"I don't see it yet," said Sasuke quietly into his radio.

"It'll be here," came the reply from Sakura. They were both stationed to either side of an alley way, carefully concealing themselves. They had been lying in wait for almost an hour so far, and both were growing impatient for the operation to begin. I can barely imagine how this must be for Naruto, thought Sakura as she shifted her limbs very slowly, one at a time, trying to stay limber despite being crouched under the eave of one of the buildings that made this alleyway. Her respect for Konoha's Loud Orange Joke had gone up a little during their training efforts with Team 8, and had only increased as they began to progress. He might be loud, obnoxious, and incapable of taking a hint, but when he really wants to, he can tough things out.

"Contact," said Sasuke, his voice little more than a whisper over the radio. Sakura shifted her eyes slightly and saw the target slowly making its way along the path. It seemed to move very slowly, confidant in its graceful steps, so certain it knew the area better than anyone. Then her foot crossed the small chalk mark on the pavement...

There was a sudden loud bang as Sasuke appeared, dropping a flash bomb from the small bandolier across his chest to his feet and sending out a wave of killing intent strong enough for Sakura to feel from the other end of the alley. She worried for a second that he had loaded the bomb with too much powder, as new as he was to the art, but he remained standing and unswayed by the loud blast. The target panicked, and with a scream, started running down the alleyway at her.

Panic was good. Panic meant quick choices, often wrong choices, something Kakashi had worked hard to imprint on his charges. Sakura timed the target's progress carefully, then leaped in front of it and gave out a howl.

The target was terrified at her appearance, and Sakura felt a jolt of pride. The last couple of months had been busy for her, but productive. Inuzuka Tsume had run her ragged teaching her the basis of her clan's trademark taijutsu stance, not just physically, but mentally.

An animal, she had said, does not condition its hair. She said this at the end of the first week, after Sakura had made the mistake of complaining about her appearance after a rough day of training in the rain. An animal does not prim, does not scrub, does not dye, does not paint. An animal is primal, its power coming from its natural state. Tsume had smiled at her, and given her a nudge in the ribs. So does its beauty. Stop trying so hard and just be yourself.

Sakura had taken this to heart. Her long hair, no longer cleaned fervently, had become a spiked, ragged, vibrant pink mane that spread across her shoulders, barely held back by the hitai-ate she wore as a headband. When the hem of her dress had become shredded after she stepped on it a few too many times in practice, she had ripped it off and sewn the new hem herself to be level with her shorts. The work was slightly ragged and terribly uneven, but it worked, and Sakura was proud of her decision to keep it.

And as she crouched on all fours snarling at the target, she could see Sasuke with a faint smile on his face. It might have been for a plan well executed, but Sakura decided it might as well be for her, and true or not, that would be enough for now.

Panicked, the target screamed again and, true to Kiba's words months ago, started running up the wall to escape. "Now, Naruto!" shouted Sakura, not even bothering with the radio any more. With a small puff of smoke, Naruto dispelled his Henge transformation... all of them.

The entire alleyway became slightly hazy, as the walls to either side transformed back into their original form, revealing hundreds of shadow clones, each one standing on the shoulders of the one below it, lining the entire alley. With an excited shout, the erstwhile walls curved inward, hundreds of hands snatching and grabbing at the cat as it tried to flee, screaming the entire time.

Serves it right, thought Kakashi, watching from the rooftop. Damned thing will only do it again tomorrow. I wonder why it's always running away?

Oh, that's why.

Kakashi stared at the poor cat as Lady Shijimi, the daimyo's wife, cuddled the poor creature half to death while proclaiming her love for the suffering beast without a trace of irony. He could feel the disgust radiating off of his team, especially Sakura, who was wincing with every screech and hiss as if she knew what it was saying.

Come to think of it, he considered with a small smile, she just might at this point.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, was reading from a list of missions, each more dull and uninspiring than the last, when Naruto finally snapped. Kakashi had no idea where the game show buzzing noise was coming from as the boy crossed his arms and shouted, but he heard the quiet snerk of repressed laughter coming from the other members of the team... and more than a few from the kid's audience as well. Even the Hokage seemed amused, chuckling even as Iruka lectured Naruto on his impropriety.

