Kakashi watched the mist with mild indifference.

It had started first thing in the morning on the second day, and a quick check with his sharingan had shown it to be laced with chakra. He'd spent nearly an hour watching the mist, waiting for a threat to appear, and then had a quiet laugh about it and relaxed.

There are two ways to deal with threats, as a predator and as prey. Predators were focused, constantly scanning their surroundings for danger and opportunity. Most shinobi were predators, and when pushed, would spend more effort on paranoia and desperate searching than it was worth. A common technique to use against a shinobi on guard duty was to give them an overt but confusing threat and let them tire themselves out trying to figure out what was happening.

Kakashi understood how to be prey as well as predator. Prey animals, he observed, did not become more focused when threatened; they became less focused. Instead of moving their vision from point to point, searching for the danger, they let their perception loosen, trusting their senses to warn them when something changed in the new and dangerous environment they were in. Meanwhile they went about their duties, keeping fit and keeping rested, ready to act in a moment.

The mist was not nearly strong enough to block his regular vision, and certainly not strong enough to conceal a trap, save for the inherent trap of tiring himself out staring at it with his sharingan, burning chakra uselessly. In the end, Kakashi stayed close to Tazuna while the man worked, calmly keeping his one eye focused on his book. Tazuna and his workers noticed Kakashi's lack of concern, and while a few started to get jittery, most of them continued their duties undisturbed.

Now appearing for the fourth day in a row, the mist had returned. And as he had every day, Kakashi gave it his full attention for a while, because while one common tactic against shinobi was exhaustion, another was complacency, and he preferred to not die a death that would have Guy mocking him at his funeral, thank you kindly.

After a few minutes without any sort of threat appearing, Kakashi pulled out his book again.

In the forest, Naruto had collapsed.

On the first night after Sakura's punishment, Naruto had demonstrated what he had come up with, and was pleased when Kakashi had approved several tactics that, while basic, might be effective in an emergency. He had sent Naruto back out, stick in hand, and told him to use his clones to practice fighting with the false blade. "This is a good chance to see if you have talent in that direction," he had commented with a smile, "and you might come up with a few more tactics."

Naruto had in fact come up with more tactics, and each night he and his team discussed them, as assigned. Unfortunately, his restless nature had gotten the better of him finally, after days of observing, and he'd engaged his clones in a spar. He'd won, but the last one had landed a solid blow to his head that made his ears ring, so he lay on the grass, staring at the sky and waiting for his healing to kick in.

Damn if this thing isn't useful, he thought to himself, raising his hand to stare at the sunlight streaming through his fingers. I may not like it, I may not want it, but it is helpful for training. Thanks, Kyuubi. There was a brief moment where he felt something stir in the back of his mind, like a whisper without words or meaning, but it faded as his ears caught the sound of feet shifting, ever so slightly, on the grass behind the trees. He closed his eyes and let his hand drop, stilling his breathing. He heard more rustling, felt the earth shift slightly as the steps approached, and still he remained motionless, refusing to tense up as they came to him. The stranger paused for some time, leaning over him, then knelt by his side. "You may as well get up," said a soft, feminine voice. "You're no good at pretending to sleep."

Naruto opened his eyes and looked up at the lovely young woman who was kneeling next to him, unblemished skin and smooth, silky hair shining in the sunlight. "Who are you?" he asked, still lying on the grass, "and how would you know?"

"I've worked as a nurse," she said with a smile. "I see a lot of people pretend to sleep, especially around time for medication." Naruto smiled back, watching the eyes of the woman across from him, then darting his gaze slightly to one side to signal one of his clones, hidden in plain sight by posing as his backpack. The clone released quietly to feed him some interesting memories.

"You may as well give it up," Naruto parroted, sitting up with a smirk. "I saw you with your hands over my throat, and you were hardly this friendly when you approached. You're a shinobi too, aren't you?"

The lady froze, uncertain, then looked at his empty hands. She smiled sweetly, a genuine smile, and said, "Sometimes, yes. But today, I am just a nurse, picking herbs for a friend to help them heal." She stood and held out a hand to the younger ninja. "Would a truce be okay, just for now? I'd like to know a little about you, the ninja who lets an opponent approach without fear or fury."

Naruto smiled and took her hand with a small blush.

"Why are you a shinobi, Naruto?"

Naruto blinked, surprised at the question. They had been picking herbs quietly for a while, one herb at a time, because while it drove him mad not to use his clones to speed things up, he was mindful of Kakashi's warnings about giving away his strengths. This was the first thing she had said to him after the truce.

"I want to be acknowledged. Where I grew up, I was an outcast. Everyone but the Hokage seemed to hate me." He made a fist in one hand. "I cried, and nothing changed." He made a fist in the other hand. "I played pranks, and nothing changed."

He looked at his hands, clenching hard enough to go white. He took a deep breath, and released them. "Then, I became a ninja, and things changed. My sensei acknowledges me, even though he says I have a long way to go. So does my old teacher." He smiled and laughed at the memory of all the lectures he suffered through, remembering the small smile he always got from Iruka afterwards. "Even my teammates respect me some. If I earn my goal, my respect, by being a good ninja, I guess there is nothing else to do but become Hokage, so they all will acknowledge me in the end."

