"Three genin originating from Kusagakure have been found dead."
Given that they are two days into the second stage of the chunin exams the declaration is not met with the kind of surprise or horror one might ordinarily expect. Instead the assembled jounin waits quietly for the Hokage to continue, to explain why the death of three genin from a little place like Grass - and especially during something as arduous as the chunin exams - is enough to warrant a meeting of the jounin.
"Their deaths precede the first stage of the chunin exams."
And that, Kakashi thinks, is how you get a room full of jounin to go from politely confused to high alert in two sentences or less.
"We believe that someone has infiltrated the exams by pretending to be the team from Kusa," the Hokage continues. His face is grim as he looks out over the assembled jounin. "The Kusa team were reported as participating in the first stage of the exams, but have mysteriously gone missing in the Forest of Death."
"Might just mean they've been eaten by something," someone mutters a couple of rows behind Kakashi, only to be quickly hushed by someone else.
"Do we have any lead on who might be behind it?" someone else asks.
The Hokage's face grows even more severe. Kakashi has a knot of worry in his stomach. This isn't good, regardless of who's behind it, but from the Hokage's look it's really not good.
Abruptly he finds himself relieved that his students aren't still participating in the exam.
Which still doesn't necessarily mean that they're safe, judging from the Hokage's worried facial expression.
"We have yet to find and confront the infiltrators, but judging from the technique they have used we have reason to suspect it might be Orochimaru.
And that is how a situation goes from already bad to worse, Kakashi thinks with a sinking sensation in his stomach.
A worried sorl goes through the room. Orochimaru is a legend among Konoha shinobi; the stuff of nightmares. One of the Three Legendary Sannin, a hero of Konoha and a student of the third Hokage himself. The older of the jounin have served alongside Orochimaru, fought by his side in battle, been saved by his genius and skill; the younger ones have grown up with tales of his greatness and skill, some even theorising that he was meant to become the fourth Hokage. Yet he's also a traitor, chased out of Konoha by the third Hokage himself for crimes so unspeakable only a few of the gathered jounin actually have clearing to view the files. Kakashi, as one of the jounin who tried to stop Orochimaru, is one of those unlucky few to know the depths of Orochimaru's madness.
"Two ANBU-squads are currently supervising the Forest of Death, where the second stage of the chunin exams are underway-"
"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, but if someone like Orochimaru has infiltrated the village, shouldn't the exams be postponed?"
Kakashi sort of agrees with the speaker, though he's weathered enough to know just how small that chance is. If Orochimaru wanted to kill the participants in the chunin exams they would already be dead. Moreover, interrupting the exams would make Konoha look weak to the other villages.
"For the time being we have no reason to suspect that the chunin candidates are in any danger, so we will proceed as planned but we will do so with caution. Which is why I have gathered you all here today-"
"Madness!" someone mutters, just loud enough for most of the room to hear.
The Hokage graciously ignores the speaker.
"Security will be heightened at least until the exams are over or we can be sure that Orochimaru is no longer within the village. Those of you not already on other assignments will receive additional guard duties, but I need you to stay alert at all times."
The Hokage gazes over the assembled jounin, meeting all of their eyes one after another. Kakashi feels himself straightening slightly under the look as the weight of danger and responsibility settles over them all.
"Orochimaru knows Konoha and he is skilled at disguising himself. Suspect anyone and everyone, and come straight to me if you find anything suspicious. And no matter what, do not engage him alone. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir!" the jounin, including Kakashi, chorus.
"Good. I trust you all to do your best to defend our village."
And with those words and a gesture of the Hokage's hand they are all dismissed.
"Kakashi, if you would please stay for a moment."
Obligingly Kakashi stays as his fellow jounin slowly leaves the room, mentally bracing himself for the conversation that will need to happen. Kakashi is used to special orders and special missions; he's been a soldier for as long as he can really remember, he's been a jounin for half of his life, he's been ANBU for almost as long and he has a reputation spanning over most of the continent - and for good reason - but this time he can't be the perfect soldier. This time he needs to stay in Konoha, with his students.
They need him.
Sakura needs him.
So already before the Hokage opens his mouth to speak Kakashi is squaring his shoulders.
"Whatever mission you're sending me on it'll have to be someone else," he states as the last jounin closes the door behind them, leaving Kakashi alone with the Hokage. "My students need me at the moment, and I-"
"Admirable as your dedication to your students is, I am not sending you on a mission, Kakashi," the Hokage interrupts, smiling genially. "It is your students I wish to talk to you about. Or one of them, at any rate."
Wind knocked out of his sails, Kakashi closes his mouth again. His throat suddenly feels dry, and so he swallows to try to bring some moisture into it.
So this is it then, he thinks. This is when the Hokage finally takes him to task about his repeated failures as a sensei. The part where the Hokage takes Kakashi's head - whether literally or figuratively is still unclear.
He deserves it. One of his students has been homeless for over three months without him noticing; living in a tent and struggling to even afford food and clothes. Three months of Sakura being alone and unguarded and vulnerable to attacks or kidnappings or other kinds of abuse Kakashi doesn't even want to imagine.
So yeah, Kakashi is very much aware that he deserves whatever lecture the Hokage is about to deliver.
It doesn't make the urge to try to escape any less compelling though. Instead, Kakashi squares his shoulders again, mentally bracing himself for the lecture to come.
"We need to talk about Uchiha Sasuke."
Kakashi blinks, his mind going completely blank for a moment.
"Orochimaru has made himself a reputation as a collector of kekkei genkai," the Hokage continues. "Furthermore, according to our sources he left the Akatsuki shortly after Uchiha Itachi joined, indicating that the two did not have a good relationship."
"And this is relevant to Sasuke, why?"
"I theorise that Orochimaru has already made a bid for the sharingan and been denied by Itachi. It is possible that he's here in Konoha, and in the chunin exams in particular, because he's after Sasuke."
"The only other sharingan wielder," Kakashi finishes, realisation settling uncomfortably in his stomach.
"Exactly. Which is why I need you, Kakashi, to be particularly alert at the moment. Orochimaru cannot be allowed to get to Sasuke, for obvious reasons."
Kakashi shudders at the thought of what someone like Orochimaru might do to Sasuke. Best case scenario, Kakashi thinks, is Orochimaru will just take Sasuke's eyes but leave Sasuke himself alive. It'll mean the end of Sasuke's career as a shinobi and hell for Konoha, but at least Sasuke will be alive. Be himself. Worst case … Kakashi shakes his head, refusing to acknowledge the thought.
