Forcing them to run through training while walking on water led to interesting results, but after a few days of wet genin and damp dogs he decided to move onto something else, much to the kids pleasure. All three were competent enough with water walking that even if they got distracted, they would be fine in most situations.
Sakura had made a bit of progress with her elemental training, but a few days wasn't enough to get far. He guessed it'd take a few weeks before she really started using a variety of elemental jutsu reliably. However, it was something she could do on her own time and dedicating their training sessions entirely to that would be a waste.
He'd drilled the basics into them and set up schedules for their physical conditioning, as long as they stuck to the daily training plans he'd put together for them they could start working on more specific and admittedly interesting things. He said as much to them before laying out their new goals, all three snapped to attention ready to learn something new.
"Sasuke, you have the advantage of already being able to use utilize the element of fire, however there is plenty of room to improve and many jutsu you've yet to learn. I'm going to help you expand your range of jutsu and skill," Kakashi explained looking at the young Uchiha who nodded. "You've mostly learned techniques from the Uchiha clan, which explains why your techniques have similar results. I want you to learn jutsu that expand beyond attacking with blasts of fire, not that breathing fire doesn't have its time or place."
He turned to Sakura next, "Sakura we're going to focus on genjutsu, however I expect you to continue working on mastering water style in your private practice time. We're going to work on some basic jutsu and once we reach the results, I'm looking for you'll help me teach the boys about breaking genjutsu by practicing on them," Kakashi explained. He noticed Sakura's smile at the thought of casting genjutsu on them, and wondered if the boys were going to try and get on her good side before the activity.
He was giving Sakura the most varied teachings, mainly because until she developed a specific style, she needed a large bank of skills to adapt to anything she faced. Unlike her teammates, especially Naruto, she couldn't just power through any situation. Plus, she would be best utilized for covering the weaknesses of the team. As far as genjutsu went until Sasuke awakened and trained with his sharingan she was really the only one with any talent for it.
Lastly he looked to Naruto and began, "Naruto what I think we should do is-"
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto interrupted him, "Sorry for interrupting, but I really want to work on learning an element. I'll do whatever you think is best, but I really want to learn some elemental jutsu. Sasuke can already use fire style and Sakura has been practicing to use water style, so why can't I?"
Normally Kakashi would be annoyed at being interrupted, but if Naruto was dead set on doing something, there was no reason he couldn't compromise. Initially he didn't want the boy distracted, but it was probably better to keep him interested in learning rather than forcing him to do something they hated. There was no argument against basic training, but further teaching allowed for wiggle room. "Alright, how about this? We'll test what your nature affinity is, and I'll show you how to train it, but you'll have to do that in your free time. During group training you'll do exactly what I ask, okay?" He asked though it wasn't really a question.
All he was really doing was giving him homework, and though it wasn't what Kakashi was planning there was no harm in switching things up.
Naruto seemed happy, jumping up and celebrating, Sakura looked slightly amused at his little happy dance and Sasuke just rolled his eyes.
Kakashi pulled out a paper much like the one he earlier had Sakura feed her chakra into and brought it to Naruto with quick instructions on what to do, he allowed Naruto to pour a bit of his chakra in. The paper split in half which meant that Naruto's affinity was wind, which was good. He felt it would be best if his students had different affinities, obviously he didn't have control over their affinities, but he hoped it would limit competition and encourage collaboration in battle if they filled different roles.
"So how do I train?" Naruto asked looking up from the paper he was still holding onto after Kakashi explained what it meant.
Kakashi had done just enough training with the element to feel comfortable showing Naruto the basics of getting started. He ended the demonstration by encouraging Naruto to take some leaves home after training and go wild.
"Now what I'm going to have you practice is sealing techniques," Kakashi's tone allowed for no argument. He was happy to let them offer their thoughts, but in the end, he was still the sensei.
Naruto made a bit of a face but reeled it in quickly obviously remembering his very recently made promise to follow Kakashi's orders. Kakashi ignored the look and continued, "Funjutsu or sealing jutsu rely on very precise chakra control, in a normal case Sakura would probably be the first one I'd look to for this. However, in this case Naruto I think it's fitting you try your hand at it. I think you'll be surprised at your aptitude." Just being an Uzumaki didn't mean Naruto would be good a sealing, but it gave him a chance to talk with him, work on chakra control, and it could be useful going forward.