The girl giggled, causing Naruto to blush brightly. "What's so funny?" he grunted.

"Nothing," she said, her laugh carried all the way up to her eyes. "You're just so earnest. So outgoing. I can appreciate that."

Naruto shrugged and picked another plant. "So," he said casually, "what about you?"

The silence was complete. He looked up to see the woman staring at him, frowning. He shrugged and plucked another plant. "You don't have to say," he said quietly, "I was just wondering why you were here, on the other side of me and my team, when you seem like a good person."

"Do you have someone precious to you, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded.

"When a person has someone precious to them... that is when they truly become strong. My sensei found me as a child, starving and alone. He took me in, in spite of the trouble, the inconvenience. I owe him my life, and it is his to spend. He has a dream, like yours, and I will follow that dream, even to the death."

She stood, basket in hand, and gave Naruto a short bow. "I'll not ask you to quit. I would never ask you to give up on your dreams. But forgive me, when the time comes, if I am forced to harm you."

Naruto jumped up and laughed. "I forgive you already, even if I'll totally win, lady."

"Good," she said, some of her cheer coming back as she turned and started walking away. "I hope your future is bright. I hope you get strong." She let out a giggle and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and Naruto?"

"Eh?"

"I'm a boy."

"Whaaaaaaat?"

Sasuke looked up from the water, staring into the forest, where he heard Naruto shouting. But the shout was not one of alarm, so he scoffed and turned back to his practice, and the three fish he had managed to tag so far, one at a time.

Sakura never even heard the shout, lost as it was to the sound of splintering wood under her feet.

That night, Naruto retold the story to his companions.

"So, is this where it really starts, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura was covered in bruises and cuts, and her hair was a patchwork of nettle and thorns and sticks, as it had been every night since her punishment. She cleaned it each night, and each day, she returned to the dark depths of the woods for her practice.

"I think so," he replied.

"No."

The entire table turned to Sasuke, who was sitting with his arms on the table, fingers tented in front of his mouth. The effect was somewhat ruined by the medicated rag he held to his lips, but nobody present begrudged him that small comfort after seeing the burns.

"You have an idea," Kakashi said. He had a few of his own, but this was, ultimately, a training opportunity for his cute little genin, so he wanted to hear them out first.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto. "Dobe, you said the other shinobi seemed pleasant enough, even when he admitted to being our foe?" When Naruto nodded, Sasuke continued. "Shinobi are not cheap. We already know who wants Tazuna dead. We already know the person in question is a scumbag. We already know that dead people don't generally pay the bills. Hired shinobi who do not suffer from bloodthirst will not fight for free. The solution to our problem is to cut out the proverbial middleman."

"Isn't that a little..." Sakura paused, and thought for a few more moments. She blushed slightly when she realized she was about to protest on moral grounds about killing one man to avoid killing another. That was not an argument any shinobi had the right to make. "I mean, won't we get into trouble if we kill such a politically powerful opponent?"

Sasuke shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "Who's gonna care? If we kill indiscriminately, people get upset, but who is really going to make a fuss about him?" He crossed his arms and glared at nothing. "He lived by the sword. Let him die by the sword."

Kakashi did not move a muscle on his face, even as he cheered for his student on the inside. "There is one problem." Everyone looked to him. "We have no contract. Shinobi are not cheap."

Inari's chair thumped against the floor as the boy rushed away from the table. Kakashi was worried at first that he'd dropped the hint a little too hard, until the boy ran back, set his chair upright, climbed on it, and held up a small ceramic pig. With much ceremony, he spiked it onto the table, smashing it to shards and revealing a child's fortune in one ryo coins. "How much does it cost to hire a shinobi to kill Gato?" he asked triumphantly.

Kakashi shook his head and smiled. That's one fish hooked. Let's see who else bites the bait. "I am sorry, Inari, but I am a jonin, and elite. I have standards to keep."

"I'm a genin, and fuck standards," Sakura said with a growl. She reached out and dragged two of the coins from the pile. "I'll take two ryo, and that's twice the man's worth, as you're obviously so rich, Inari-san." She turned to Kakashi, holding up her fee. "Kakashi-sensei, I do not know how to write a legal contract properly, and as the nearest shinobi of authority, I defer to you for accepting contracts on behalf of Konohagakure. Will you help? I offer you half my bounty in return."

He had not expected this. Sasuke, sure, and maybe even Naruto would be willing to kill one bad person to save a town, but he never expected her to take this quite so seriously, aggression problems or no. He cleared his throat and leaned forward. "You're taking this in a very flippant manner, Sakura." His voice held no humor, and his one visible eye bored into her like a drill. "You know what you're agreeing to do, right? Among other things, I doubt our foes will believe you unless you bring a souvenir. That's messy work."

