The night had fallen over the dense forest where Piccolo and Gohan had settled. Their little clearing allowed for more light to enter their hut. However, once the sun set, the gentle light of the moon was sometimes not enough.

Normally, Gohan would start a fire using a small spark of his own Ki. This would come in handy not only to produce heat and light, but also to cook the fish that the boy hunted. Due to his great appetite, something he inherited from his father, he never missed a single meal in a day.

Piccolo sat by the fire only to accompany his student. He normally continued his meditations when he was not engaged in conversation with the boy. Otherwise, he conversed with the young Saiyan while he cooked or ate. Himself, as a Namekian, had no such necessity. His people only required water, and found no real pleasure in eating.

Saiyans, on the other hand, were just as wasteful as humans in terms of energy, and needed to constantly eat other forms of life to replenish their great caloric output. Piccolo, having eaten food back in his earlier days living alone on Earth, had come to learn that photosynthesis was a far more efficient way of producing energy.

"She hasn't left her bed ever since she woke up." Gohan said while staring at the fire burning beneath the many fish he had caught earlier.

Piccolo opened his eyes and glanced at him.

"It probably doesn't help that she thinks we're demons." He rubbed his face with his hands. "Can't help but think we just went too far with them."

The Namekian rolled his eyes. The half-blood was too nice for his own good. "They attacked us first. And don't think too much about it, I'm sure she'll eventually understand we aren't evil demons."

Gohan was surprised at his master's optimism. He turned to look at the Namekian who had now placed his hand over his shoulder.

"You showed me it was possible."

The boy was reminded of his first few months with Piccolo, in which he was subjected to his tough methods of training. Then, he briefly remembered his master's first death at the hands of Nappa.

He nodded, understanding and agreeing with the point the Namekian was trying to make. Before Gohan, Piccolo and his father were seen as evil demon kings. But he, in his young age and despite being a very fearful kid, was able to see the good in Piccolo.

"Ummm… E-excuse me." The voice of a girl called the attention of both warriors, who swiftly turned around to be met with the image of the now awoken pink-haired kunoichi. "Is there something to eat? I'm starving."

The half-blood smiled while moving slightly to the side. He had captured at least twenty fish. The appetite of a Saiyan was not easy to satisfy. Meanwhile, the Namekian returned to his meditation.

The girl was surprised by the amount of fish, but the growling of her stomach exposed her hunger. Gohan beckoned her to sit next to him as he began to remove the first fish that were already fully cooked.

She furiously ate through the first fish, which caused the boy next to her to laugh a little. Then, he ate two fish as if they were small candies. Certainly, Sakura could not possibly compete with such a pace at eating.

Both began laughing at the appetite of Gohan, while a small smirk formed in Piccolo's face.

Once they were finished, the silence got somewhat uncomfortable. Previously, their laughter and the sound of their chewing made it so their lack of talking was not as noticeable. But now, with their stomachs full and their fish all gone, the silence was almost absolute.

Sakura was the one to break the ice, as she really had curiosity towards the green man standing next to the boy. However, she had manners and so would make the educated questions first.

"So, what is your name?" She asked with a soft voice. After so much screaming, her vocal cords hurt when talking, so she decided to keep her tone low.

"I'm Son Gohan, and this is my master, Mr. Piccolo!" Cheerfully replied the Saiyan. It was almost relieving that the girl was finally opening up to them. Guess that showed just how powerful hunger was.

"Oh," she was still somewhat unnerved by the Namekian, and it showed. "Nice to meet you."

For a couple of seconds, it seemed as if silence was to take over again. However, Sakura continued with her questions.

"Why were you tormenting the villagers?"

Gohan raised an eyebrow. He was genuinely oblivious to everything that led to the assassination attempt against them by the leaf-nin. "Which villagers?"

Sakura raised both of her eyebrows in surprise. "Well, the ones from the little town just down the river."

The half-blood still had no idea, but that did not stop him from trying to remember any detail that could be useful.

