AN: Please comment/review please! Feedback is always appreciated.

I may focus on this story over the other that I have for a while, since I have a very clear line of sight of where I want to take it, while the plot of the other one is still quite murky.

I do realize that the way I've portrayed Kumo's attempt at war is quite miserable, but it's on purpose, I swear. Especially the incredible victory of Konoha in the last chapter that makes 0 sense, I'll try my hardest to make the justification seem logical. No promises of it being actually good though, lol.

Anyways, enjoy. I wrote this in like two days, which is definitely the fastest I've ever finished a 6k+ chapter.

At the time of publication, the story had 55 likes and 6 reviews. Views are glitched so all my stories have 0 views, lol.

Andante II


Qc5 Re8

Rd1 h6


Konohagakure no Sato


Uzumaki Naruto stifled a yawn with his palm. It was exam day at the Konoha Academy, and he had spent the better part of last night too excited to sleep. However, despite his lightly drooping head and tired gaze, he keeps an ear out for his name. This was an important exam, after all.

"Ahem, next up, Hyūga Hinata!"

The called girl stands up. Her permanently downcast gaze and constantly twiddling fingers broadcasted her nervousness as well as shy personality, and she walked slowly towards the examination room. Naruto has always found it weird how shy she was, but as the old man said, he shouldn't assume things about people before getting to know them. Maybe they'll be on the same team? He shrugged.

The teacher patted her shoulder as she passed. "You'll do fine," he whispered in her ear. "Be confident."

Hinata disappeared behind a curtain of cloth, and Naruto found himself staring blankly at a wall once more. He really was bored.

After what felt like an eternity, he heard a call for his name. "Uzumaki Naruto!"

Finally, it is his turn.

He walked up. Instead of the encouragement that Hinata had received, all he received was a disdainful side-eye, and a begrudging "Good luck" that sounded more like a curse than a cheer.

Oh well. It wasn't a surprise, and he'd gotten used to this kind of treatment.

Naruto dusted his sleeves, and simply ignored the man that was meant to be his teacher but was anything but that. His real teacher was waiting for him to pass, after all.

I won't let you down, old man.

The written exam had been removed in the recent years. Now, it was purely application.

"You will be tested on your mastery of the three basic jutsu. You are not allowed any jutsu other than those. Get ready, the test-"

Naruto raises his right hand, while his left shuffled around inside his pocket, grasping for a piece of paper. "Proctor, I cannot use the Bunshin (Clone) due to chakra overload issues, and I have a document here," he hands the paper to the man and waits expectantly.

The man scrunchs his eyebrows but nods reluctantly. "In that case, please demonstrate your Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)."

Naruto quickly crosses his fingers into the all-too-familiar Ram sign, and in a small puff of smoke, he becomes two. The proctor flicked his palm towards the one who stood in a different spot, who flinched at the heavy hit, and tested the solidity.

"Impressive. Now," he resumes. "Your real test begins as soon as I finish the instructions. You will be dodging shuriken and kunai from me using nothing but the other two basic jutsu. You must stay in the room. All weaponry is blunted to prevent injury. The test will conclude after three minutes. Questions?"

Naruto shakes his head; sounds simple enough. Just dodge, right?

And before he could gather his thoughts, a volley of kunai pierce through the air, racing towards him. Naruto flips out of the way, but before his feet could kiss the earth, the sound of piercing wind forced him to pivot out of the way, landing in a crumpled roll.

"What the hell?" Naruto shouts indignantly. "I'm technically still only an Academy student! Are you trying to murder me?"

The man smirks, the multitude of scars across his faces stretching and compressing unnervingly. "Hokage-sama gave me explicit instructions to be harder on you."

Naruto grits his teeth. "Fine then! But how-" his words were interrupted by the whizzing of a metal blade. He ducked at the very last moment, and thankfully all he lost was a few hairs. The test has begun.

The never-ending barrage of weaponry continued; Naruto constantly ducked, dodged, and wove his way around a web of flying kunai and shuriken. However, after a painfully long 2 and a half minutes of constant dodging, he finally slipped up. Weaving around a duo of shuriken that narrowly missed his ears, Naruto attempted to consolidate his footing. However, a nigh-invisible wire of steel caught his toe, and in a spectacular display of chaos, tumbled to the ground. A lucky shuriken grazes Naruto's cheek, leaving behind a trail of thin blood. The remaining projectiles skewer his sleeves and pant legs just as the proctor lazily calls time.

He pants, out of breath, as the man strolls forward, tapping his pencil against a clipboard thoughtfully. "Well, you certainly failed to meet the time," he begins ominously, as a sense of dread began to grow in Naruto's stomach. "However," he amends. "I was much harsher on you, as per Hokage-sama's requests. Consequently, the time limit was also dropped, so you have officially passed the graduation exam. Congratulations, young genin, you are now an official shinobi of Konoha."

