I didn't actually expect it so soon... Still, so long as I have pre-written chapters, we can keep this arrangement.
By the way, I reply to most reviews by PM, leaving the ones I can't to be replied to here:
itsalexo: I was laughing when I saw that you picked 'dope' to describe it :D I'm so happy! And I'm sorry if you felt like the story was intentionally extended. And, as I've had Zabuza think several times: 'S-Rank is f*cking S-Rank for a reason.'
As for music, something melancholy and slow would compliment the chapter well (and vice versa).
PS: Guy's lines should be read with his english voice, if possible.
While he expected the conversation he just finished to catch up to him sooner or later, the Leaf's elite jonin Hatake Kakashi wasn't too thrilled about it. Getting Team 7 to work was a fool's errand from the get-go, but he was entrusted with his master's son and the last Uchiha of Konoha, and that was a duty he shouldn't have taken so lightly.
Still, the situation was salvageable. If there was anyone who could whip those three into proper shinobi, it would be the copy-ninja himself.
After zooming around the village aimlessly, trying to control the breakneck speed of the shunshin, Kakashi came to a stop on the hospital's roof. He sat down, pulling out one of his books and bringing it up to his single revealed eye.
He wasn't actually reading it; the black and white contrast of ink and paper was strangely soothing to the jonin, so he'd whip one of the books out even when he wasn't particularly inclined to read. And if his concentration broke, he'd still be reading his favorite series, so it was a foolproof strategy of dealing with problems.
If he was honest with himself, it was a miracle his team hadn't dissolved already. He hardly bothered to teach them anything, only taking Sasuke's training somewhat seriously, and that was because he could learn techniques easily due to his eyes.
Sure, the boy was almost impossibly talented, showing aptitude for ninjutsu, genjutsu, kenjutsu and even usage of ninja tools, but his personality was very detrimental to his performance as a shinobi, a fact evidenced when he blindly rushed an S-Rank criminal.
Still, to be able to take a Tsukuyomi that easily... A jutsu that had managed to devastate the copy-nin himself so thoroughly...
Sakura was no easier to deal with. While she didn't go off attacking shinobi that could challenge Kage, she was reluctant to engage even those who she was easily stronger than. She wasn't a pacifist, that much was obvious from the way she treated Naruto, but she wasn't a front-liner either.
He had tried to get her started on genjutsu and advanced chakra control, but she quickly stopped coming back to him. Probably forgot about the whole thing while she was busy admiring her teammate... And yet, he was fairly sure the girl's impeccable chakra control would turn her into a very respectable kunoichi in the long run.
Now if only he knew how to deal with teenage girls...
However, Kakashi's greatest regret was the way he 'handled' Naruto.
The son of his mentor had a completely different way of thinking than any other shinobi he's ever seen. Sure, he'd show the signs of a genius here and there, the move in wave and the way he handled the Hyuga coming to mind, but most of the time, Naruto behaved like a bumbling idiot. A brave, relentless idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. He simply didn't know how to get through to the boy.
He took to any material he was given well enough, but it wouldn't be long until he started tripping over his own feet, or stopping at something completely trivial, unable to understand the basic principle behind it. The material of the last year in the academy came easy to the boy, but anything before that was a complete nightmare to tackle. Guess it had something to do with Iruka taking over the majority of his classes in that last year...
He sighed, taking his eye off of the book for a moment. The sky was clear and bright, the white sheets fluttering in the wind, hanging loosely from their wires. It reminded him of one of his old ANBU missions; he killed a dozen men on a rooftop exactly like this one.
His mind on the subject of ANBU, Kakashi then directed his thoughts to the mission the Hokage had just assigned him. He was loosely aware of the existence of the Root, but figured it was nothing more than an old rumor that refused to die.
To hear that they are indeed real was slightly surprising. However, between Guy, Asuma, Tenzo and himself, odds were that they would soon come up with something. They were all capable men, after all.
"Hah, there you are Kakashi! I waited outside of the Hokage's office for you, but you obviously decided to take a route I haven't predicted!" Guy appeared in front of the silver-haired jonin, trademark grin on his face.
"Guy. Is there something I can help you with?" Kakashi offered in a disinterested tone, knowing that it would be the best way of pushing his longtime friend's buttons.