"We were not tormenting anyone," spoke Piccolo. His deep voice was just as intimidating as his appearance, especially to someone who was ignorant to his species. "We just happened to crash there. We didn't choose to do so."

"Crash? Like… a meteor?" She asked.

Gohan scratched his chin. "I guess you could say so."

Sakura moved slightly backwards, frightened at the implications of the revelation of their arrival.

"So you really are demons?!"

Piccolo put his hand over his face, annoyed at the dramatic attitude of the girl. Gohan, on the other hand, nervously tried to beckon that that's not what they meant.

"We aren't demons! We're just… normal, I guess."

"Then why is he green?!"

"Well, he's a Namekian, and they're green." Naively explained the half-blood.

"A what?"

Piccolo sighed, figuring he would have to take over the conversation. "If we were demons, we wouldn't have saved you, brat."

She was far from convinced. "But then how do you explain your powers? You are so powerful!"

"That's just Ki. You guys have that too, don't you?" Gohan replied.

"Ki? You mean like… natural energy?" She put her hand under her chin. "No, we just use Chakra."

The Saiyan raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"It's the energy we use for all forms of jutsu. Where we get our own power from."

The boy turned to the Namekian. "That probably explains why their energies felt different."

"Now let me ask you a question." Intervened the Namekian after a short silence. "Why did you try to kill us?"

Sakura was caught off-guard by the question, but after thinking it through, it made sense. They had ambushed the duo out of nowhere, and immediately attacked them aggressively in what, thanks to Naruto, was an obvious assassination attempt. However, her team was completely unaware of how much more powerful the two warriors really were.

"Well, the village sent a request to my own, Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Usually we don't believe it when people claim to see demons, but they offered a lot of money for your heads, so yeah…" She scratched the back of her head, not wanting to sound proud of her actions.

"Money, huh?" Piccolo was almost disgusted. "You bunch are mercenaries then?"

"We are shinobi. A lot of the missions we do are assassination ones, but we do a bit of everything." She understood the disgust in the green man's voice, but continued to explain what a shinobi is. "From catching lost pets to wars. We are just soldiers who in times of peace do missions requested by people all around the Land of Fire."

"The Land of Fire?" The half-blood inquired. "So that's the name of this country?"

Sakura nodded.

"And who is your leader? We noticed you have no Kami here." Asked Piccolo. He was surprised at the total confusion of the girl.

"Kami? Like 'god'?" She seemed quite taken off-guard by the question. "Well, there are many religions but I've never seen a 'god' per se…"

"Nevermind. It seems we have different concepts." Piccolo waved off his own remark.

"As for our leader… in my village we have the Hokage, the strongest of all shinobi. But for the country, the Feudal Lord is who owns the land and rules over it."

The Namekian nodded in understanding, before closing his eyes and going silent once again. He was diving into his thoughts.

"Strongest, huh…" Gohan scratched his chin. "I don't remember feeling any strong energy when I flew around the world…."

"You what?!"

Naruto had run towards the bridge, leaving his trio of followers behind. The only one who tried following him had been the purple-haired girl, who had to go there anyway.

The blonde boy was furious and moved everything and everyone out of his way only to get to the intended place of the meeting quicker. Once he arrived, he found Sasuke, who was laying against one of the fences of the bridge.

Uchiha noticed the girl behind his teammate, and raised an eyebrow. He had also failed to recognize the girl, but that was far from her biggest concern at the moment. She gasped for air as soon as she stopped running. The boy had been faster than she expected.

Almost instantly, a man on a wheelchair also arrived at the bridge. His head was completely bandaged except for his eyes, of which one was covered with an eyepatch. Behind him, a man with very thick eyebrows and a bowl cut was pushing him forward.

The facial expressions of both jounin were neutral, but they already knew something was wrong given the obvious anger of the jinchuuriki.