Sakura nodded and looked down at the coins in her hand. "You said it yourself before we left. It's something I'll have to do eventually. May as well start here, where there is no doubt it's the right thing to do."

Kakashi looked at the other two shinobi in the room and arched an eyebrow.

Sasuke shrugged. "Even if we beat the other shinobi, Gato will just hire more once we leave. If we really want to solve the problem, we need to take it out at the source. I'd help, but I am guessing you'll want us to be on guard until she succeeds, and fewer people means less risk during infiltration." Kakashi nodded, feeling a little warm pride on the careful reasoning, then looked at his last student.

Naruto was frowning this entire time, and when Kakashi looked to him, he pouted. "I don't like it. Sakura-chan is going to kill Gato in cold blood, and everyone is okay with that?"

Kakashi sighed. "What do you propose instead, Naruto?"

"We go beat him up until he apologizes!"

The entire room facepalmed in exasperation. Sasuke and Sakura shared a look, and it was Sasuke who spoke first. "I doubt that would work, Dobe. Gato uses violence, murder, and intimidation in his efforts to control the populace. Even if he backed down now, he would only come back later with even more men and shinobi to do the same thing."

"But do we have to kill him?" asked Naruto, still upset.

"Naruto," said Sakura quietly. "When you throw a kunai at someone, what do you expect to happen if you hit? Or when you set off an explosive tag? Or even when you punch them? All these things can kill, that's their very purpose. We're trained to kill. Some day, we all will take a life, even if we try our best to avoid it. If I have to start somewhere, I want it to be someone who is unarguably evil. If someone has to die, let it be those who deserve it, not some tool paid for in blood money."

Naruto gave a small grunt and folded his arms into a pillow for his head. "You may be right, Sakura-chan," he grunted from the folds of his jacket, "But that doesn't mean I have to like it, or go along with it willingly. If I kill someone, how can I be friends with them later?"

Kakashi reached over and laid a hand on his shoulder, causing the genin to look up into his sensei's smile. "Believe it or not, Naruto, what you have said is what makes a good shinobi in the end. Our kind have a reputation as monsters, thanks to some who kill for pleasure, or do so indiscriminately. They become fearful beings, but at the cost of their own humanity. I'd rather that not happen to any of you. Sometimes you will have to kill, but I don't begrudge you for avoiding it when you can, as long as you do so when you must."

Naruto smiled, and gave Kakashi a small nod. "Good," said Kakashi, withdrawing his hand and reaching into his vest, "because I have some plans on how to prepare for Zabuza, should he attack before Sakura returns..."

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 Note: It took me a while to find a solid balance between practicality and sentimentality. As much as it makes sense considering the world they are in, I'd rather not have Team 7 become the next Swordsmen of the Mists and start ripping people apart like tissues. In the end, I am thinking Naruto might end up holding the same place in the group he did in canon, the moral center, the good guy.

I am not 100% sure I wanted to go this route, with Sakura hitting this level of willing aggression, but I feel I did enough foreshadowing to get away with it, and when she gets around to it next chapter, I think it'll do a lot for her character. Remember just because she talks big does not mean she's got it all down. Frankly, no good reason was ever given for letting Gato live in canon in the first place that I can recall. Next chapter should be her infiltration mission, and Part I of the bridge fight, which, I think, will go in a direction you may not expect. It all comes down to defense and how you think of it...

AnyMoreBrightIdeasGenius: "I had no idea Naruto was such a powerhouse..." To be truthful, I have no idea how much "power" Naruto has early on, because he is a moron, and the only time he is ever pushed to his limits, it is physically, not with his chakra. Take the fight on the bridge in canon, when he and Sasuke are trapped. Naruto makes a half dozen duplicates, and then tries to charge out with them. Why not just make so many that it becomes impossible to keep up, henge half into Sasuke, and run amok till they escape? Instead, he takes hits to chakra points by trying to run out without enough cover. I am operating under the assumption that those hits are the only reason he would ever stop spamming low power clones by the hundreds.

fluffpenguin: "He used the Sharingan and lost?" Remember, the goal of the bell test is not to win, but to see how they fight, and this time around, everyone had a specific purpose that they followed. They used a trap to get him in the air, where most shinobi are vulnerable, as (thankfully) this series is light on "air jumps," then Sasuke does the same thing he tried to do in canon. But this time, he succeeds, as Kakashi's movements are much more limited due to his position and small degree of surprise. Trust me, when we get to Shippuden some day, he is going to rip them all kinds of new ones when it comes to a rematch (and it will come up). As for the Clone v. Zabuza fight, Naruto basically choked him with volume (kinda like how a team of shinobi can take down a stronger foe, the more you have, the harder it is to deal with it all).

Maxine101: "... lots of canon knowledge..." Dawww, thank you. I wish. I am literally re-watching the show as I work on this trying to keep things going in a similar direction. Eventually, it'll have to branch off fully, story wise, but that probably won't happen till the Chunin Exam arc, and that's a ways off (after the Wave, they may have their own little adventure, not sure yet, still trying to structure it).