As expected, the man reacted with an overly dramatic gesture of being hurt. "I won't let you throw me off my game so easily, Kakashi! I came here to continue our series of challenges! If I recall correctly, the current score is 51 each," He paused, giving a bright smile that almost seemed to flash for a moment, "What will it be today, I wonder?"
Kakashi only raised his head, the tired look in his eye more apparent now that it could be seen clearly. "Could I take a rain check? I wouldn't be giving it my best today, and I'd hate to have one of our bouts be unfair."
Guy seemed to ponder the request for a while, giving a vigorous nod upon getting his conclusion. "Alright then, we will delay for exactly two days."
Kakashi nodded as well, content with the fact that he wouldn't be having to deal with the ever-youthful Guy in addition to everything. Problem was, the jonin wasn't leaving. He instead sat down next to Kakashi, completely ignoring the book between them.
"What troubles you, Kakashi? I promise I'll help you, whatever it is. If I can't, I will personally handle Lady Hokage's paperwork for an entire week! Actually, scratch that, a month!"
Aside from the fact that he legally couldn't do that, Guy probably had no clue what he was ready to throw himself into.
"Let's not get hasty, alright?" Kakashi said with a mild sweatdrop, "I'm just having some trouble with my team, that's all."
"Ah, if their chosen training regimes aren't producing results, I've recently discovered a revolutionary new way..." he was cut off by Kakashi waving his arms in a panicked attempt to protect his mind from whatever extremely over-the-top regime the blue beast came up with.
"No, nothing like that..." He said, his voice trailing off.
"What then?" Asked Guy, his voice lacking its' usual booming youth for some reason.
The copy-nin sighed, hanging his head in defeat. "I'm just worried that my genin are a couple of words away from trying to kill each other. I tried to teach them that teamwork is one of the biggest advantages you can have as a team, but nothing I try seems to get through to them. It's like trying to talk someone out of a genjutsu."
While that was actually possible to do so, it was only effective against D-Rank genjutsu, and even then wasn't a foolproof method of breaking the jutsu. However, there was some research into breaking a genjutsu with another genjutsu, the latter being sound-based, therefore tied to a voice.
Guy threw on his thinking face again, taking a respectable amount of time to recall everything he knew about Kakashi's team. He knew the youthful Naruto, but couldn't remember the names of the other two, even if one was the last Uchiha. He was terrible with names sometimes, a fact he forgot as easily as the names themselves.
"Well, Kakashi, first you need some tough love, then..." before he could continue handing out most youthful advice, Guy noticed his genin student landing atop the roof, looking somewhat tired.
"There you are, Guy-sensei! We have a mission to do, remember?" It was the voice of Tenten, Guy's remarkably level-headed kunoichi student. After taking a moment to catch her breath, she reprimanded her teacher for behaving like his rival and being late for their mission, a C-rank that neither Neji nor Lee could go on. Neji due to some family responsibilities, and Lee due to his recovery.
The spandex-wearing jonin leapt up, completely dropping the conversation he had with his 'eternal rival'. "Yosh! Let's go Tenten, this mission will surely allow us to show the flames of our youth!"
The brunette girl only facepalmed, following after her ever-lively teacher.
Thus, Kakashi was once again left alone.
oOoOoOo
"All right." Kakashi spoke to an empty rooftop, a wave of determination washing over him. If the Hokage asked him to make Team 7 into a real group of ninja, he would do exactly that. No matter what happens, failure was not an option. In order to succeed, he needed to clear some things up first. No one liked facing the hard facts, but it's high time that Team 7, sensei included, heard about all the things they were doing wrong.
His book snapped shut with an audible clap, and the jonin leapt up, landing squarely on the railing before jumping down to street level.
First stop would obviously be the hospital. He figured that the boys were recovered enough by now, and that meant they'd be spoiling for a fight the moment they get the chance. Quick movement was necessary to prevent something bad from happening. In that spirit, Kakashi stopped running, reverting to the tried and tested shunshin.
Not a minute later, the jonin was standing at the reception desk.
"Why hello there. I'm looking for Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. They're my genin, and I want to check up on them."
The nurse gave him a confused look, surprised with the formality the man spoke with. Everyone who knew Kakashi claimed that he was casual and laid back, perhaps too much at times. Regardless, she gave him the information. "Third floor. Sasuke is already awake, I believe."