Hiruzen looked at Kakashi and raised an eyebrow slightly, and received a small nod in return. The old man was slightly uncertain about giving Kakashi's team a higher ranked mission, but it was ultimately the jonin's call, and Hiruzen had heard more than a few interesting stories about Team Seven, most of them good.

"We have one possible C-rank mission I may permit you to take," he said slowly, causing all of the genin to perk up slightly. "An escort for a certain person."

At this, Naruto became ecstatic, and Hiruzen smirked as the boy shouted his excitement... until the drunkard walked in. If nothing else, the Hokage thought with a smile as he watched the following antics, at least the job can be amusing at times.

"If I may, Hokage-sama," said Kakashi, after the bridge builder and his orange-toned genin argued for a while. Hiruzen gave him a nod, and the jonin turned to his charge. "Tazuna-san, my team is strong enough to protect you from bandits, and even if they were not, I am. However, this will also be a training opportunity for them, and I have a few last minute instructions to give them. Would you find it acceptable to leave at dawn tomorrow?"

Tazuna grunted in agreement and took another deep, slovenly chug from the bottle in his hand.

"Thank you," Kakashi said with a smile. He turned to his students. "I will speak to each of you later tonight for some last minute preparations. Meanwhile, return home and pack for a few weeks of time in the field."

"Yes, sir," said his team.

"Sakura," said Kakashi from her window that night. He was quite proud when her fist passed perilously close to his face as she tried to punch him instead of screaming uselessly, and more so when she curled her fingers inward to try to snatch his mask. He noted that, despite the later hour, she was dressed and ready to go, and he considered the possibility she had been waited for him to approach her this way.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," she said, with a grin that gave an entirely different message.

"Mahh, mahh, no problem," he said sheepishly. "I wanted you to know something, before we go." He crouched on her window sill and stared at her. "I am proud of what you are becoming," he said without preamble. She blushed, in quite a pretty manner, and he had an amusing thought as to how much trouble Mr Haruno was going to be in once his daughter got a little older. "You have taken upon yourself the task of being a true shinobi, and at this rate, you might just become the strongest kunoichi of your generation." Her blush only deepened.

"I have no training for you, except for a very specific warning." She stiffened and took a more formal stance, as befitting a soldier taking orders. "We may be fighting on this mission. We may also be required to kill our foes during it." She nodded once, and swallowed nervously, her blush fading to paleness. "There is no shame in reluctance to kill... but there is shame in letting another die for that reason. If the time comes, be strong, strike quickly, and sort out your emotions after we all come home. OK?"

Sakura's eyes were a little dimmer as he finished his speech, but when he was done, a stillness settled over her features, and as he watched, a little steel crept into her spine and made her eyes glitter in a decidedly unladylike fashion. "Understood, sensei," she said quietly, with a nod. He nodded back, and jumped back out into the night.

The trouble just got twice as bad for Mr Haruno, he thought with an internal giggle as he raced towards his next student. She might have fewer admirers, but they'll all be shinobi like her.

He found Naruto at Ichiraku's, naturally. He listened on the roof for a few minutes as Naruto chatted on about anything that came to mind while the owner and his daughter prepared his food, then dropped down and slipped into a stool. Naruto's spit take, once he noticed Kakashi's presence, was enough to make everyone else laugh.

"Hey, Naruto, I got you something." Kakashi reached behind his back, and offered the genin a package. The boy took it and hurriedly opened it, then pulled out the dark green cloak Kakashi had picked up a few weeks ago. It had a slight pattern to it in shades of darker green, but even in the good light at the ramen stand, they were hard to make out.

"I don't get it," said Naruto suspiciously.

"Naruto, sometimes it's good to stand out, especially when you're Konoha's Number One Unpredictable Ninja." Naruto grinned at the title, rightfully earned through years of pranks.

"You are durable and getting quite strong for your age, Naruto. There will be times that you will want to draw attention, and draw attacks, because in the end, you can take a beating that your teammates can't, thanks to your... special training."

Naruto nodded carefully. He had yet to tell anyone else about the beast sealed within him, not even Teuchi and Ayame, and Kakashi seemed to respect his choice.