He will not have another Uchiha under his command abandoning the village.
Not another Itachi.
"Understood," he says. "How certain are we that he's coming after Sasuke?"
The Hokage shakes his head.
"It's just a theory of mine, but the one that seems the most likely, and I know Orochimaru better than most. If he was simply looking for an opportunity to take me on, then he wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of infiltrating the exams."
"I see," Kakashi says, uneasy at the thought of such a prominent threat to the Hokage - or his students - within the walls of Konoha.
"Oh, and keep an eye out on Naruto as well. I don't find it as likely, but it's not impossible that Orochimaru is after the Nine-Tails either."
Great. Both Naruto and Sasuke are potential targets of Orochimaru's, and then there's Tsushima and her mercenaries potentially after Sakura.
There are many things Kakashi expected when forced to take on this team, glorified babysitting duty foremost amongst those things, but he did not expect having to defend his students like this even while still within the village. Outside it, yes, but not in Konoha where they are supposed to be safe. But now there's a Sannin likely after either Naruto or Sasuke, and Kiri defectors potentially after Sakura.
Why can't he have the normal, boring kind of students whose biggest problem is target practice?
"Understood," he simply repeats, his mind already shifting to account for the things he'll need to change. He'll need to start looking after the boys after training and missions as well, ideally shadowing them all the time when they're not in his immediate presence, and-
He groans mentally.
He can't possibly look after all three of his students 24/7. Not in the long run, at any rate. He's already running pretty sleep deprived from keeping watch over Sakura for the past week; if he'll use shadow clones to keep guard over them all that exhaustion will triple and render him useless whenever a threat actually does appear.
"Thank you Kakashi."
Kakashi hesitates, pretty sure that he's dismissed but still having the distinct feeling that this conversation went nothing like how he expected it to go.
"Is that … all?"
The Hokage raises a questioning eyebrow.
"Unless there is something else you think we should talk about, Kakashi-kun?"
And the Hokage calling him Kakashi-kun, like he's six years old again, doesn't exactly help with the surreal feeling of somehow being out of the loop. Because … yes, if the Hokage doesn't want to talk to him about the Sakura-situation that's fine with Kakashi, less skin off of his back really, and besides, compared to the issue of Orochimaru a homeless genin of civilian background and no kekkei genkai isn't really that important, potential threat from Mist or not. On the other hand …
On the other hand she's Kakashi's homeless little genin of civilian background and no kekkei genkai and a potential threat from Mist hanging over her. And most of that is his fault - if not all of it, because she might have become a target purely out of association with him. His failures and shortcomings, and it just feels wrong that somehow the worst he has gotten for all of it is a lecture from Asuma, another from Kichiro and a never ending stream of guilt from his conscience.
"I," Kakashi says slowly, drawing the word out, "I guess I just thought this conversation would be about Sakura."
The Hokage hums thoughtfully.
"Yes, I heard about that. I have approved Ibiki's request for an investigation into the Haruno clan and their dealings, although I have requested it to be discreet. A great many of our foreign contacts have been initiated through their business network, and I have the utmost trust in Kaori-san."
Which is a relief - sort of, but also not really - but still not really the conversation Kakashi was expecting. Which is probably for the best, because Kakashi is doubtful of his own ability to remain properly civil while discussing the subject of the clan that tried to kidnap and starve his student. In other words, it's probably best for all that Kakashi remains silent on the subject for now.
At least the investigation is happening.
"Or did you mean her performance during the Chunin Exams? Don't worry, Kakashi, she wasn't the only one frightened by Ibiki. Maybe next time she will have matured enough to push forward, through her fear."
Which still isn't what Kakashi was thinking about. With everything else going on, her choice to put the well being of the boys ahead of her own is still a shining light of hope that maybe he has done something right as a sensei after all.
Still uneasy, Kakashi bows his head respectfully and leaves, the full weight of the lives of the twelve-year-olds under threat from a Sannin and a foreign power respectively settling heavily over his shoulders.
"The purpose of this exercise," Kakashi-sensei tells them plainly, "is teamwork."
"So what's with the rope?"
Naruto's voice is highly doubtful and Sakura silently echoes his sentiment, despite being too polite to voice it.
"That's just to make things a little bit more interesting. And to make sure you guys get the point, since you clearly don't."
Kakashi-sensei smiles menacingly and finishes tying the last knot around Naruto's waist, where the rope is coiled and then connected to both Sasuke-kun and her. All three of them sport similar knots, connecting to the other two with a length of rope about as long as she's tall, forming a triangle of ropes.
Really, not that long ago part of Sakura would've been thrilled to literally be tied to Sasuke-kun, but at this very moment she really wishes that she wasn't.
How things change.
If only his anger with her would change too.
"The exercise itself is simple. You are to make your way through this obstacle course and recover the yellow flag at the end." Kakashi-sensei points towards the end of the training ground, where indeed a flag can be seen waving lazily in the wind. "To do so, you will need to work together."
"We can totally do that," Naruto states, fisting his hands in determination. "Right guys?"
Sasuke-kun doesn't even grunt to answer and Sakura only nods weakly in acknowledgement, afraid that Kakashi-sensei isn't done yet.
She's right, of course.
"Now, if any of the traps I have set up along the course manages to get a hit on either of you, you fail and return here to start over. You'll do that over and over and over again until you succeed. Understand?"
Dread pooling in her stomach Sakura murmurs a "Yes, sensei," which gets drowned in Naruto's excited shout.
"Good. And by the way, no ninjutsu. Ready, set, go!"
Naruto and Sasuke-kun are off immediately, the ropes connecting them all forcing Sakura to get running as well. They scale a tall dirt-wall with relative ease, but then Naruto and Sasuke-kun are jumping before Sakura is ready and she's pulled along, barely managing to pull her arms and legs in for a very ungraceful landing that sends her tumbling along the ground. Her left elbow scrapes painfully against the ground but she ignores it, gritting her teeth to get her feet under her before the rope tugs at her again.
She manages to keep on her feet but Naruto trips one of Kakashi-sensei's traps, which sends a barrage of - thankfully dulled - kunai at them. Sasuke-kun ducks right, Naruto left, leaving her stuck in the line of fire and unable to duck in time.
"Fail!" Kakashi-sensei roars, as Sakura shields herself as best as she can. The kunai aren't sharp enough to pierce skin, but they're sure to leave some painful bruises.