Kakashi nodded. "Good, then I'll go see him first."
Walking up the stairs, the copycat ninja went through a handful of approaches, settling on one in particular - Shock and Awe.
He gently pushed the door just enough for it to open, then proceeded to drive into it with a forceful kick. The door swung violently to the side, crashing into the wall with an audible thud, the hinges flying off in a spectacular arc. Sasuke, who was still in the bed, jerked up, his sharingan active and fixed on the jonin.
The door, losing its' momentum, crashed onto the floor with even more noise.
"Ah, there you are, Sasuke. I've been looking for you." Kakashi offered in his usually innocent manner.
The genin blinked, his eyes slowly fading to their usual dark color. Soon enough, bewilderment gave way to outrage. "What the hell!? You kicked down the door!"
Kakashi, who had entered the room and was standing smack in the middle of it, turned around, looking at the unfortunate door. "Yep, I kicked down the door." He then proceeded to wave away the shinobi that had come to investigate the disturbance.
While most ninja knew that damaging the hospital and its' furniture was especially frowned upon by the new Hokage, they also knew that Kakashi Hatake was one of the few people in the village who could get away with almost anything save for hurting a man.
Sasuke threw his covers to the side, giving a facepalm. "Why did you kick the door down, sensei?"
First the mission is a bust thanks to the dobe, then Sakura decides to wander off in order to catch the rouge ninja alive, and now his teacher, the laziest man outside the Nara clan, was barging into his crummy hospital room, kicking the door down. If he was surrounded by idiots, how the hell was he supposed to get strong enough to kill that man?
Kakashi shrugged, then walked up to the bed, taking a seat on the far side of it. "The Hokage told me to do it."
Sure, she might have worded it differently, but he was sure that the order: 'get Team 7 to top fighting condition' included a license to mistreat doors. If it didn't he might have to consider taking on a different team.
"I'm calling a team meeting, we have a lot to discuss." The jonin stated.
"I don't have anything to talk about with those two." Sasuke responded.
"You will be on the roof in five minutes, Sasuke."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll use my pull in the village to make sure that the mark on your neck is seen as the liability it really is, and have you locked up for years until we find a way to get rid of it. And don't bother questioning if I can do something like that - I can." Answered the jonin with a casual eye-smile that made the threat sound that much more menacing.
Sasuke stared at his teacher, his face betraying a mix of confusion, anger and fear. If he did get locked up, he'd never catch up to Itachi...
"Fine. I'll be there."
Kakashi gave a content nod, standing up and heading for the hallway. He stopped at the now empty door frame, turning his head back to the young Uchiha.
"Oh, and try not to pick a fight with Naruto. I'll get really upset if you do that."
Sasuke flinched at the amount of killing intent that accompanied his teacher's words. He sat wordlessly as the elite jonin made his way out of the hospital room.
oOoOoOo
No matter how dead-set on his goal of revenge, Sasuke was still simply a boy, and that made him...malleable. With appropriate force, the last Uchiha of Konoha could easily be steered to a more acceptable road in life. Tsunade was right when she said that Team 7 couldn't afford any more free passes.
He knocked on the door, letting himself into the room before Naruto could say anything. Fortunately for the hospital's structural integrity, he was done kicking down doors for the day.
"Naruto. Team meeting is in five minutes, on the hospital roof."
The blonde looked at the jonin with a mildly surprised look on his face, then nodded.
"And I need you to promise me something." The man added.
The mention of a team meeting had Naruto's curiosity, but the fact that Kakashi-sensei needed him to promise something had the blonde's complete and undivided attention. Kakashi never needed help with anything. And judging by the serious tone of his voice, it wasn't just another one of his bad jokes.
"Sure, Kakashi-sensei, what is it?"
"I need you to promise me that you won't fight Sasuke until I get there."
"Not fight the teme? But..." Then he noticed the look the jonin was giving him, and relented, "Alright, I promise I won't fight with Sasuke."
"You're giving me your word?" Kakashi inquired, very intentionally fishing for one of Naruto's specific phrases.
It paid off, as the blonde immediately sat up straighter, pointing at himself with the thumb of his non-bandaged hand. "Of course! And you know that I never go back on my word, Kakashi-sensei!"
Kakashi eye smiled, leaving the room. "Good. See you soon." Now, the last one to find was Sakura...