Tears of relief leave Naruto's eyes in torrents. "R-really? That's good," he muttered, clearly embarrassed by the show of emotion. His hand reaches out through a blurry veil to accept the hitai-ate that is being offered to him.

"Thank you..." Naruto is shocked at the lack of acrimony, and he realizes his hesitance and wariness must've been clearly plastered on his face since the proctor grimaces. "S-sorry, I didn't mean..."

The man simply waves it off. "It's fine. It's not your fault the civilians are so hostile. Go out there and prove them wrong, eh?"

Naruto grins. "I will!" He exits the room, but not before turning back one last time. "Watch me! I'll bring peace to all of us, and become Hokage! Just you watch!"

Ibiki Morino watches, as the legacy of the late Fourth Hokage walks out of the testing room proudly. Will of Fire indeed; the determination of his parents had nothing on this young boy's lofty goals.


Naruto grouchily lifts his head at the sound of the opening door. It had been over an hour since he'd passed, and since his ninja registration number was one of the smallest in the class, people had been slowly trickling in to fill the most-empty room after him. He'd been glad to see that the ones that were nice – or at least non-aggressive or condescending – to him (the brooding Uchiha Sasuke, lazy smartass Nara Shikamaru, and quiet Hyūga Hinata) had passed. At least the chance for him to be placed on a team with one of them is still there; maybe his genin team will be friendly and not hostile.

"Ahem!"

A man who Naruto surmises is in his early twenties, enters the room. He dons the signature green chūnin vest, and a large horizontal scar cuts through his cheeks and nose.

"Hi, I'm Umino Iruka," he waves slightly. "Congratulations on passing you graduation exams! You are all now officially genin of Konohagakure, and you should be proud."

He pauses, and Naruto feels the atmosphere of the speech change; the mood shift is nearly palpable.

"I want to apologize, first and foremost, to you all." His eyes become downcast, and Naruto notes, laden with a grief that seems to be very personal. "This war has come knocking at our door. You are all children, and children should be just that: children. You should be able to enjoy your short-lived childhood, make memories, and have fun. Not sitting here, readying yourselves to become soldiers being sent into the battlefield."

His gaze hardens, and Naruto straightens a bit. "However, our very village is at risk. As much as it cuts into my morals, we must make use of every resource we have; our village is the weakest it's been in decades, and we must put every effort into this war. Despite the relatively calm decade so far, that will soon change. As I'm sure your instructors have drilled in by now, prolonged warfare benefits no one, and thus the breaking point will soon come. So, prepare yourselves. If you survive this next year, chances are, you'll live through the war. Before I give you your team assignments, here are some things I must tell you."

Iruka raises a finger. "First, on the battlefield, anything goes. There is no such thing as a 'dirty' trick; anything you can do to give yourself an advantage is a valid strategy. After all, what is honor and pride in the face of life and death? Don't let arrogance and a false sense of honor be your downfall."

He raises a second finger. "Next, never try and do everything yourself. Your teammates are your most valuable assets. If you feel something is too much for you, simply share the burden. Unity is key, and it is exactly why we put you into teams."

A third finger rises. "Finally, remember what you're fighting for. Fighting for an ideal, for a purpose, for a future will be vital in keeping your humanity. Always strive to remember why you're fighting, and when you're feeling lost and down, you can remind yourself of your purpose there. That is all, and I hope you all survive to live long, prosperous lives."

He clears his throat with a cough. "Now, team assignments."

Naruto ignores the first few teams, zoning out as he ponders the man's words. Your teammates are your most valuable assets. Interesting.

His mind continues to wander as Iruka drones on, reading the names of each team and its members, before he finally snaps back to reality at the familiar sound of his own name. "Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, you are Team 7, the special frontal assault team led by jōnin Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto frowned lightly at the last name, searching for its owner. His eyes met the emerald of a pink haired girl's, who quietly nods at him. He nods back; it was one of the smartest girls in the class. Maybe it won't be too bad, since Sasuke was on his team. And why did their sensei's name sound so familiar?

"Hyūga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, you are Team 8, the reconnaissance and assasination team led by jōnin Yūhi Kurenai."

Naruto tunes out the rest of the man's words and waits for their sensei. After the announcements, Iruka left, and Naruto looks around the room. Sasuke walks up to him and sits down in the empty seat beside him.

"So," he smirks a bit at Naruto. "Frontal assault team, eh?"

Naruto returns a grin. "Yep. I feel like I've heard our sensei's name before somewhere, but I'm not sure..."

Sasuke hums. "We'll see, won't we?"

Naruto turns to the last member of their team across the room. "Hey, Haruno-san! Come sit with us!"