"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto says as they trudge back to their starting point again.
They start over again, Sakura a little more ready this time and almost able to keep up with the boys. As a result her landing is better after the dirt-wall, but Naruto still manages to trip the trap. She dodges the barrage of kunai coming at her by throwing herself at the ground. She's dragged a couple of metres along the ground - and prays quietly that her dress won't tear again, because it was expensive and she really doesn't want to have to get a new one already.
She kicks off against a small rock to get back on her feet, accidentally tripping another trap that makes a large hole open up in front of the boys. They both fall in, pulling her along with them, and she tries and fails not to hit them with her elbows or knees as she lands on top of them.
"Fail! Start over!"
So they climb out of the hole and do.
It's a long day.
Eventually Naruto and Sasuke-kun realise that they need to slow their pace down a little bit for her to be able to keep up, which makes Sasuke-kun give her another angry glare.
Then they dodge in different directions, inevitably pulling one of them into the line of fire or - in one instance that would have been more comical had she been watching from the sidelines rather than participating - Naruto and Sasuke pull apart with equal force, sending them stumbling back into each other and the line of fire. At least she isn't hit, by virtue of being slightly behind them.
"This isn't working," Sakura states at last, somewhere around lunchtime. Her stomach is growling and her body aches from various scrapes and bruises.
"And who's fault is that?" Sasuke-kun growls.
Unable not to flinch at the words and the tone she nevertheless tries her best to ignore it, continuing to voice her line of thought;
"I think we need to change our formation. One of us at the front, and the other two in the back, and whichever way the frontrunner dodges the other two follows."
Sasuke-kun grudgingly nods his agreement to her plan, but then he and Naruto are staring each other down over who is supposed to act as the front runner.
"How about we take turns?" she suggests tiredly. "Naruto can go first, then Sasuke-kun and so on?"
With Naruto leading they are mildly more successful, but still the three of them get caught in a net about halfway through the obstacle course. When they return to the starting point again Sasuke-kun takes the lead, his eyes glowing red with the sharingan.
With Sasuke-kun leading their charge, aided by his sharingan, they make quick progress through the obstacle course. Sakura notes that he's obviously slowed down by being tied to Naruto and her, but his skill in spotting and evading traps without triggering them gets them past several of their earlier painful mistakes without a scratch.
Halfway across a balancing beam Naruto loses his balance and falls off, but both Sasuke-kun and her are quick to reach out and pull him back up. Kakashi-sensei doesn't order them back to the starting point and so they continue across the river, through a field of thorny bushes and up a steep climbing wall.
Finally they land on the other side, spotting a pole with a red flag on it.
"We made it!" Naruto cheers, reaching eagerly for it.
Before Sasuke-kun or her are able to stop him he has pulled the flag free, triggering the smoke grenade underneath it.
"Fail!" Kakashi-sensei shouts again. "You've been blown to pieces!"
"But we totally got the flag!" Naruto objects.
"We're after a yellow flag, idiot!" Sasuke-kun growls.
As they reach their starting point both of them look at her.
Right, it's her turn to take the lead. And Naruto's gaze is determined and encouraging, but Sasuke-kun is glaring again and clearly expecting this to be another waste of time.
"This is really Sasuke-kun's strong side, not mine," she sighs, taking a step back. "I think he should lead."
She yields her place to him, to Naruto's vocal dismay.
They make it through the course again, bypassing the red flag and finding the yellow one behind another dirt-wall, and Sasuke-kun tugs it down with a satisfied smirk.
"Well done. You pass," Kakashi-sensei says, appearing by their side.
He reaches for the flag, plucking it from Sasuke-kun's grip and replacing it on the pole.
"Now do that again with Naruto or Sakura as the lead."
She wants to strangle him then.
It is another good hour before Naruto successfully leads them through the obstacle course, and then they return to the starting point to do it all over again with her in the lead.
She doesn't want to do it.
She's exhausted and hurting already, pushed far past her ordinary limits, her dress is torn in several places and she's bleeding from multiple scrapes on her shins, knees and elbows. By comparison, Naruto looks a little bit more dishevelled and dirty than normal and Sasuke-kun's shorts have a couple of dirt patches on them.
As if on cue, her stomach growls loudly.
"Can we take a break first please?" she pleads with Kakashi-sensei. "Maybe eat?"
"Not until you have passed the course," Kakashi-sensei smiles back at her. "This is about adjusting to one another, your strengths and your weaknesses, even under bad conditions. If you can't do that here, then you won't make it at all in the field."
Which is likely true, but why does Kakashi-sensei have to choose now of all times to finally step up and actually teach them something? Why can't he just send them on another D-ranked mission to weed someone's garden or paint a fence or something? Anything would be better than this torture; especially with Sasuke-kun's quickly waning patience and disapproving stare at her back.
Predictably, her pace is slower than either of the boys', and because she's so tired a stray kunai from the first barrage hits her straight in the stomach.
"Fail!"
They make their way back and start over.
Dodging the barrage of kunai she triggers the trap that opens up a hole in the ground, stumbling straight into it. Naruto and Sasuke-kun just barely manage to pull her out of it without being pulled down themselves, and then they have to pull her up another dirt-wall as she loses control of her chakra halfway up, gasping for breath.
"Get your shit together!" Sasuke-kun curses at her, shoving her back down on the other side.
Her landing is about as ungraceful as it gets but she manages not to sprain anything, and then she's stumbling along again, just barely managing to avoid another trap.
"Did you just throw Sakura-chan down that wall?"
A tugging at the ropes tells her that Naruto just shoved Sasuke-kun, and a moment later there is another tug, indicating that Sasuke-kun returned the favour.
"Shut up, loser!"
"Don't call me a loser, you bastard!"
"Then stop being one!"
"You stop being one!"
She groans, slowly turning around to watch the arguing boys.
"Too stupid to come up with your own retorts, idiot?"
Naruto's face flushes red, no doubt recalling yesterday's exercise, and the next moment he's flinging himself at Sasuke-kun. The two go tumbling to the ground, brawling and growling insults at each other.
Thankfully Kakashi-sensei appears a moment later, pulling the two of them apart.
"You fail," he tells them calmly. "Again. The enemy just heard you arguing and snuck up on you while you were busy fighting each other."
"Oh, come on!" Naruto exclaims. "We didn't even set off a trap or anything this time!"
"I don't care. Start over - Sakura's lead."
She groans, closing her eyes and wishing for the day to be over already.