He trusted both Naruto and Sasuke to be on the roof in five minutes. Both boys were stubborn beyond reason, and neither of them were willing to risk their pride by not showing. Sakura, on the other hand, required a slightly different approach. His first stop was her family home.
Neither Mebuki nor Kizashi knew their daughter's whereabouts, however. He also tried the Yamanaka flower shop, but Ino was also clueless about Sakura's location. Running out of time, Kakashi returned to the hospital, leaping from roof to roof in order to shorten the travel time.
While most of the jumps he was making were impressive, even by shinobi standards, Kakashi wasn't really thinking about them... that is until someone chucked a kunai at the spot he was intending to grab hold of, causing him to mess up the landing, bouncing off the wall and crashing into an alley below. Whoever sniped at him was an extraordinary shot, attacking from an angle he couldn't see.
Clambering up the wall, Kakashi caught sight of the perpetrator.
"Anko."
The one kunoichi almost every man in Konoha's standing army knew to fear, Anko Mitarashi, had set her sights on the copycat ninja. While he'd usually avoid her easily enough, Orochimaru's former apprentice had a knack for catching him at the worst of times.
"What's the hurry, Kakashi? I had to chuck a knife at you to get your attention."
"Nice shot." The jonin replied flatly.
"Thanks." The snake mistress replied with a wink.
"I'm kind of in a hurry. There's a pink-haired kunoichi I need to find."
"Try the park west of the Hokage tower."
Readying himself to shunshin, Kakashi paused, turning his head back to the woman.
"You actually saw her?"
Anko took the dango stick from her mouth, gave it a twirl, then threw it at the jonin, who dodged with almost no effort. "Yup. Talking to Guy Jr."
"Thanks." The copy-nin spoke, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Left alone, Anko loosely oriented herself to the west, waving a hand at nothing. "Don't mention it."
Sitting at the edge of the stream with Lee was strangely soothing to Sakura. Sure, Guy's prized student had his strange moments, but ever since he got injured fighting that sand ninja, he wasn't himself. Still, with the operation being scheduled for later in the day, some of his old optimism was coming back.
His surgery did carry a lot of risk, but the recovery time was laughable. Six hours just for the incision wound to heal, and Rock Lee would already be ready for actions.
"So, after everything was done, Ibiki took the guy away somewhere, and I went to turn in the sword at the Hokage's office. But when I got there, a chunin got in the way and told me that Lady Tsunade doesn't want to be bothered right now."
She still had the inactive blade's handle tucked away in a side pocket. The first chance she got, she'd turn it in to the proper authorities...
Lee was just about to say something, when Kakashi popped out of nowhere, preceded by a puff of smoke.
"Ah! You startled me, Kakashi-sensei!" The green-clad genin stated, eyes still wide with surprise.
The man gave an apologetic eye smile, calming the boy down somewhat. "Didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry."
The boy blinked, then smiled in return. "No, it's my fault for allowing myself to be caught off guard! If I am to return to being an active shinobi, I cannot allow my skills to grow dull!"
Sakura scratched her head. "Lee...you might be overdoing it..."
However, dazed by the promise of a youthful future as a splendid ninja, Lee didn't hear his crush speaking, and instead wandered off in search of an appropriate training ground. Not letting the opportunity get wasted, Kakashi cut in.
"Let's go, Sakura, Team 7 is having a meeting on the hospital roof..." He gave another eye-smile, reassuring the confused girl, "and I'll be taking that blade, for the time being."
She handed the blade over, then followed along as the jonin started walking at a brisk pace in the direction of the hospital. A team meeting would be a good place to clear the air, at least. Maybe she could take Ibiki's advice and try to treat both her teammates equally... at least she'd be less of a burden that way...
They made their way to the hospital, slowing down considerably the moment they stepped inside. This was most likely due to the fact that Naruto had spotted them from the roof and began shouting something.
"So, Sakura... what's your opinion on the team's latest mission?" Kakashi began, figuring that the meeting can already begin, even if two of the members were a couple of stories above them.
"Well..." she began with uncertainty, steeling herself upon remembering the image of the interrogation specialist towering over her, his eyes full of disapproval and indifference, "... While we did accomplish the mission successfully, and managed to recover what I'm told is a valuable treasure of the village, I still feel like we failed because both Sasuke and Naruto got hurt."