Many fellow students turn around and glare at him for the loud exclamation, and Naruto simply ignores them. The girl looks at him apprehensively, before quietly walking to his and Sasuke's area.

"Hello," she begins in a small voice. "I'm Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you two. I hope we can have a good relationship in this team."

Naruto grins. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you!"

Sasuke grunts. "... Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura smiles nervously. "Well... what are you two feeling about this whole situation?"

Naruto's face fell a bit. "I don't know. I mean, we've been training for years to go onto the battlefield, right? So it's not like it's unexpected or anything, but..."

Sasuke catches on and agrees. "Yeah, it feels weird to be an actual soldier now. I doubt we'll get any real missions for a while, but the thought of going out there is still unnerving." He shares a secret smile with Naruto.

Seeing similar signs of nervousness, the tension eases between the trio, and Naruto sees Sakura relaxing a bit. They sat in silence for a while more, since they still aren't well-acquainted with each other, waiting for their sensei to arrive.

Time passed. The minute hand spun around the clock, once, then twice, and by the third revolution they were all annoyed. It had been nearly an hour since the final team besides them had left, and yet here they were.

Naruto groans. "What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know," Sasuke replied. "And stop complaining."

Sakura lets out a sigh as she shuts her book. "To be fair, whoever our sensei is, they are incredibly late."

Suddenly, Naruto perks up. He looks around the room, as if searching for something he knows is there.

A moment later, Sasuke also begins to scour their surrounding area, peering out the classroom door and windows.

Sakura awkwardly sits, unsure of what to do. "Um, what is-?"

"Aha!" The two boys simultaneously point towards a innocuous-looking book on the teachers' desk.

Said innocuous book disappeared in a puff of smoke, and in its place stood a jōnin.

"It took you three long enough to find me. We'll have to work on your situational awareness; especially you, Haruno. Now, meet me up at the top of the Hokage Monument in 5 minutes."

He disappeared, and the three genin look at each other in confusion before shrugging and exiting the building.

"Wait, five minutes? The monument's a ten-minute walk from here!"

Sasuke smirks at Sakura. "Well, we'll just have to run across the buildings to make up for that, won't we?"

Naruto cracks his knuckles. "Time to get going!" With that, he channeled chakra into his feet and legs, and leapt up onto the roof of the building.

Sasuke did the same. Sakura followed suit, though her leap was a bit short of clearing the height, so she utilized the tree-climbing technique to cling to the wall and climb up. According to the academy teachers, this technique was originally genin level, but due to an overhaul to the wartime academy curriculum, field-ready mobility and fighting techniques were prioritized over theory. And she was very glad for the change, as Sakura knew she lacked power. So, by focusing on mobility, she might stand a chance in battle.

She pulls out of her thoughts as she nearly trips on a ventilation, bringing her focus back to the free running they were doing. Leaping across rooftops is fun, something that due to her civilian upbringing she never thought she would experience. But the exhilaration of feeling the wind running its fingers through her hair, the ground bouncing closer and farther away, the finesse of weaving in between obstacles is addicting.

At the five-minute mark, they reach the foot of the Hokage Monument. Sakura is panting a bit, but the two boys did not seem even the slightest bit winded. Sakura silently laments her lack of stamina, before promising to herself to ask their new sensei for a new training routine after this.

The three then begin to scale the mountain, as running around back would take far too long. Sakura never understood how the adults make wall-walking look so effortless; despite your feet being stuck to the wall, you still need an incredible amount of core strength to combat the effects of gravity and keep "upright" in the horizontal position. By the end of the climbing, she is drained of energy, and even her two monster teammates seem to be somewhat winded.

And there he was, their sensei, Hatake Kakashi. A shock of silver hair sprawls out from underneath a slanted hitai-ate, exposing one lazy yet calculating eye that's scrutinizing them carefully. The majority of his face is concealed by a mask. He makes a show of snapping his book shut with a loud clap, and tsked. "You're all late by two minutes. We'll have to work on your speed next time, but for now, introductions are in order. Likes, dislikes, dreams and goals, and your purpose for fighting."

He points toward Sasuke. "You first, broody."

The dark-haired boy scowls lightly but ultimately ignores the jab. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like training and my brother. I dislike my clan," he spits this word out acrimoniously, and Sakura could feel the raw contempt. "And my goal is to one day either destroy or reform my clan. I fight because I must, and... that's it."

Their sensei cocks an eyebrow. "Finish your sentence. If we are going to trust each other with our lives, then a secret should be nothing. Keeping important secrets from each other will only hinder us."

Sasuke scowls, creases forming upon his forehead. "But how would this affect all of you?"

Upon receiving no answer, he sighs, and finishes his previous thought. "I want to prove that I'm worthy of the family name."

He glares at Kakashi. "Happy?"