"Please, Kaka-"
"No," Sasuke-kun's voice interrupts her. "We've done this stupid course all day already! If she can't keep up, that's not our fault! Teach us something new already!"
"Yeah! Something cool!"
"No?"
Slowly Kakashi-sensei turns to face them, suddenly appearing to loom taller over them all. It reminds her of that first day and the bell test, when they'd fed Naruto and Kakashi-sensei had appeared to yell at them for breaking the rules. Except … except she can't really imagine that he'll smile and pass them this time around. Not yet, and not like this.
"No," Sasuke-kun reperats firmly. "Either teach us something useful, or I'm out of here!"
"Yeah, me too!"
"And what about Sakura-chan? You're teammates, after all."
Sakura wants to groan out loud then, but settles for sinking to her knees in despair. This is not going to end well. She might as well catch her breath properly before the torture begins all over again.
"Not. My. Problem." Sasuke-kun enunciates. "I don't have time to wait for pathetic, useless dead weight to catch up!"
"Oi, don't talk about Sakura-chan that way!"
"Shut up! It's her fault we're here to begin with, or we would've been in the exam right now!"
"Yeah, well, maybe so but you still can't talk about her like that!"
"Calm down the two of you." Kakashi-sensei's voice is dry as he firmly pulls the boys apart again. "You two are taking this way too seriously. It's not as if anyone expected you to pass the chunin exams on your first try anyway, and you can try again next time."
"We could have passed if it wasn't for her," Sasuke spits.
"Yeah, we totally would have nailed that last question!" Naruto agrees, sending his own glare in Sakura's direction.
Sakura doesn't really have the energy in her to argue. Their words - Naruto's and Sasuke-kun's both - cut through her like senbon, making her feel even more miserable than she already is. Her vision blurs, her eyes burn and then there is something wet on her cheeks.
"We went over this yesterday," Kakashi-sensei says. "Maybe you could have passed, maybe not, but given your individual results only Sakura-chan is likely to have achieved the marks necessary to pass, which would have meant that you all would have failed. As it is, you can try again in a couple of months."
"I don't have the time to wait around until next time!" Sasuke-kun objects angrily. "I need to get stronger!"
"Yeah! And I'm going to become Hokage!"
"Then use this extra time you have to train," Kakashi-sensei advises. "As genin you'll have more time for that anyway, so that's a positive at least."
She doesn't have to look up to know that both boys are glowering at their sensei, and that at least Sasuke-kun is sending angry glares in her direction. Knowing what she now knows - that they were expected to cheat on the exam, and that she completely failed to realise that - she cannot fully blame him.
If only his anger didn't cut so deep, so impossibly much worse because it's Sasuke-kun of all people!
"I demand that she be put off the team! She'll only sabotage us otherwise!"
Sakura's breath catches in her throat at the words, and for a moment she's frozen in place, terrified that Kakashi-sensei will agree and send her away to the Genin Corps or whatever.
"You can't throw Sakura-chan off the team! She's our teammate, you bastard!"
"I refuse to continue to pander to pathetic dead weight who can't even handle themselves!"
"I'll show you-!"
"Calm down, both of you!" Kakashi-sensei sighs, pulling the boys apart again. "Clearly we're not getting anything productive done today. How about we call it a break for today, and start over again tomorrow morning?"
No one speaks. Discreetly Sakura tries to wipe her eyes, hoping that they haven't seen her crying. New ones replace the old ones at the thought of having to repeat all of this again tomorrow.
"You're dismissed."
In the periphery of her vision she can see Kakashi-sensei reaching for his book.
"Shoo, you three."
And finally the boys move, untying the ropes and heading back towards the village, glaring at each other but not speaking.
Sakura watches their retreating backs until her vision blurs with fresh tears.
"Sensei?" Her voice is quiet, brittle and hesitant in such a way that she barely recognises it as her own.
"Yes, Sakura-chan?"
His voice is softer now, gentler in a way that is almost comforting. Like how he spoke that afternoon after the chunin exams, before he'd told her that he was proud of how she handled the situation. It feels like a very long time ago, even though it's barely been two days, and it's enough to shatter whatever remains of her own composure.
"What if", she begins, struggling to contain the sob that wants to escape her at the mere thought. "What if Sasuke-kun is right?"
The look he gives her over the back of that orange book of his is plain, politely confused - or as much as his masked face conveys emotions at all, at least - and so she braces herself to speak again. To clarify her question, even though it hurts to just ask the question.
"What if I don't have what it takes to be on this team? What if - what if I am holding them back?"
"They're holding themselves back, at the moment. Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan."
The words and the tone are the right ones; comforting and reassuring if taken at face value. Words she might have accepted and embraced, even just a couple of weeks ago. Yet there's something bothering her, chafing in her mind. Something about the way he calls her Sakura-chan, even though the boys are always just Sasuke and Naruto. As if she's a child, while they are actual shinobi.
"But I did hold them back," she points out, the words making something in her chest ache as she makes the admission. "I didn't even realise that we were supposed to cheat at the exam, and then today I'm clearly-"
Her voice fails her, the rest of her sentence lost to a hastily strangled sob.
Ladies don't blubber, she reminds herself. They don't show emotion at all, they remain calm like a mountain lake, and if they do cry they do so quietly and unobtrusively.
"You didn't realise, because you were most likely the only genin in that room qualified in their own right to take the exam," Kakashi-sensei says, his voice still quiet and patient and deceptively comforting. "Don't blame yourself for that. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke understood the true purpose of the test either, or to take advantage of having you on their team."
"Sasuke-kun knew we were supposed to cheat."
"Sasuke understood that he himself had to cheat to pass the test, but it never once crossed his mind to use that knowledge to help his teammates pass. You, on the other hand-"
Sakura winces, but hides it behind wiping at her eyes.
"-you might not have understood the purpose of the test, but you understood enough to know that your teammates were in danger and you acted accordingly. You should not be ashamed of protecting your teammates."
"But Sasuke-kun is right! Shinobi don't get to pick and choose their missions and clearly I'll be the one holding them back most of the time!"
Kakashi-sensei sighs heavily, and immediately she feels guilty for bothering him like this after they have already been dismissed for the day. And after such a horrible day, too. But he's here and he's not telling her off.
She forces herself to look up at him, to meet his one-eyed gaze and face his wordless acknowledgement of that fact.
"So what if Sasuke-kun is right, and I don't have what it takes to be a chunin? To be on this team?"