Kakashi nodded. "A fair assessment. Now tell me what you could have done to make the mission turn out better."
"I..." she trailed off, realizing that absolutely nothing came to mind. She was too weak to take on Aoi, too weak to help carry Idate, and too weak to get the boys to cooperate...
"I...don't know."
She flinched when her sensei placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a thumbs up. "After this team meeting, you'll never have to bother with questions like that again."
The way he worded it didn't exactly fill her with confidence...
oOoOoOo
Kakashi clapped his hands as both he and Sakura walked onto the roof, only to be greeted by an annoyed Uchiha and an exasperated jinchuriki.
"Come on, Kakashi-sensei! You told us it'd be five minutes! We were waiting half an hour!"
Kakashi ignored him, instead focusing on the dark-haired boy leaning against the wall. "Sasuke. I'm surprised you stayed."
"Hmph." The boy grunted in response.
Sighing, the jonin looked over the edge of the roof, to the village. It was business as usual in Konoha, and no one suspected anything to be wrong. Yet, somehow, after Tsunade brought the issue to his attention, Kakashi felt the discord in his team. The genin were supposed to be teammates, always there for each other... but they were a divided front instead.
Naruto was progressing in leaps and bounds, mastering the rasengan and signing the toad summoning contract, leaving Sasuke to chase after him. This in turn amplified Sasuke's already problematic self-image issues, causing him to constantly convince himself that he's better than the blonde. Sakura, who usually took Sasuke's side in all matters, more and more often lost her voice upon realizing just how far behind she really was.
The three of them were a mess, but he promised the Hokage that he would whip them into shape.
"Alright you three. Gather up and sit down. We will hold palaver."
Getting confused looks from the lot of them, Kakashi flared some killing intent, expediting the process of them actually sitting down. With another sigh, the jonin also sat down, his back turned to the village.
"It's been brought to my attention that your performance during your last mission was less than admirable. With you being a team under my command, that sort of behavior is simply unacceptable."
He paused, taking a moment to see their first impressions. Sasuke was indifferent as he always is, Sakura looked alarmed, and Naruto was the only one who actually seemed interested in the whole event. It was about what he expected...
"I've made some mistakes as your teacher, and that's something I'll be fixing from this point on."
This got some reactions from the three, with Sasuke showing a sign of interest and Naruto cocking an eyebrow in confusion. Sakura calmed down, if only a little.
"But the main problem lies with the three of you." He flipped two hand signs, making three small sticks of stone protrude from the ground. One was noticeably shorter than the rest. He held the three sticks out, concealing their length. "You'll be drawing straws to see who goes first."
Naruto and Sakura took theirs immediately, leaving Sasuke to stare at his teacher's outstretched hand with a look of disgust. "This isn't helping."
Kakashi tilted his head to the side, giving an eye-smile. "Now Sasuke, play nice."
With a grunt, the Uchiha drew his straw as well. It turned out that Sakura got the shortest stick, meaning that she'd be the first. A feeling of cold dread washed over her, slowing her down to a near standstill. Whatever Kakashi-sensei was planning to do with them, it surely didn't seem good...
"Sakura..." the jonin began, letting his voice trail off. He quickly turned his head to the side, getting the girl to yelp in surprise. Upon realizing that nothing's there, she turned her head back to Kakashi, noticing that he was shaking his head disapprovingly.
"Sakura, your reaction right now was the reaction of a civilian, not a registered kunoichi of Konoha. Behavior like that is grounds for me to kick you off the team, and I'm going to..."
"Kick me off? You're kicking me off the team?" Sakura asked, eyes widening in shock.
This wasn't happening. She just needed a bit more time. Yes, it was true that she wasn't much of a shinobi, and that most of the time, she wasn't much more than an obnoxious fangirl, but to get kicked off this soon... It made sense, they were a shinobi squad. While mistakes will happen, she made nothing but mistakes, and it was a small miracle she wasn't kicked off earlier...
Perhaps mom was right, perhaps she wasn't really cut out to be a shinobi.
It'd be better this way. Sasuke and Naruto could move on, maybe get a teammate who could keep pace with their progress and strength. She could always get a job in the civilian side of village administration, living a simple life of a civilian. Maybe, after a while, she'd forget about the years in the academy, learning to instead appreciate the peaceful and safe life of a non-shinobi. It was obvious that she couldn't' endure the pressure...