The man smiles, the smile somehow permeating from underneath the black mask and outwards from his exposed eye. "Why yes, I am. Don't worry", he pats the head of a slightly disgruntled Sasuke. "I trained your brother; you're in good hands. I'll make you into a force to be reckoned with."

Sakura catches Sasuke's eyes almost imperceptibly widening. It seems that the teacher now had his full attention.

"Next up is you, blondie."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like my friends and the old man. I dislike people who simply judge on misguided preconceptions and conflict in general. My goal is to become Hokage and bring peace! I fight for the same reasons, to achieve peace!"

Kakashi smiles again. "Not bad. A difficult yet noble goal worth striving for. Though, you have a long road ahead of you before you can achieve that. But I guess that's what I'm here for, hm? Alright, last one, pinky. Go."

Sakura gulps nervously. "M-my name is Haruno Sakura. I like books and knowledge in general, and I guess I dislike bullies. I... my goal is to help my family. I suppose I fight to prove myself."

Kakashi's gaze locks with hers, and Sakura froze. "Hmm. You're not being dishonest, but I don't think it's intentional. We'll have to work on that later."

What did he mean?

He claps his hands together. "Alright! All in all, not too bad. Could be much better, but as I've said, that's why I'm here. You'll be honest with yourselves soon enough.

"I am Hatake Kakashi, and I am your jōnin sensei for the foreseeable future. You can call me Kakashi-sensei, and be ready to meet here again tomorrow, bright and early at dawn. Now, any questions?"

Silence. "Alright, then you are dismissed. Get some rest, because you'll be needing it."

And they all left for their own respective homes. It was only when she steps on the doormat of her home and a familiar feeling of dread settles over her that Sakura realizes she forgot to ask for an exercise routine.

Oh well. She's sure that Kakashi-sensei would help her with that later. For now, it was not that important.

Averting her gaze from the disappointed ones of her parents, Sakura trudges upstairs and plops herself down on her bed.

And she ponders Kakashi-sensei's words, and thinks until her eyelids begin to flutter and she finally collapses into her dreams.


She wakes the next morning half an hour before the break of dawn; her brain is hard-wired to get up at this time after all. She loves to get things done in the morning. Many may be prone to nighttime work and nocturnal activities, but Sakura has been and always will be a diurnal type.

Sakura washes, dresses, and exits the house quietly.

She smoothly scales to the top of her apartment and begins to leap across the rooftops. It is still very early, and besides the odd vendors who are setting up shop, the streets are empty. The silence that comes with this time of day is serene.

Stopping by a vendor booth, she grabs a quick breakfast in the form of a few pork buns. Thanking the man, she quickly eats one while stuffing the rest into her hip pouch.

Minutes later, she arrives at the peak of the Hokage Monument. Surprisingly, she was the only one there. Sitting down, Sakura enjoys the rest of her simple meal, and watches as the sun slowly rises.

After waiting for five minutes, Sasuke arrives. He silently greets her with a nod and leans against a tree.

Neither of them make an attempt at conversation despite the awkward silence, but that was soon solved by the arrival of Naruto.

"Hello!" Said blonde walked up cheerfully. "How'd you all sleep?"

"Well enough, I guess," Sakura replies.

"Same," Sasuke echoes.

Then they fall back into silence. Even Naruto seems unsure of how to bring up a conversation, since despite their current situation, they still don't know each other very well. Add that to the fact that many of inner thoughts were laid bare yesterday, speaking seems like an endeavor far too difficult to undertake.

Sakura decides to try. "What do you think we'll be doing today?"

It seems to have worked. "Well, maybe some physical training?" Naruto suggests. "Like endurance and strength interval training, and some basic chakra foundational stuff?"

Sasuke snorts. "Please, we've already done that in the Academy, idiot. I think chances are he's going to have us do that stuff in our own time and work on more advanced things like elemental ninjutsu, genjutsu, refining taijutsu, and maybe even working on weapons."

Naruto scowls at him. "What'd you call me?"

"An idiot, stupid. Do you not have ears?" Sasuke smirks at Naruto, clearly amused by his anger.

Sakura attempted to drown out the petty argument, but she simply couldn't. After a while of listening to the annoyance, she finally snaps. "Can you two idiots just shut up? It's literally five in the morning, we just woke up, and we're about to have training, which for the record is likely a combination of basic physical exercise as warmups, reviewing chakra applications, and then some new material in the form of nature transformations. Stop arguing over such a simple thing!"

She breathes, and realizes that she just shouted at her two teammate who she barely knows.

"W-wait, I didn't mean..."

Naruto starts laughing, and soon enough, Sakura and Sasuke join in. The tension has dissolved.

"Well, aren't you enjoying yourselves?"