"Can I even use sealing in battle? I mean I'll learn it," Naruto quickly assured him, "but why?"
"Let's spread out and I'll explain things to each of you, and I'll answer any questions that you have. Okay?" He had two clones appear and approach Sasuke and Sakura.
Naruto nodded and followed Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura each followed a clone and began their own respective training.
"I'm assuming you've been studying the texts I gave you, so I don't think I need to explain much about genjutsu, but if you have any questions ask now," Kakashi spoke looking at Sakura who shook her head indicating she was ready.
Practice with Sakura went as smoothly as he was hoping, after practice on recognizing and breaking genjutsu he started teaching her to replicate the basic tenants of genjutsu. Largely focusing on distorting the senses, but he didn't teach her any specific jutsu to start. Better to have the manipulation of yin chakra become comfortable before he had her focus on anything. It was like any skill, beginning with the basics always was the best way to mastery.
From the start he could see her aptitude for it and she quickly understood its usefulness and application. Many people learned some genjutsu, but weren't really able to work it into their skill set, not knowing how to apply it in battle or when it was needed outside of fights.
She was able to help the boys in walking up trees so hopefully her teaching skills would be as solid here.
As expected, the promise of learning new jutsu finally had Sasuke excited though he still tried to hide it, but Kakashi already knew how to read his constantly grumpy student, his adorable little genin were all open books most of the time despite their beliefs. "You already know a few jutsu that focus on simply breathing fire, I want to explore other options for fire style. First, I'll teach you a technique that will serve as a parent technique for others, black smoke jutsu."
"Smoke? I already have smoke bombs, what's the point?" Sasuke asked clearly not impressed despite knowing very little about what Kakashi had planned or even the technique.
"The point is that you won't always have smoke bombs or a way to escape a situation on hand, and I told you it was a starting point for more difficult jutsu. Don't run before you walk, if you learn this, I'll be able to teach you how to release highly explosive gunpowder, which I'm sure sounds much more fun. Besides I have some plans on using smoke jutsus with the genjutsu Sakura is learning. Stop assuming you know better than me, I'm trying to help you." Kakashi was pretty sure there had to be a light at the end of the tunnel for Sasuke's poor attitude. Eventually they'd reach a breakthrough, but now wasn't the time.
Sasuke managed to force himself to apologize, "Alright sorry." There it was a little bit of that light.
"No problem," Kakashi replied amiably, not in the mood to get into an argument, "now let's get started."
Naruto's training finally gave Kakashi a chance to talk to the boy about his family. Kakashi was still bound by certain rules about what he was allowed to say, not that he'd be bothered by breaking them eventually, but nobody could complain about Kakashi talking about the Uzumaki in general. If the village was worried about him learning his heritage they should have changed his name.
He wasn't sure how to broach the topic so he just went straight for it,"Naruto I know you don't know much about your family or where you come from, but I think you deserve to know about your clan, which is part of why I chose this training."
"My clan?" Naruto whipped his head to stare at Kakashi with intense focus, that wasn't usually present.
"The Uzumaki were a clan known for their mastery of sealing, large pools of chakra, longevity, and often distinct red hair. So, your enormous amount of chakra stems partially from your family. I've brought you some books so you can learn about them, he nodded his head towards his bag. They were allies of our village and distantly related to our founders the Senju, so their history is pretty well recorded due to our close ties," Kakashi explained.
"Then why don't we have a compound and why don't I have a family?" Naruto asked and it was a good question, unfortunately it wasn't one Kakashi was looking forward to answering.
"The clan had their own village, Uzushiogake, and never formally joined our village. Regardless we've had Uzumaki live here and marry into families in the past, the first Hokage's wife was an Uzumaki, so you're in good company. Their village was attacked out of fear of their abilities and we know very little of what happened to the survivors."
"They're all dead?" Naruto asked with a look Kakashi wasn't capable of deciphering, though grief was certainly visible. To be told of your heritage and promptly told they were gone certainly wasn't something Naruto would want to hear, but he needed to know.
"We don't know, the only Uzumaki I was personally familiar with was your mother who came here as a child shortly before the destruction of the village. She served as a ninja here and eventually married a Konoha ninja. You take after your father in terms of looks, but you have a lot of your mother's personality.
"Did you know them well?" Naruto asked and Kakashi could tell he was hungry for the information that nobody had ever sought to give him.