"There are other times, however," Kakashi continued with a smile, "where an orange jumpsuit is a bad idea. Like on stealth missions. Or assassination missions. Or most missions." Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but Kakashi waved him down. "I don't ask you to stop with the orange, Naruto, but you might want to have the option of hiding yourself."

Naruto sighed, and mumbled, "Yeah, yeah, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, then laughed lightly when the blond glared at him. His glare died, however, when Teuchi stepped up with a bowl and said, loudly, "A wise piece of advice, Naruto! And in gratitude for it, I am sure your sensei will be glad to buy you a bowl!"

While Naruto dug in, Teuchi gave Kakashi a small wink, and received one back. If anything was likely to reinforce a lesson on Naruto, it was a bowl of his favorite ramen, and they both had discussed this a few weeks ago. Kakashi had a standing account now at Ichiraku's, and found the money to be well spent to reinforce some of his lessons.

Kakashi bid them goodnight, and with a last reminder of the early day tomorrow, he left to find his last student.

Kakashi did not even bother trying to sneak up on Sasuke, simply landing a few feet away and approaching the boy, who was standing on a dock looking out into a lake near his family property. He was pleased to see Sasuke had some new additions to his bandolier and made a mental note to ask the boy about the markings on the various canisters and pouches. Many shinobi used a personal code to obfuscate the chemicals and poisons they used, and Kakashi approved, but sometimes he worried that Sasuke's teammates might need that information when the boy was unavailable.

"What," asked Sasuke as soon as Kakashi approached, blunt but at least not particularly unfriendly.

"Nothing," said Kakashi as he approached. "I only wanted to-"

Whatever he wanted remained unsaid as the kunai sank deep into his forehead. Sasuke turned, guard already rising, and saw... him. That man. That murderer. He stood out on the lake, black robes billowing, another short blade in hand, his eyes glowing red.

Sasuke didn't even think. He just attacked, charging into the lake and screaming in his fury. The man threw his kunai with a casual flick, scoring a line across Sasuke's cheek, but even that did not deter Sasuke in his charge. He lashed out with a flying kick, but his foe caught it, casually taking the blow to his palm without moving an inch, his hands crushingly painful as they grasped Sasuke's ankle. Sasuke palmed an explosive in his right hand, ready to throw it, but again he was countered, his foe grabbing his hand and holding it tight until the fuse burned down and blew Sasuke's hand off. Sasuke screamed, and did not stop screaming until he landed with a thump on the edge of the lake.

"You're still too weak," said his brother, without passion, without hate, as he walked to the shoreline. "You're still far too weak." He pulled out another kunai and pulled back his arm to throw it. "Join your family, then," he said as he flicked it at Sasuke's left eye.

I can't die like this!

The kunai sailed at him, as time slowed to a near stop, the world distorting slightly as Sasuke focused hard on his oncoming death. He began to turn away, certain he could not evade the blow... but the kunai slowed even further, and he found himself moving faster, much faster than he thought possible.

The blade hit the ground next to his face. Sasuke turned to look at it, but the blade looked wrong. The edges were rough, slightly nicked and pitted, something his brother would never allow to happen to his tools. When he turned to his brother, the man's face felt wrong. The curves of his eyes, the shape of his cheekbones, even the curve of his jaw was just slightly off, giving the impression of another person wearing an elaborate Itachi mask.

And out in the lake, two figures, visible only by the faintest of outlines against the shimmering water, were standing patiently.

Sasuke stood and brushed some dirt off his cloths with his completely undamaged hands, then walked out onto the water. He passed through the false brother like the illusion it was and stopped before the figures.

"Kakashi," he growled.

The figures shimmered, revealing Kakashi and Kurenai. She looked slightly perturbed, but Kakashi, his sensei, looked extremely pleased with himself. Kakashi nodded to Kurenai, who gave Sasuke an apologetic glance before leaving the area. Sasuke watched her until she was out of sight, then rounded on his teacher, crossed his arms, and waited for an explanation.

"I have taught you every strength I could," said Kakashi quietly. "Do you remember me teaching you the strength of the toolmaker?"

Sasuke nodded. They had sparred one evening, and Kakashi had casually dropped a flash-bang in front of him, blinding him for half the night. He had been angry, until Kakashi asked if, faced with his brother, such a thing would disable his most powerful technique, however briefly. Sasuke had acknowledged the point, and was trained how to make some of the simpler but exotic tools of the shinobi world.