Kakashi-sensei stands there menacingly, a singular eye curving in what could only be interpreted as a smile. "Get it all out of your systems; it's not going to last long."

Their training begins with ten laps of running around the village.

Ten. Laps. Around the village.

Sakura's legs are dead by the sixth, and she's barely moving by the final lap. Naruto and Sasuke weren't much better; they fared much better than her, finishing nearly an hour before her, but it was due to their rivalry more than anything. They are both panting as Sakura finally skids to a halt.

"Sakura, I'll be making a workout routine for you later. Come get it at the end of the day. Next, we're going to be working on all your chakra."

Following some preliminary assessments, Kakashi speaks. "Sakura, you have the worst reserves in the team. You need to be constantly working chakra into the red zone – that is, to near exhaustion – and then recovering to increase your capacity. Besides that, you have exceptional control, so help your teammates with that when you're resting."

He turns towards Sasuke and Naruto as Sakura sits there, contemplating his words. "Naruto, you have the largest reserves of your team, but the worst control. You're also going to be exhausting yourself to minimal amounts of chakra, and then working on the finer control side of things.

"Now, Sasuke. You are the most well-rounded out of the group," Sasuke smirks, and Naruto glares in response. "However," Kakashi interjects. "That's not necessarily a good thing, as that means you have no particular specialty as of yet. It's best for us to have a team of specialists that all complement each other, rather than a team of all-rounders that excel in no particular area."

It's as if Sasuke and Naruto swapped faces; Sakura watches as Naruto begins to smirk at Sasuke, who in turn begins to glare.

"Now, today, we'll be doing nature transformations."

Sakura shoots a triumphant look at Naruto and Sasuke, who both look disgruntled. Her prediction of the schedule is proving to be perfect.

"What are your elements?"

"Wind!" Naruto cheers.

"Lightning," grunts Sasuke.

Sakura replies in the most reasonable manner. "Earth."

Kakashi nods thoughtfully. "Not bad, very even across the board. Now," he smiles in that peculiar manner with his eye. "Can anyone tell me what the best secondary elements for each of you are to learn?"

Sakura raises her hand. "Um, why are we learning a second element? Isn't it many times harder than your primary element?"

Naruto, surprisingly, answers. "Because they can complement each other. Wind can fuel fire, water can conduct electricity, and so on."

Sakura hums contemplatively. "So, by that logic, it would be most efficient to have Naruto-san learn water to complement Sasuke-san, and for Sasuke-san to learn fire to do the same. Wind and water are closer in nature, as are lightning and fire. But then what do I learn?"

Kakashi pats her on the head, "You are going to be our resident specialist. Naruto and Sasuke's elements are mainly offensive, and being the sole earth wielder, you must be capable of erecting strong defenses in the blink of an eye. Earth is not exclusive to defense of course, but you are the team's best defender."

Sakura nods, feeling a bit lighter despite a burden being laid on her shoulders.

It was something she could do. She had a purpose. She wasn't useless.

Kakashi eye-smiles once more. "Now, shall we start? Naruto, Sasuke, I've been told you both have already either trained in the use of the elements, which have you been trained in?"

"Fire." Sasuke's reply is cut and dry, as if it was a topic he didn't want to settle on for long. This confused Sakura, as so far it seemed like he would try to one-up Naruto in everything. Learning an element early is amazing, why wouldn't he brag?

"Wind and water, with only one jutsu of the other three elements."

Oh. That's why.

"How?" Sakura can't help but ask. "You're already trained in the usage of all five elements; how?! Who taught you?"

Naruto scratches the back of his head in a childish manner. "The old man did. And I wouldn't say trained; I can barely make the earth, fire, and lightning jutsu work half the time. I didn't go through proper nature training for all five, only wind and water."

"Who's this old man?"

This time, it's Sasuke who responds. "The Sandaime Hokage. The idiot's raised by the Hokage for some reason."

Sakura's eyes nearly popped open from the shock. "Wha-?!"

Naruto grins sheepishly, and Kakashi interjects. "We can talk about our personal lives later. For now, I'll show Sakura the basic earth training steps and Sasuke the lightning ones, and Naruto will go in a corner and blast the area with wind and water jutsu until he runs dry of chakra."

He claps. "Get going!"


With Sakura


Without using any seals, Kakashi creates a shadow clone. The clone went to Sasuke to instruct him in the use of lightning, while he himself takes up the task of teaching Sakura how to utilize nature transformation.

"So," Kakashi begins. "What can you tell me about chakra nature transformation?"

Sakura replies in great detail, recalling the many facts and explanations she'd read in the innumerable books of chakra she consumed for moments like this. "Nature transformation is an internal transformation of chakra rather than an external one. The nature of the chakra must be altered to a specific element before it exits the body, and the alteration itself is accomplished through a combination of manipulating chakra flow and mental activity. This can be made easier by learning close to the element of choice, and subconsciously allowing your chakra to 'tune' into the ambient chakra nature, after which recalling the same chakra flow would be made much easier."

