompting Kakashi to continue.

"While you seemed reluctant to work alongside Sakura at first, you grudgingly released the Genjutsu I had placed upon her. Your skills are limited to your clan techniques, but you use them well..." he droned. "You even tolerated emo-boy over there..."

Kiba smirked, despite the situation, while Sasuke had to practice great self-control not to roast them both with a fire-ball.

"I'm aware that the lack of appreciation is what drove you to not share your food with Sakura, whilst Sasuke's was just sheer smugness,"

A vein popped up on the young Uchiha's forehead, a deep fury bubbling in his gut. But, underneath, he felt something else... was it... regret?

Regret that he had not given any food to Sakura?

But was it simply because he failed the test, or did he really regret acting unnecessarily cruel towards his would-be team-mate? He made a small mental note to apologize later.

Well, he would apologize as much as his pride would allow him.

"In that case, I will see what I can do to have you placed on another team. There might be an open spot, if you're lucky," proclaimed Kakashi, giving Kiba an encouraging eye-smile.

Kiba grinned back, pleased, while Akamaru yipped happily. However, he then turned to Sakura and Sasuke, and his grin dropped.

"I'm sorry, you guys. I wish we could've gotten along better. Me might've made a great team," he mumbled, his voice low and apologetic.

Sakura swallowed back the lump in her throat, lifted her head up, and gave him a small smile.

"Good luck, Kiba-kun," she said, with a genuine sincerity, her eyes still a little wet.

"Hgn," Sasuke grunted in agreement.

Kiba smiled, a gentle, warm smile. 'Shit, maybe they're not total ass-holes after all. Shame,' he thought, slightly amused.

Kakashi reached into the front pocket of his flak-jacket, pulled out Icha-Icha Paradise, and pretended to read.

'A real shame' he thought, outwardly sighing, softly.

See, I told you Sakura wasn't gonna be a TOTAL bitch. But she will be a bitch again soon. Only to Naruto, though. And I'll straighten her out. And, yes, there's gonna be a sort-of nice Sasuke! 'Cuz, I wanna write about a Sasuke I don't completely hate! Yay!

Also, if you got the little references, good on you. I will send you one cookie. 3

ALSO, if you want a chapter on Kakashi's test, tell me in the reviews, or in a message. I wasn't gonna make one, but I will if you guys want it. ;D