It is Kakashi-sensei who averts his gaze first, and he sighs quietly again before he speaks.
"Like I said yesterday, for the purposes of the written portion of the exam they were the ones holding you back, and not the other way around."
She opens her mouth to object, to point out that she's not looking for meaningless praise, but he holds up a hand to signal for her to let him speak.
"But you are not wrong. Physically, you are the weakest link of the team. Which is why I had you go through yesterday's written exercise and today's physical one; to make the three of you more aware of your different strengths and for you to learn to utilise that. No one can be good at everything, but all of you are good at something."
Reflexively she wants to object that Sasuke-kun is good at everything. Then she thinks of yesterday's refusal to accept her help or the way he's always arguing with Naruto. So maybe Sasuke-kun isn't good at everything. He's still good at almost everything, while Sakura is bad at almost everything in comparison.
"But what if I'm not good enough?" she repeats.
Kakashi-sensei shrugs, but not carelessly. Somehow, she gets the impression that he's just lost for words. Her impression only grows stronger as he sinks down to sit on the ground, so that their faces are more at the same level, pocketing away his book.
"If you're not good enough to become a chunin, then you'll stay a genin," he states. "There are worse things that can happen. Either way, they don't have what it takes to become chunin at the moment either."
And she wants to accept the reassuring tone, but there's another question suddenly nagging desperately in her mind.
"Do I have what it takes to become chunin?"
He meets her eyes again, his gaze visibly calculating how truthful he can be with her. She clenches her jaw and forces herself to keep meeting his gaze, even when she wants to look away.
"At the moment? No," he tells her at last. "In the future? Who knows?"
He shrugs again, leaning back on his hands to look up at the sky.
"I know I'm weaker than them," she tells him. "And neither of my parents were chunin."
"True, but stranger things have probably happened."
She averts her gaze, absentmindedly trying to brush away some of the dirt on her dress. It's no use. It'll need a proper wash and then some mending before she'll look presentable in it again.
"Do they have what it takes to become chunin? In the future, I mean?"
Kakashi-sensei tilts his head to look at her again, and when he speaks his voice is careful.
"Sasuke is of the Uchiha-clan. Both of his parents were jounin, as were most of his aunts and uncles and cousins and even his brother. So yes, Sasuke will most likely make chunin and even jounin in time. As for Naruto -"
He looks away again, his gaze coming to rest at the Hokage mountain in the distance.
"I'm sure Naruto will power through, as well."
There is sadness and fondness in his voice, and suddenly a thought hits her.
"Did you-," she starts to ask, before interrupting herself. While the prospect of Kakashi-sensei knowing Naruto's parents is an interesting one, it's not the purpose of this conversation. Besides, it's not her place to snoop into that kind of thing. So instead, she says, "Did you know that the teachers at the Academy said I was a genjutsu type?"
"It was in your file."
"Oh."
She blushes, wondering what else might be in her file, briefly wondering if she should ask him about it. But again, that's not what she wants to know at the moment.
"What if that's my strength? I mean, Naruto and Sasuke-kun are both physically stronger than me, and faster and better at taijutsu and ninjutsu and -" and just about everything else save for academics, she admits to herself. "If I could be good at genjutsu, then maybe-"
But Kakashi-sensei is already shaking his head.
"Genjutsu is an incredibly rare and difficult skill," he explains. "Unless you have a Kekkei Genkai with a disposition for it, like the Sharingan, it is extremely unlikely that you will ever become good at it. That is why the Academy only teaches how to recognise and dispel genjutsu."
She feels her shoulders sag in disappointment, but Kakashi-sensei isn't done yet.
"Usually when the Academy teachers say that someone is a genjutsu type, what they mean is that the student doesn't have what it takes to be considered a taijutsu- or ninjutsu type."
"So in other words, it just means I'm useless," she states dejectedly.
"Not necessarily. Plenty of good shinobi - your sensei included - were dubbed genjutsu types in the Academy."
"Iruka-sensei?" she asks, confused, only for her eyes to bulge out in surprise as Kakashi-sensei gives her a pointed look and a raised eyebrow. "You were a genjutsu type?"
He shrugs again, sitting a little straighter again and not quite meeting her gaze.
"I was five when I graduated. My chakra storages hadn't really developed yet, and my punches weren't exactly enough to qualify me as a taijutsu type, so I guess they didn't really know what to make of it."
"Five!?" she repeats incredulously.
That's just … amazing and stunningly disheartening at once. Because, five?! What was Sakura even doing at that age? Probably just playing with dolls and worrying about entering the Academy, never mind graduating!
"I guess it took a while for you to make chunin then?" she asks hollowly, still struggling to wrap her mind around her sensei at five years old and graduating from the Academy.
"I made chunin when I was six," Kakashi-sensei shrugs. "Jounin, however, that took me another six years to make."
At that, she can only gape at him. Kakashi-sensei endures her staring for a few moments before he averts his gaze again, standing and brushing the grass from his pants.
"Times were different. Konoha was at war and everyone was graduating early."
And she's made him uncomfortable, she realises. Embarrassed, she averts her gaze again, swallowing around a lump in her throat that was not there moments ago.
Kakashi-sensei made chunin when he was six years old!
Six!
And while Naruto and Sasuke are both still genin, officially the same rank as her, there is a mountain of skill separating her from them. A mountain which she has yet to climb.
Not to mention the fact that Kakashi-sensei clearly believes that the both of them will make chunin and even jounin.
"What are the odds of me making chunin?" she asks, her throat suddenly dry.
He levels her with another look, as if he's considering whether he can tell her the truth or not. Whether she can take the truth.
"Honestly?" she pleads.
"Honestly? You've already pointed out that you are weaker than Naruto and Sasuke. Which is not to say that either of them are a good example of normal. And you are aware that neither of your parents made chunin. So what odds do you think you have?"
"Slim ones?" she grimaces.
"Slim ones," he agrees. "However, it's not impossible. You're smart and you've got decent chakra control. If you find a specialisation that suits you - try genjutsu if you'd like, or maybe become a medic or specialise in fuinjutsu - and you work hard, you can probably make it."
Probably. A far cry from the ringing endorsement of Sasuke-kun or even Naruto. Yet it's probably the most honest one she's ever gotten, she thinks.
"And jounin?"
Kakashi-sensei just shrugs. Basically nonexistent then, she translates.
"In other words, I will end up holding them back."