"Not bad. Definitely a very well-rounded response. However, I'm assuming that was more from recitation rather than understanding, correct?"

Sakura nods. "I'm not sure I understand the part about ambient chakra though."

Kakashi-sensei lets out a sigh. "Did you get that quote from On Chakric Theory, Foundations of a Shinobi?"

Sakura nods, confused as to how he knows. "How did you-?"

"The line about ambient chakra is a concept that few people would know. In fact, more specifically, only Sages would know of it. You know what Sages are, correct?"

Sakura nods. The idea of shinobi taking in natural chakra is incredible, if not absurd, and she had hungrily dug for knowledge on the topic when she first heard of the idea. It seems to only be possible with the aid of a Sage-type summon, something she did not have.

"The book was written by Jiraiya of the Sannin. He is one of the few Sages in the Elemental Nations."

"Oh, I see." Sakura nods contemplatively. "So how do I begin?"

Kakashi pulls out a handful of leaves from his pocket, and hands one to Sakura. She examines it closely, before asking, "What is this for?"

"Remember what you said about ambient chakra nature? Leaves are the best natural 'blank slate' material, and it just so happens that we have an overabundance of them in Konoha."

He crosses his arms, raising one hand in a lecturing pose. "Leaves are grown from earth and water, so they are naturally attuned to those elements. They also easily conduct fire and wind. The only element it struggles with is lightning, which requires a higher chakra amount to be able to channel through the leaf." He holds up a leaf, and Sakura watches as it crackles with arcs of glowing energy before smoldering and turning into a crumble of ash. "However, as lightning chakra is the most volatile element, the issue can be easily solved by compressing your chakra flow and push a bit more than usual into it."

Sakura nods. This knowledge isvaluable; she just doesn't know for what yet.

"Do you know why I'm telling you about the theory behind everything before the actual steps?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "Because of my role on the team? I'm likely the most well equipped to be the strategist, so you want me to gather as much knowledge as possible to prepare me for that role."

Her sensei smiles, and Sakura feels her cheeks warm a bit as he pats her head. "Exactly. Not only that, but you are also going to the best choice of emergency first-aid and healing. After rudimentary defense training, I'll be starting your training in medical ninjutsu."

Sakura nods. "So, how do I start nature transformation?"

Kakashi looks at her. Right. She just recited a whole paragraph on how to, and Kakashi just showed her how it looked in practice.

Chakra flow. Sakura reaches into her meager reserve of chakra and begins to pull. A swirl of the familiar, warm energy flows into her arm, her hand, collecting at her fingertips.

Mental imagery. Sakura concentrates on the earth. Mountains upon mountains of rock and soil, all crumbling away into fine dust. Her chakra begins to vibrate; Sakura could feel the flow of energy become less smooth and more granulated, rougher, inhomogeneous. The irregular flow of chakra burst from her fingers, and the leaf exploded into pieces.

"Too much chakra. Lessen the flow, but I could see that your chakra is beginning to take the correct form."

Sakura looks up at her teacher, only to freeze. His hitai-ate was level, revealing a blood-red eye spinning with three tomoe underneath.

Sharingan? But that's a dōjutsu exclusive to the Uchiha, wasn't it? So how...?

Sakura grimaces. A transplant. Kakashi notices her apprehension, and he smiles under that mask of his. "Worry not. It was not by force or anything. It's a... gift. From a former comrade."

Sakura nods nervously. She trusts Kakashi-sensei, but the fact that he technically has the eye of someone else implanted in him for the power it holds is still unnerving.

She shakes her head. Focus.

The same feeling came, of her chakra changing. She slowly lures it towards her fingertips, pulling thread by thread to form a miniscule amount that is calculated. Finally, when she has enough, Sakura pushes.

This time, the leaf did not explode. It slowly turns brown, and in her hand, its weight changes. And Sakura watches in wonder as the leaf seemingly fossilizes and crumbles bit by bit into nothingness.

Kakashi claps. "Good job! You'll have to repeat this step many more times, to achieve greater speed and mastery of the process. But for now, I'll show you the next step, since you can repeat the first one in your own time."

He picks up a rock. "Watch."

Sakura obeys and focuses on the rock in his hand.

At first, nothing happened. Then, it began humming with chakra. Sakura watches as the humming energy vibrates the rock more and more, until it finally all bursts.

But instead of a million fragments, the rock grew. What began as a small rock is now a cluster of dirt and stone the size of a cup.