"I can't explain everything; the village elders forbid anyone from talking about certain things. All I can tell you is that I knew your parents very well and that they were incredible people who loved you dearly. Just from the small time we've had together I can tell you've managed to take some of the best of both of them and they'd be extremely proud if they could see you now," Kakashi knew what he was saying was the truth. If Minato and Kushina could treat him so kindly, how could they not love Naruto?
Naruto looked on the verge of tears so Kakashi brought him in for one of his patented awkward hugs and ignored the fact that both Sakura and Sasuke were staring. He gave them a look daring them to say anything and they both turned to their respective clones and continued training. There was a part of him that wished he could tell Naruto more and a small part of him that was relieved he didn't have to relive the pain of losing them by discussing it.
"I think we should get started. Sit down take some deep breaths, focus, and we'll start discussing what needs to be done," Kakashi ordered and Naruto nodded wordlessly before getting into position. Kakashi pulled out a scroll and get ready to lecture.
He wasn't about to teach Naruto about drawing seals, to start he was just concerned about activating previously formed seals, the basics of which were likely covered in the academy. Hopefully he could take his mind off things until Naruto was fully ready to process what he was told.
Apparently training couldn't hold their interest forever and eventually they came to him as a team and requested a more serious mission. He'd admit that they were advancing at a faster rate than probably any of the other rookie teams, but they weren't ready for a serious mission so he chose something that wouldn't be new and interesting with theoretically little danger.
He waved his hand to cut off any more pleading, "You've convinced me, I've already chosen a mission. In two days we'll be escorting someone, I want you to pack tonight so I can see what you imagine wouldn't be necessary. Tomorrow we'll go over what you should pack, the mission details, and our formation."
"Yes,
He watched the three go off and let his clones disperse receiving all the information on their training for the day. Having students was pretty tiring, not just from the chakra he was using to teach them, but because he was spending the evenings doing his own training to improve himself in the areas he was teaching them. They were dealing with lower level things now, but he needed to make sure they didn't surpass him anytime soon.
Genjutsu and sealing were two areas he didn't focus on too much on in training anymore. Mainly because he considered himself decent at both, which for most ninja was excellent, and his skill with his sharingan allowed him to use genjutsu though he preferred not to overly tax his sharingan unless necessary. He tended to focus on ninjutsu, where he constantly wanted to expand his skill set and taijutsu thanks to Gai constantly harassing him. He also worked to improve his physical stamina and chakra reserves both of which did rely partially on biology, but training did allow for improvements.
He briefly wondered what the genin would pack, his greatest fear was that Naruto would just bring ramen, though the boy had more sense than most people gave him credit for.
The next day he had his team meet him by the gate bright and early rather than the training field for the sake of running through what they would be expected to do. He showed up on time, barely, and was pleased to see all three waiting for him looking displeased.
"Why tell us to be early if you were going to show up at the last minute?" Sasuke asked what each of them were likely thinking.
"Because you're newly minted genin and I'm an experienced Jonin so I don't need to make a good impression. Someone hiring me for a C or B rank mission really shouldn't be complaining if I'm not early, when I could easily be doing an A or S rank mission," Kakashi shrugged because it was true even if it sounded rude.
"Alright, it's kind of annoying, but it makes sense," Naruto agreed still looking slightly put out.
Kakashi sighed and further explained, "Right now I'm choosing to make you three my priority, but there will be times where that isn't possible. There is the distinct possibility that I'll need to do something that takes higher precedence for the village so sometimes I might be late. I will however try to find a way to let you know if I won't be here at all, if I'm called out on a mission in the middle of the night, I'll leave word. This early on in your careers you should always endeavor to do your best, it might serve you well later."
"Do you mean the people we work for might request us again?" Sakura asked clearly catching on easily.
"Yes, occasionally people offer missions contingent on a certain ninja doing it, though those are usually higher-ranked missions because they want someone they can trust," Kakashi gestured to himself slightly joking.
He received a few eyerolls, but nobody commented.
"Alright, now let's check what you each brought. Show me your gear and supplies, I'll let you know what you're missing and what you don't need," Kakashi gestured to them.
They showed him their supplies and he quickly corrected them on what they were missing, thankfully none of them brought anything completely useless, but they each were missing things. If he took things from each of them, he could fill what he would consider standard supplies. Apparently, the academy didn't do a great job covering gear and supplies. He'd have to speak to Iruka about that, he wasn't familiar with the other teachers.