"Maybe," Kakashi-sensei agrees. "At the moment, however, you're helping them grow. Whether they realise it or not."
Which should be flattering, really, but somehow it isn't. Not with her whole body aching and bruised and with the knowledge that she'll have to do it all over again tomorrow hanging over her head.
She really, really doesn't want a repeat of today tomorrow. Or of yesterday, for that matter.
Or, quite honestly, she abruptly realises, not the day before that either. Nor the day before that, or the day before that or- really, not any of the days since her mother's death.
Really, Sakura is done with this.
Done with being homeless and living out of a tent and struggling to meet her own basic needs for food and clothing because her family decided to try to force her to submit to them.
Done with Sasuke-kun being angry at her for trying to protect him for goodness sake!
Done with Naruto's no doubt honest but no less half-hearted forgiveness, forgiving her while still harping on about how well he would have done without her protection even though it's blatantly obvious that he wouldn't have done well at all.
Done with Kakashi-sensei being angry at her, only to then shift to some sort of suspicious kindness that she cannot quite trust, him buying her weapons and telling her he's proud of her only to then dangle her achievements before the boys in some sort of attempt to motivate them to improve.
She's done.
Just.
So.
Fucking.
Done.
"And what if I don't want to keep trying?" she asks, hearing her own voice come out positively challenging.
Kakashi-sensei doesn't rise to the bait. In fact he's quiet so long that she has to double check that he hasn't left her with a clone or something.
And when he speaks, at last, he doesn't tell her no.
It is not what Kakashi would really want. Ideally, he'd like to keep pushing his students through exercises like these until they get over themselves and start working together again.
Either that, or take them on another C-ranked mission. They haven't had one since Wave, and the boys have been itching for new challenges for a while now. And Sakura hasn't been complaining about their missions - even though she has yet to actually experience anything but D-ranked ones - but then she is on another level than the boys as far as practical ninja skills go.
A C-rank mission, some danger and excitement might be good for them all. Except the Hokage is extremely unlikely to allow Kakashi to leave the village under the current circumstances, even if it's only for a few days or a week.
"Do you want to leave the team?" he asks quietly.
"Yes."
She raises her chin, giving him a challenging look, but what really cuts at him is the simplicity of her answer. No hesitation, no explanation, no nothing.
"Do you want to retire then?" he continues, remembering that forged note.
"No." Her answer is as immediate and without hesitation as her previous one, but this time she does follow it up with an explanation. "I'm a shinobi. I just don't want to be one on this team anymore. And clearly, I'm not really wanted on the team either, so maybe it's a win-win for everyone."
It is not a win-win for Kakashi, most certainly, but he can't really deny the fact that something needs to change. He can't keep standing guard over Sakura at night and also make sure that Orochimaru isn't coming for Naruto or Sasuke. Keeping guard over her alone is starting to become unsustainable, as he'll need a full night of proper sleep soon. But there are plenty of other ways to solve that problem: ways that do not include the team breaking apart.
"Naruto and Sasuke will get over themselves eventually," he states.
At least they will in regards to her. That much he's positive of. Obito and him had never been able to stay angry at Rin for long, after all. No, the big question is whether they will be able to overcome their childish rivalry and work together properly. If they can, then maybe they can avoid a fate similar to that of Obito and him.
"Maybe they will, maybe they won't. I'm just tired of waiting for my teammates to tolerate me."
He feels himself flinch minutely at that, knowing without a doubt that she is not only referring to the last two days of Naruto's and Sasuke's anger, but also his own previous wrongings against her. For which he should probably apologise, but his throat is suddenly too tight and too dry for him to speak the words. So instead he clears his throat, looking for something else to say.
If she has made up her mind, he can't really force her to stay. She's allowed to switch to another team or unit, and while Kakashi as her sensei may oppose such a switch, he can't really find it in himself to do so. After everything that has happened - after all of the ways in which he has wronged her - if she wants to extricate herself from it all, then he will not force her to stay.
Not that he really has much of a choice, either. Judging from how things have been going the last two days, either Sakura will leave the team or Sasuke will. And reluctant as Kakashi is to admit it, he can't afford - Konoha can't afford - for that to be Sasuke leaving. Because Sasuke needs to master his sharingan, and because of that fact alone he has been destined to become Kakashi's protegé ever since Itachi went rogue and killed the other Uchihas.
Sakura, by comparison, is one essentially civilian-born, clanless, nameless girl with no kekkei genkai and no obvious potential that can realistically even begin to measure up to the sharingan.
So, crassly speaking, if the team is splitting up then Kakashi doesn't really have a choice. He can, however, try to mitigate the damage - make sure that if and when she changes her mind, there's a way for her to return to team 7. So Kakashi pushes his personal objections aside, and says;
"We could talk to Kichiro. Get you a temporary placement with the Genin Corps."
"Temporary?"
Her question is quietly surprised, and Kakashi forces himself to meet her gaze.
"Yes, temporary. I'm not throwing you off the team, Sakura-chan," he tells her seriously. This is her choice, after all. Not his.
She considers this for a couple of moments. Kakashi waits patiently, not pressuring her in either direction. It'll be a good, easy solution if she agrees - and Kichiro will be sure to take care of her and keep her safe, especially when Kakashi tells him about the current situation, there is no doubt in his mind about that. Kichiro will be good for her.
Unlike what Kakashi has been.
He pushes the thought aside. This is about her. His guilty conscience can wait.
A part of him wants to ask her to stay, but that's just selfishness on his part. He never wanted students to begin with, and over the course of the last few months Sakura has been his least favourite student by far. He has no right to ask her to stay. But if she does, he'll figure something else out to solve this situation. Gai has his team in the Forest of Death at the moment, so maybe he'll be able to help him with his guard duty for a couple of nights. Or Asuma or Kurenai, even though he shudders at the thought of having to explain to Asuma that Sakura has in fact been homeless for three months without him having realised.
Which just brings him back to her being better off with someone else. He has no right to feel hurt or wronged just because she has finally realised so.
"Alright. When can we talk to Commander Hatake?"
Her answer is quiet but her voice is clear, unwavering, and she meets his gaze with red-rimmed eyes. Kakashi looks her over, noting the scrapes and bruises and her torn dress. None if it is anything of any real concern - the scrapes and bruises will heal, the dress can be mended or replaced - but part of him is still worried. Even though he has no right to be worried about her any longer. So Kakashi sighs, pushing that hurt part of himself aside, and focuses on getting through the rest of the afternoon.