Kakashi explains. "Each element has several properties that it can be used for. For example, wind normally would be thought of as a force or element that functions best as a repellant, pushing things away. However, years ago, a wise monk in the Wind Country decided to try using it to cut instead of push, and ever since wind has been a popular sharpness enhancement for blades, as well as a much more renowned offensive element. Earth is all about manipulating the earth itself, but it can be used in two primary ways. One is through growth, like you just saw. The other is through the act of dissolving, as you will see here."

He holds out another rock, but this time, after chakra is imbued, it collapses into a puddle of brown goop.

"You'll have to learn both. But for now, focus on the former, as it is the simpler one."

Sakura nods and takes the leaves and rocks. There is work to be done.


With Sasuke


Uchiha Sasuke is struggling.

Kakashi had already demonstrated the procedures for lightning training; it was a revelation, as Sasuke was only taught the hand signs for fire release jutsu and not the actual nature transformation process.

Which is why Sasuke was beyond mad when he found that he had an affinity for lightning instead of fire.

He was criticized by his father for not being proficient with the Great Fireball Jutsu, the "Uchiha Rite of Passage", when it was just because he didn't have a fire affinity?

Just another thing that had been added onto a list of things to be annoyed about the Uchiha Clan.

However, despite all that, Sasuke is still struggling. This time, with the lightning nature transformation exercises.

He's already stumped. On the very first step.

Sasuke snarls, yet another leaf simply crinkles up oh-so-slightly before simply splitting apart.

Why is this happening? It's supposed to crinkle and smolder into ashes from the raiton (lightning release) chakra, not crinkle and fall apart.

Kakashi strides over, peeking at his progress and hums contemplatively. "Sasuke, you go work with Sakura. You both have received instructions, so work together and figure things out on your own. I'll be going to help Naruto for a bit."

Sasuke scowls, displeased at the insinuation that he needs help. However, he is more displeased that the insinuation is true, and grudgingly complies.

Walking over, Sakura appears to not even have noticed him, muttering up a storm about some chakra-theory stuff that Sasuke doesn't quite understand. He clears his throat, and when Sakura looks up surprised, he talks. "Kakashi-sensei told me to work together with you."

She nods, scoots over to make space, and Sasuke sits down.

And promptly, he ignores her. If Kakashi thought Sasuke was going to cave and ask for help from a civilian-born, he was wrong.

So, for what seemed like an eternity, he worked at it. Leaf after leaf, they all failed. Crinkles, then breaks. Crinkles, then bursts into flames. Implodes in a ball of fire. Curls up and shrivels.

Sasuke can see Sakura eyeing him from the corner of his vision. He silently seethes, as he can see the successful disintegration of a leaf using the earth element.

Is he really that inept? How is he going to accomplish anything if a random girl is learning faster than he is?

How is he ever going to catch up to Itachi?

"U-um, do you ne-" Sakura begins, and Sasuke snaps back, more out of reflex than any real malice. "No, I don't."

Realizing his mistake, he sucks in a breath, and tries to apologize, but halts at the annoyed, angry, and hurt look she wore. Sakura turns away, as does Sasuke, and they sit there in awkward silence.

Sasuke looks down. In his hand, the previous failures slowly trickle out of his loose palm.


With Naruto


Naruto pants.

Even with the stupid fox as a chakra battery, constantly blasting C and B rank wind/water jutsu for over an hour is tiring. Even more so, considering they'd just finished a lot of running (which doesn't require chakra, but certainly doesn't help his energy).

He stands back and takes a breather. Around him, there were countless fallen branches and pits on the ground from the numerous lacerating and propelling wind jutsu, further evidenced by the innumerable gashes in the soft dirt.

The effects of his water jutsu were also clearly apparent, though less obvious. Due to the lack of a nearby water source, Naruto has been using the Nidaime's trick of drawing moisture from the air as the base for his suiton (water release) jutsu. Chakra, if used correctly in great amounts, can amplify the water volumes by over tenfold, which is exactly what happened.

Now, the training ground resembles a swamp more than solid ground in some places, and all the trees are drenched with an excess of water.

It was like a literally typhoon passed by.

And Naruto finally collapses in exhaustion. Drawing water out of thin air is incredibly taxing for non-water affinitive shinobi, something the old man had only told him to do if it was necessary, as it exhausts chakra at light speed.

Naruto finally understands. This sucks.

Kakashi comes strolling over. "Oh? Already tired?"

The blonde boy was tired enough to not justify that with any response. His teacher chuckles and drags him up to a sitting position. "Well, it's time to continue. Your chakra control, while not as bad as I'd imagine from a jinchūriki, is still astoundingly bad. So, we're going to work on that."

Naruto shoots up, bewildered. His hand reflexively moves toward the seal on his abdomen. "You know about-?"

"What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't? Hokage-sama didn't assign you to my team for no reason, you know." Kakashi pats Naruto's head gently. "Don't worry, I have no qualms about it. You are not the fox, Naruto, no matter what they say, and thus I have nothing against you."