Tears began to flow from her eyes.
Both Naruto and Sasuke jerked at their teammate's statement, looking at Kakashi with wide eyes.
Sure, Sakura was generally hopeless as a shinobi, but she had a good heart, despite the fact that she was so annoying at times. She always wanted him to move forward, to become stronger, and knew when to get out of the way. Kicking her off would be a good decision for the team overall, but still...
Sure, Sakura was always swooning over teme, and hit him a lot, but she was part of Team 7. It didn't matter if she was strong right now, she would get stronger later... Naruto was sure that there was no way Kakashi-sensei would kick her off the team... It just wouldn't be right; You can never build the same bonds with a new teammate that you can with your first teammates...
"Kakashi-sensei, you can't kick her off the team!" The blonde shouted, leaning forward. Sasuke said nothing, but maintained an intense stare at both Kakashi and Naruto.
The jonin once again shook his head, taking a deep breath before speaking in a flat, lifeless tone of voice, "Sakura, stop crying. You lost that right when you put on that headband."
The girl paused for a moment, immediately doing as she was told. She wiped the tears away, leaving her sore red cheeks exposed to the sunlight.
"You are not getting kicked off."
"But you said..."
"I said that you should get kicked off. However, I know that part of the reason we're in this situation is because of my own shortcomings, so I've made some arrangements. I believe that if you can overcome your fear of failure, you will mature into a splendid kunoichi."
"Arrangements?" Came Naruto's voice.
"Yes."
"What kind of arrangements?" asked the pink-haired girl.
Kakashi smiled. "From today, you'll be training with Lady Tsunade. I believe that with your level of chakra control, you'll find medical ninjutsu to be the perfect fit for you."
"L-Lady Tsunade?" Sakura stammered, realizing just what her sensei had done.
"Yep. I hear she's a hard teacher, but I have no reason to think that you can't handle it. That way, you can stay away from the bulk of the fighting, and still be a meaningful part of the team's power balance."
Sakura took a moment to absorb everything that her sensei had just thrown at her. Apprenticeship with the Hokage!? Was that man out of his mind? Lady Tsunade was a legend among kunoichi, everyone wanted to be like her. To think that she, of all people, would get the chance to study under her...
No... This was exactly the thing she was looking for. She would show Kakashi-sensei that he was right to give her another chance. She would master medical ninjutsu and become a strong foundation for both Sasuke and Naruto. If she couldn't catch up to them, she could at least help support them.
There was a new determination in Sakura's voice when she finally spoke. "I'll do it, Kakashi-sensei."
The jonin nodded. "Good. Now Naruto, heads or tails?"
oOoOoOo
Naruto won the coin flip, prompting Kakashi to turn his head to the always brooding Uchiha.
"Sasuke..." Kakashi began, still on the fence about how he should approach this.
First you need some tough love...
His resolve flaring, Kakashi frowned, readying himself to get everything out in one go.
"In a blind rage, you rushed an S-Rank criminal with a very linear jutsu, honestly believing that your attack would connect. The only reason you're not dead is because Itachi still wants you alive."
Immediately, Sasuke began to protest. "Shut up! You don't know anything about..."
Kakashi brought his fist down onto the ground, flaring astounding amounts of killing intent. Sakura passed out immediately, and Naruto froze in place, staring at his teacher with wide eyes. Remarkably, Sasuke's only reaction was flinching, much like it was half an hour ago.
"Quiet! I am your teacher, and you are going to listen to me, Sasuke! I never wanted this Sharingan, and I would gladly trade it back for the life of my friend; unfortunately, that's not how the world works. So you're going to hold that thrice-damned Uchiha pride in check, and listen to what I have to say!"
No one ever saw Kakashi angry. No one wanted to see Kakashi angry. What a man of his skill could do if provoked... it was something that kept people awake at night, fearing for their lives. And Sasuke went and did it anyway.
"If you can't learn to keep that temper in check, you will never defeat Itachi."
"If you keep thinking you're better than everyone else, Naruto included, you will never defeat Itachi."
"If you ever think of using that curse mark, you will never defeat Itachi."
Kakashi leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees.
"Itachi Uchiha was a prodigy of his generation, the one ninja in ten thousand..." He trailed off. "However, you also have the markings of such a ninja, as do Naruto and Sakura."