No time like the present, after all.
As they make their way back towards the village and the Genin Corps' headquarters, he watches her through the corner of his eye, looking for any signs that her conviction is wavering or that she has changed her mind.
There aren't any.
Rather, her shoulders are set in determination and there is a new heat in her eyes, a new fire burning somewhere within her.
Kakashi has been around shinobi long enough to know when someone has set up a course of action and is determined to follow it to the end with suicidal conviction.
They arrive at the headquarters of the Genin Corps, which is a large building vaguely reminiscent of the hospital except without the same sterile smell and the stern nurses. It is built vaguely like an H, Sakura notices, with the central wing being the main entrance and apparently leading to the office of the Genin Commander.
Commander Hatake looks up from his desk and paperwork in surprise when Kakashi-sensei knocks on the open door and enters the office. Recognition flashes across his eyes and his gaze lingers on Kakashi-sensei before falling on her.
"What a nice surprise, Kakashi-kun, Sakura-chan. What can I do for you?"
The -kun startles her enough that she finds herself staring. It's the first time she sees the two of them together, and somehow she gets the feeling that it's not a very common occurrence.
Curiously she looks between them as Kakashi-sensei explains their case, studying their interpersonal chemistry. Kakashi-sensei looks as relaxed as usual and sounds perfectly professional, but she doesn't think she imagines that there is an undertone of stiffness in his voice. And Commander Hatake has a certain sad warmth in his eyes when he looks at Kakashi-sensei.
Strained then, she decides about their relationship. Commander Hatake clearly wants them to be friendly but Kakashi-sensei, for some reason, doesn't want the same. Not that it's for Sakura to make any judgments on that. They're not even related by blood, she recalls. Commander Hatake is simply married to Kakashi-sensei's aunt, or something along those lines. And Sakura knows from personal experience how difficult the relationship with an aunt can be.
"I see," the Commander says once Kakashi is done explaining. "A temporary contract can certainly be done, though I'll admit that it is unusual for someone so young to switch from being with their jounin-sensei to being with us."
Sakura resists the urge to blush as he gives her a searching look. She's well aware of the bad reputation of the Genin Corps but she's also realistic enough to realise that she'll most likely wind up joining them sooner or later anyway. If nothing else, her conversation with Kakashi-sensei has shown her that much.
It's just a bit sooner than she has been hoping.
"Are you sure that this is what you want?"
Nervously Sakura shrugs, not at all sure what to say.
"It's only temporary, right?"
Kakashi-sensei said so. And although Sakura's feelings are very much mixed on the subject - she'll have to study them closer sometime later - she is absolutely certain that right here and right now, she does not want a repeat performance of what the majority of her time as a genin has been like. Something needs to change, and if that means that Sakura has to break free from team 7, then so be it.
It's not even about Naruto or Sasuke-kun's anger - though those are not completely unrelated either - but mostly it's about her.
She's just exhausted.
She needs a break.
And if some part of her is still hoping that her sensei will try to convince her otherwise, that he'll ask her to stay and help her make everything in the world right again … then that's just a foolish part of her.
Either way, the Genin Corps can't be worse than returning to the Haruno Clan, right?
"You're welcome to stay with us for as long or as short a duration as you want," Commander Hatake promises.
He gestures for them to sit down while he searches for the appropriate documents and presents them facing Kakashi-sensei and her.
"This is our basic contract. You just mark down the period that it is supposed to last for and which of the perks you wish to take advantage of, if any."
"Perks?" she asks, reaching for the contract.
"Yes. The Genin Corps is a tightly cut unit and many of our members actually live right here in our dormitories. There is also a common mess hall where members may partake all of their meals if they wish to, an armoury that collaborates with some of the major weapons merchants, a tailor for our uniforms as well as a gym and a shared training ground in the back."
Sakura feels her eyes grow large with surprise as she takes it all in, as well as the implications of what he says. Commander Hatake smiles reassuringly.
"Of course, members are free to live elsewhere if they choose but our dormitories are actually quite comfortable. The cost of housing, food, uniform etcetera is deducted from your pay."
"What if I don't finish enough missions to be able to afford all of that? Will I end up owing money?"
"No, you will not. All members of the Genin Corps receive a similar salary, depending somewhat on experience and time in the corps rather than the amount of missions performed, but it is always enough to cover the basic costs and then some."
It sounds too good to be true. Glancing between the Commander and Kakashi-sensei, Sakura tries to figure out where the catch lies. There has to be something she's missing, right?
"It's your decision," Kakashi-sensei tells her, "but I think this can be good for you."
She looks down at the contract again, trying to push away the sudden burning in her eyes.
This can be good for you.
It can be good for her, she tells herself firmly. This is her chance to escape homelessness. The thought is exhilarating and daunting all at once - even if she'll be alone - and she pushes it all aside to deal with later.
For now she frowns down at the contract, reading it through carefully. If it seems too good to be true she'll be sure to read the fine print, or she'll wind up selling her soul or whatever they're trying to hide behind such grand promises.
Surprisingly though, there are no fineprints that she disagrees with.
Commander Hatake hands her a pen and she swiftly begins filling out the contract with her personal information. With only a brief hesitation she signs herself up for residency in the dormitories, meals at the mess, access to the armoury and tailors as well as the gym and training ground.
Once she has filled her parts out to the best of her ability she hands the contract back to the commander, who scans the contract, calculates the amount that needs to be withdrawn from her salary and the final sum she will receive. Even with so many perks the sum is still not insubstantial.
"Only the time-frame and your signature are missing," he comments, handing the contract back to her.
Unsure, she looks to Kakashi-sensei for answers.
"Ma, let's see," he hums quietly. "We're about halfway through the second stage of the chunin exams. The final event of the chunin exams will probably take place somewhere in the beginning of August. Once that is over, the boys should have had time to cool off, right?"
"So, sometime after that?" Sakura asks. "Like, mid-August?"
"It's up to you, but that should do it."
A full month. More than a full month away from her team - away from Naruto and Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei, all on her own. It's a terrifying prospect, and yet … and yet it's not the first time she spends such an amount of time away from the team. And the thought of all of that time without the drama of team 7 - of living in the dormitories of the Genin Corps and knowing that she'll be getting three meals a day that won't be cooked by her over a fire - is positively luxurious!
"Alright."
With a decisive nod Sakura fills out the dates and signs the contract.
"Then your sensei needs to sign, since you are technically his subordinate," the Commander instructs.