Naruto's eyes begin to shine. He had a team that, as far as he can tell, had no bias against him.

How had the old man planned this so perfectly?

"Now, business." Kakashi shakes Naruto out of his stupor. "Your chakra is now nearly depleted, meaning we can begin to work on your control."

The boy groans. "Fine. What do I do?"

Kakashi's hands blur through sets of hand signs so quickly Naruto isn't even able to tell what jutsu he cast. All he could see was the earth parting and shaping itself into a sinkhole, and then a cascade of water floods in, creating a makeshift pond.

"Water-walking! Or, more specifically, water-top acrobatics."

Naruto gulps as Kakashi pulls out a handful of kunai and shuriken. "Get on the water, chop-chop. You'll be dodging my projectiles, but you are not allowed to submerge yourself or leave the pond in any way."

He smiles sadistically. "Ready?"

"Wait-"

"Go!"

Naruto barely manages to keep himself afloat as a shuriken zips past him. By dodging, his balance was disrupted, and Kakashi seems to be content letting him flail about trying to regain his fragile footing.

Naruto huffs as he finally wobbles to a halt on top of the water. Kakashi grins underneath his facial mask. "See? Not only is your chakra control dubious, your ability to focus under pressure also needs work. I suppose I can be a bit more lenient," he jumps onto the pond. "And have you just spar with me, taijutsu only, instead of using projectiles."

Naruto blocks a punch and retaliates with a kick. Spinning away from Kakashi's counterattack, his feet land upon the now rippling surface of the pond, struggling to find a secure hold.

He grimaces. Kakashi-sensei was going easy on him, and he knew it. Naruto lightly seethes at how bad his control is, and in that moment of distraction, a strike from Kakashi sent him under.

The blonde boy bursts forth from the pond, coughing and spluttering from the water, and climbs out, completely soaked.

His teacher chided, "Get a hold of yourself. Focus, Naruto. If you can't even focus for a simple training exercise, then you'll never amount to anything."

Naruto musters a glare, but it falls as quickly as it came. "Fine."

Today is going to suck. And there's nothing he can do about it.


Finally, the day comes to an end.

The sun's brilliance begins to dim as the sky turns from a clear blue to a lustrous violet. The celestial body sinks toward the horizon, and training is concluded.

Kakashi watches happily as his cute little students trudge together towards him, all tired, battered, and sending him identical glares of resentment, annoyance, and embarrassment.

Completely justifiable after their hellish combined training session after their already tiring individual training. Forcing them to spar in the most ridiculous circumstances and with the most outrageous handicaps was both enlightening and humorous. Exactly why he made them do it.

He smiles, the lone exposed eye shining with barely hidden amusement and satisfaction. Kakashi holds out his offerings of food and drink. "Gather 'round, it's dinner time!"

Yep. Their hunger due to skipping lunch was definitely also involved in their low morale.

The three children sit in a semi-circle formation, and without so much as uttering a single word, hungrily begin devouring the food in front of them.

They were so hungry that they didn't realize Kakashi's little trick. They had each eaten half their respective meals by the time Naruto realized their sensei had placed his beloved ramen in front of Sakura. Sasuke's spicy tomato udon now belonged to Sakura, and Sakura's favorite curry rice with Naruto.

Kakashi was treated to the delightful groans of his genin, who all sent various glares his way.

Oh, what a joy it was to mess with his students.

"Alright, team. The day is over. We'll be following a similar routine for the rest of the week, so be prepared. Get some sleep, I'm sure you'd agree it's necessary. Now, I've given each of you an assignment," he pauses, and meaningfully looks each of them in the eye. "You know what your own task is, and it is to be done by the end of the week. Understood?"

The three glances at each other warily, before looking back to him and nodding.

"Alright. Dismissed, go home and rest."

As Team 7 split to each go to their respective residences, Kakashi's cheery expression slips off.

Of course, as per usual, this team is the most troublesome. The number of personal issues with each of them is incredible, and Kakashi had sown what he hoped would be seeds that lead to the dissolution of their problems.

However, it will likely take more than that to solve them. It's a start, at least.

Kakashi can't help but be reminded of his own former team when looking at them.

Isolated, pushed-away, disregarded children who simply wanted to prove themselves.

Children with far too heavy of burdens shoved onto their shoulders.

Children who deserve more than what they have.

And Kakashi swears. Unlike his team, this one will survive. The teacher will not outlast the team this time, he was going to try his damn hardest to ensure each and every one of them becomes a legend in their own right, and an unstoppable force together.

Well, he contemplates. I should get to bed too. After all, my role is just as important as theirs.

And so, night falls, and the count of peaceful days ticks down by one.