"Do you remember me teaching you the strength of the strategist?"

Sasuke nodded, and colored just slightly. Kakashi had conned him into playing a game of Go with Nara Shikamaru, and after an embarrassingly short game, had explained that Shikamaru had pulled it off with nothing but his facility for planning ahead. Training to think was difficult, and Sasuke knew he had a lot more training to go, but at times, just knowing he needed to plan ahead helped. In hindsight, he had been little better then the dobe, dashing into fights under nothing more than the assumption that he was strong, and any foe he faced must be weak.

"Do you remember me teaching you the strength of the team?"

Sasuke grunted, and flushed much deeper at that memory. After the first week of training, Kakashi had asked him if he could take on his team, two to one, and he had said yes without a thought. When the match began, he had sprung at Sakura with a flying kick, intending to put her down immediately to focus on Naruto.

She had grabbed his ankle, and rather than trying to hurt him directly, had simply rotated him slightly as he passed by. He was still trying to figure out why she did so little when Naruto's fist had hit him in the back of the head.

He had awakened at the hospital. Sakura was apologetic, but instead of being a weak, gushing mess, she had simply apologized politely, if repeatedly. After the dobe also apologized for hitting him "a little too hard," they had shared a high five and mocked him mercilessly for underestimating them. Kakashi had stayed on after they left, and pointed out that their strength was also his strength, if he stopped worrying about how he got his revenge and simply put all of his effort into making sure it happened at all. Why listen to your brother's advice on how to kill him, said Kakashi, his voice laden with scorn, when he was nothing but a traitor?

It had taken several days, and a lot of effort, but Sasuke did his best to get along with his team. He had offered to take them to lunch one afternoon, a little wary of their reaction, and they had both frozen in place in shock. Eventually he convinced the two of them to just go along with it, and they spent a relatively pleasant afternoon together.

And once the initial shock wore off and the two of them calmed down, he found himself admitting they were at least more tolerable now. Naruto had been less stupidly aggressive when Sasuke stopped mocking him at every turn, and Sakura was less annoyingly clingy once he stopped ignoring her.

It had taken him nearly a week before he managed to stop them from stomping all over him during their spars, and that victory only lasted a day before the two of them had come up with something new and crushed him again. Their fights had become a cycle of innovation versus talent, and with each cycle, they became harder and harder to beat.

Kakashi nodded once, to acknowledge Sasuke's embarrassment, and raises his hitai-ate, revealing his sharingan. "I had Kurenai come and perform this genjutsu on you for a reason. Tomorrow, for the first time, we may face real and dangerous foes, and while I expect little more than bandits and other riffraff, that does not mean the danger will not be real.

"The sharingan does not manifest until the first time the owner believes themselves in great danger. This is generally when the owner is fighting for their lives, which is a terrible place to suddenly gain a perception-warping doujutsu. Despite her reservations, Kurenai agreed with my reasoning and was willing to help. You may want to consider thanking her later."

Sasuke grunted, but nodded in agreement.

"Well, congratulations," said Kakashi with a smile. "I know your clan would often celebrate when a member gained the clan's famed power. I also know you have no desire for me to throw you a party over it. But if nothing else, you now have a vital tool against your brother, and that at least I am sure you can appreciate." He gave the genin a gentle pat on the shoulder and started to walk away.

"Kakashi," he heard Sasuke say quietly. He stopped walking and waited.

"Thanks."

Kakashi nodded once, and with a short wave, vanished, leaving Sasuke alone to think.

EDIT: Thanks to Pom Rania, who has now gone over this chapter in an effort to finally stamp out the early installment weirdness *GLUG*

Author's Notes: Ahhh, there, finally we can get on with the plot.

I am watching the anime as I write all this, and one thing I noticed is the little psycho is a lot less psycho as a kid than I remember. He's actually almost normal, something I feel is often forgotten in fanfiction.

I also feel slightly bad about glossing over much of the theoretically available dialogue in this, but how close do you really need me to examine what the Hokage says this time during the "give us a real mission" bit, over what was said in canon? It's almost identical, so why go word for word, other than to pad the story (great for published work, maybe, but for this? I'll spare you).