Sasuke blinked, but still found himself unable to speak. What the hell was this man saying? Naruto and Sakura could become as strong as Itachi? Did the Tsukuyomi wreck his mind that much?
"In fact, this whole generation of genin has potential that hasn't been seen since the legendary sannin. But that's beside the point." Kakashi spoke, readjusting his headband. "The point is, all your talent, all your potential as one of the last bearers of the Sharingan, is wasted if you continue on this path of mindless revenge."
He pointed to Naruto, and the floored Sakura. "Look at them. They are your teammates, the people who trust you with their lives. But you don't see them like that, do you? To your eyes, they're nothing but nuisances, obstacles on your road to true power...correct me if I'm wrong, Sasuke!" He finished with a shout, further unnerving the Uchiha.
"I... They're not..."
Kakashi sighed yet again, lowering his head.
"Sasuke... if you could just slow down, break away from the tunnel vision you got used to, you'd realize that the path of an avenger leads to a dead end. Do you think beating your brother justifies using the power of that mark on your neck?"
He took off his headband, revealing his eternally active Sharingan. "All power comes at a cost, Sasuke. The price of the power you think you need to beat him is simply too high."
He placed the headband back on, leaning back a bit. The sun was moving west, slowly shifting from bright yellow to a more subdued orange tone. The streets below seemed less lively, most of the people having since returned to their homes.
"Itachi Uchiha is only a man, Sasuke, and all men eventually die."
Sasuke had finally regained enough of his composure to answer, his rage having been slowly taking the place of the fear.
"I am the one who's supposed to kill him! Me!" He paused, backing off from both Kakashi and his teammates, "He needs to pay for what he's done!"
As he lost himself in the rage, the anger, his shouts resonating across the hospital roof, falling on the deaf ears of a man who had a borrowed Sharingan, Sasuke could feel something break in him.
Why couldn't they understand his reasons? He needed to avenge his clan by killing the man responsible, his own brother... and he needed the power to do so; It wasn't very complicated, so why couldn't anyone comprehend that?
Kakashi was wrong, Itachi was not just a simple man. He was more than that. He was the goal, the mark he had to reach and overcome in order to avenge his clan. He couldn't let someone like Naruto get stronger than him, if he did, he would never reach Itachi's level. He would live in shame for the rest of his life, living with the fact that he's not strong enough to honor his family and name by avenging them.
"Damn it Sasuke! I'll help you kill him, then!" Naruto shouted, turning to his teammate, "I don't care how strong he is, if killing him means that much to you, we'll do it together!"
"I just told you, I'm the one who's going to kill him!" the boy responded, raising his voice and clenching his fists.
"ENOUGH!"
Another blast of killing intent washed over the hospital roof, completely knocking the unprepared blonde out. Sasuke stood paralyzed, feeling his body betray him. Were he not fresh out of the hospital, he had no doubt that his mind would do so as well. He struggled to form a coherent thought, every fiber of his being screaming for him to run away and hide from whatever it was that created the killing intent...
Kakashi was now standing, staring at the trio of genin with a dark look in his eye. This was not the laid-back Kakashi Hatake that they knew. This was the copy-ninja of Konoha, the man who had used over a thousand jutsu, and the man who could kill him the moment the thought crossed his mind.
"I'll make sure of that, Sasuke. Even if I have to break you and build you up again, I will make sure that Team 7 is strong enough. I give you my word."
A man sat alone at a table in one of the more frequented barbecue places in the village hidden in the leaves. The food was good, and it wasn't terribly expensive. Overall, it was a nice place to stop by for a meal.
The Leaf was actually a fairly nice village. Of all the hidden villages he had seen over the years, the leaf was by far the most hospitable, both location-wise and people-wise; He was kind of sad having to leave so soon. But...his work was done, and the next stop would surely be an interesting place.
In Konoha, he had broken into the Hokage's safe, copied down the third's handwriting via fuinjutsu seals, and planted a few ideas in the sannin's head. In Uzushiogakure, where he was headed, he'd do much, much more...
I got something like three more chapters in the bank, working on the fourth one. Until I run out, the same applies: next chapter is in ten days or 7 reviews, whichever comes first.
Thank you so much for the continued support, and I hope the next chapter doesn't ruin it for you...