"I don't plan on spending the day nitpicking too much, most high rank ninja have tools and supplies that relate to their skillset. Obviously, you still haven't developed to the point where your needs diverge far from the standard so aside from the extra weapons Sasuke uses and the scrolls Naruto brought you should largely have the same things," Kakashi explained once he essentially gave them a grocery list on what they should have for tomorrow.
"What are we doing for the rest of the day?" Sakura asked clearly knowing Kakashi wasn't just going to end the day so soon after it started.
"Two things we'll be working on team tactics for escorts and the boys will get a bit of exposure to what you've learned in genjutsu," Kakashi started off to the training grounds knowing they'd follow behind.
Before they began Kakashi spoke to Sakura briefly, "I only need you to help them get used to experiencing and breaking genjutsu so keep it simple. Also don't use the hell viewing technique on Sasuke. I can't tell you his past, but I believe he likely suffers from some form of trauma and showing him his fears could be more damaging than just a simple scare, got it?"
Sakura agreed though she looked confused, until Sasuke shared more about his past it wasn't Kakashi's place to reveal anything. He was sure the other two knew about his lack of family, but in all likely hood they didn't know about the massacre. Sasuke almost certainly experienced PTSD and Kakashi didn't want to hurt him for the sake of training.
Although Sasuke didn't know much about casting genjutsu he already knew how to break out of them, with some training Naruto has less trouble than Kakashi would have expected. His only concern was whether or not Naruto would be able to recognize genjutsu, when they were more complex and he wasn't expecting them.
They ended the day by placing themselves in formations and memorizing the hand signals one uses to communicate silently. He helped Naruto cheat a bit by having Sasuke train with Sakura, since they already knew the basics, and Naruto train with his own clone while Kakashi watched over them.
Kakashi didn't like Tazuna, he realized it very quickly and it looked like his genin agreed though only Naruto saw fit to say anything. Kakashi was pleased with his genin they were early and had packed perfectly, for all intents and purposes they were the picture of a well put together team. The first thing Tazuna saw fit to do was insult them specifically Naruto for being, "short and having idiotic look on his face." Kakashi had no idea why he felt personally offended when Tazuna insulted Naruto, but Naruto took it even worse. He'd gotten better at controlling himself, but not enough to let an insult roll off him.
Kakashi also didn't particularly trust Tazuna, it was too soon to accuse him of something, but Kakashi felt something was off the moment they met and discussed the mission. For the time being the mission would proceed as planned, but Kakashi kept an eye out.
They'd only been walking for a short time when Sakura made some hand movements, Kakashi waited to see what his genin would do. Sasuke purposely bumped into Sakura allowing her to fall down and take Tazuna with her, before they stood up Sakura cast a quick genjutsu, her hands hidden by the dust. Now to any onlooker Sakura appeared to be Tazuna and Tazuna appeared to be Sakura.
Neither Sasuke or Naruto reacted at all other than Sasuke apologizing in their general direction. Immediately after a few things happened Kakashi was attacked and easily faked his own death with the replacement jutsu to watch what would happen. The fact that the chunin failed to recognize the replacement was testament to the fact that they cared very little about him or were slightly incompetent.
Sasuke reacted almost immediately, pinning their weapons. Sakura, currently in the form of Tazuna ran off separately from the group and the two chunin chased after her, clearly showing they failed to notice the genjutsu and that they were after Tazuna. Before they reached her a group of Naruto's shadow clones were in front of her with kunai drawn, his actual body was protecting the real Tazuna. Kakashi saw Sasuke coming up behind the enemy ninja and beginning to form hand signs. He knew it was time to step in, he had the information he needed, and nobody was hurt yet.
In a split second he had both chunin unconscious and in his arms much to the relief of everyone. Sasuke tried to look a bit put out at how showy he was being, but Kakashi could tell he was glad.
The first thing he said was, "Tazuna, we need to chat."
A/N: Sorry for not posting in forever thank my work for that, but I finally managed to post a chapter, I'm going to go back and fix up the earlier chapters later just because grammar issues and problems when I wrote from rushing, but no need to reread. The next chapter shouldn't take so long and in the future there will be more action, in the show/manga Kakashi didn't let the fight go long so I didn't drag it out.