Kakashi-sensei accepts the contract and pen and signs where indicated, before handing the contract to the Commander, who signs as well.
"Welcome to the Genin Corps, Sakura-chan! Now, let me call someone to show you to your room, and I'll have words with your sensei."
He calls for his assistant, who soon scurries off to find someone. A couple of minutes later the assistant returns with a middle-aged, brown-haired and -bearded man wearing the light blue uniform of the Genin Corps. Before the Commander can even introduce them the man whistles, raising an eyebrow at her.
"You must be new, because I sure as hell would've remembered seeing you around here before!" With a friendly smile he extends his hand to her. "Homma Hajime!"
"Sakura," she returns the greeting, shaking his hand and offering a smile in return.
"Just Sakura?"
Her cheeks warming, she nods in the affirmative. It's been three months already, she realises, but she hasn't really had to introduce herself in that time and so her now formally lacking a family name hasn't really been an issue. Even orphans tend to have some sort of family name, and so her complete lack of one is sure to raise questions and draw judgements from others. But the man just shrugs, accepting her answer easily.
"Alright then, Sakura-chan it is. Please call me Hajime."
Introductions done the Commander asks Hajime to show Sakura around the building and to take her to her new room, and he drags her along with an easy smile. Just before she leaves the room she throws a last glance back towards Kakashi-sensei and the Commander, noting that the Commander now has his hand firmly placed on Kakashi-sensei's shoulder. They both give her a reassuring look, and then Hajime is pulling her down the hallway.
They fall into step beside one another as he points out the main entrance and the different hallways, explaining the layout of the building and the general rules.
Their first stop is the tailor's, where a scowling old man wraps a measuring cord around her with a look of deep concentration. Sakura stands very still and pays close attention to doing as she's told. She hasn't grown up with aunt Kasumi the seamstress without learning to respect tailors.
"Like jounin and chunin the Genin Corps has its own uniform," Hajime explains, making a grimace at her from behind the tailor's back. "It's not super formal or anything, so we are allowed to adjust, but we are supposed to be in uniform while on missions."
Done with his measuring the tailor scurries into a storeroom, only to return a few moments later with an armful of clothing. The uniform that he presents to her is a lighter blue than that of Kakashi-sensei and the other jounin and chunin, but otherwise very similar in its simple cut of slacks and shirts. The fabric itself turns out to have a very sturdy feel to it, yet surprisingly soft on the inside.
The tailor holds the clothing up to her to see if it will fit. "You rip it or tear it, you bring it back here," he orders her as he hands the clothing over to her. "Most of you new ones don't know how to mend clothes if your lives depend on it, so until I'm sure that you can do it right you'll come here to get it done!"
He gives her torn dress a pointed look but does not give her an opportunity to explain herself, bending instead to inspect her sandals.
"These will do for now," he decides after a few moments. "Come back here when you need new ones, and don't wait too long! Good shoes might save your life someday!"
After that Hajime shows her to the armoury, which is located in the same wing as the tailor's. Since her weapons pouch and kunai holster are recently re-stocked in preparations for the chunin exams - a memory that still makes her blush and determined not to ever go near the Tanigawa store again - they don't linger too long. Hajime explains that the Commander will fill out the necessary paperwork for her to be able to requisition weapons from the armoury whenever she needs to.
"This wing is the gym," he continues to explain as he leads her to another wing of the building. "The bottom floor is for weapons exercise, the upper floors for physical training. There are various gym equipment that you are free to use. Obviously we cannot use ninjutsu or chakra-enhanced taijutsu indoors, but there is an outside training ground in the back and we are able to book the public training grounds as well if we need to."
He leads her back to the main entrance, again pointing out the Commander's office - which now has the door closed, curiously enough - before they move towards the last two wings.
"The mess hall is to the right," he explains. "Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served on set times and you will be able to get a bento box if need be as well as request provisions for missions outside the village. However, anything outside of that you'll need to buy for yourself."
Then they enter the dormitories, which take up three whole floors of long corridors. Sakura can't help but gape.
"I had no idea that there were so many genin in Konoha!" she admits.
Hajime smiles at her then.
"Not all of the rooms are taken, but we are admittedly a large force. However, it's also needed since we do the majority of the maintenance of the public areas of Konoha as well as messenger runs, occasional escort missions and the like as well as the surplus of missions meant for jounin sensei and their teams."
The dormitories are mixed but everyone has a small room to themselves. Sakura's room turns out to be just across the hall from Hajime's, on the second floor and with a view over the nearby training ground.
The room itself is small and bare, containing a bed, a bedside table and a built-in wardrobe. It is however also clean and well kept, and the bed is made with simple linen that seems to her as the highest of luxuries.
"There are common baths and toilets on each floor," Hajime explains, pointing in their direction. "One for men, one for women."
He glances at the clock and gives her another smile.
"Dinner will be in an hour, so how about you get settled, and I'll see you then?"
He leaves her to it, the door closing softly behind him. Sakura drops her new clothes on the bed, deposits her weapon's pouch and kunai holster beside it and then plops down herself as well.
There is a lot for her to process.
She can take a bath, she suddenly realises. A real, warm bath that is not in a river!
With Sakura safely deposited in the gentle care of the Genin Corps and Kichiro informed about her situation - including the potential threat of Kiri defectors, whether for vengeance against Kakashi or on orders from her clan or intended groom - Kakashi leaves the Genin Corps' headquarters behind, already planning.
Sakura will flourish under Kichiro, and Naruto and Sasuke can both do well with some individual attention. If they're both allowed to grow their skills for a bit, then perhaps that'll be enough to scratch that itch of theirs and allow for the team to come together more easily again in August.
The problem is that in order to provide such individual training, Kakashi can't really train both of them at once, especially as they'll need different training. Naruto will need to focus more on his basics, while Sasuke is already good in that regard and will need an actual challenge. Training them together like that will only further the animosity between them.
Ebisu is just unlucky to cross Kakashi's path as he's pondering this dilemma.
A favour and some gentle blackmailing later he has a tutor for Naruto for the foreseeable future. Which leaves Sasuke to him, free for them to focus on practising his sharingan and maybe learning a new jutsu or two.
Overall it's not ideal, but Kakashi thinks he's made the best out of a bad situation. Sakura will be safe with the Genin Corps, Naruto will be looked after by Ebisu, and Kakashi will be free to focus 100% of his energy on making sure that Orochimaru does not get to Sasuke.