Naruto yelled while running furiously at the man on the wheelchair, completely overcoming the previously relaxing mix of the sound of the river beneath them, and the blowing of the wind.

The blonde boy jumped, but he was immediately elbowed to the ground. As he stood back up, he noticed that the man on the green jumpsuit had been responsible. His stare showed that he would not hesitate in killing him if it was necessary. And faced by the determination of the jounin elite, Naruto shivered a little.

"What the hell?" Was the only thing Sasuke thought of uttering at the moment. "Have you finally snapped, idiot?"

"I tried to stop him, master Kakashi, but he was too fast." Said Ami in between gasps. However, she was still slowly approaching the boy from behind.

"Don't worry, Ami. This isn't your problem." Calmly replied Kakashi, who stared down at his student with his usual unimpressed eye.

"You bastard!" Yelled Naruto while crossing his arms. With Guy's display of his strength and speed, he realized he would have no chance of beating his master's ass.

Sasuke wondered for a moment if he was dreaming or hallucinating, as such irrational behavior was too much even for Naruto. He was still wondering who the girl was and why she was calling Kakashi her master.

"Why did you let Sakura die?!" Finally accused the jinchuuriki. Neither of the jounin reacted, almost as if they already knew that was the issue.

Ami lowered her head. She would love to avoid the incoming argument if she could, but it was not really an option to leave as that was her first meeting with her new team.

Sasuke's eyes opened wide at the accusation. What was his teammate talking about? Though, it would explain a couple of things if Sakura had indeed died. She was not in the hospital with them, and that new girl could be a replacement. His stare turned to Kakashi, who felt an extra weight on his shoulders.

Naruto was staring him down with hatred and even a hint of killing intent, while the last of the Uchiha was doing so with shock and expectation.

"In such high-ranked missions, there comes a point when a shinobi has to make a balance and make a decision based on that." Explained the silver-haired jounin. "You were all knocked out in under fifteen seconds, and my strongest jutsu was very easily resisted by one of our enemies."

"You said that those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash!" Argued the still furious Naruto.

Sasuke's stare had now changed in nature. The previous intense shock had been swiftly replaced by disbelief, and then by an anger of similar intensity as his blonde teammate's.

"And I stand by what I told you." Continued the jounin, shocking both of his original students. He closed his only visible eye. "I had gone for Sakura first, as she was the one sent the furthest away from where I was. But their speed is far greater than anything I've ever seen, and I was forced to choose."

Naruto clenched his fists. His lips trembled, as he also gritted his teeth. Not only had he left one of his students behind to die, but now he was also making up excuses.

"You can't always save everyone, Naruto." Said Kakashi while Guy finally returned to his wheelchair's back. "But I understand your anger. That is, unfortunately, a lesson you'll only learn the bad way."

Sasuke looked away, knowing he could not possibly blame it on his master. He had witnessed the power and speed of those demons. Their skills were probably on par with Itachi's.

Tears began to build up on the blonde boy's eyes once again. At that moment, he was just like a little toddler trying to hide his face while crying. Kakashi petted him on the head and played with his hair a little before taking it back.

Then, he beckoned Ami to also approach him, as she had been standing a few steps away from the rest.

"With that out of the way, I had called a meeting to hand you these." He took three small papers from inside his hospital gown, and handed them to his students. "I know it might not come at the most ideal of times, but I've recommended you three for the Chunin Selection Exam."

"What?" Ami was shocked by the revelation. She glanced at the other jounin, who was visibly in disagreement with the decision.

Sasuke took the paper, but did not waste the chance to give his master a questioning glance. Naruto, while still angry at his master, could not resist the need to grab the paper. The prospect of fighting with the strongest of the genin was too strong of a temptation for him.

"I've noticed by your way of walking, Sasuke, that you have not fully recovered your equilibrium. Your legs are obviously injured and you will not perform to the best of your abilities." Kakashi suddenly bursted. "Naruto, your confidence is obviously shattered. You would have normally tried countless times to hit me even if Guy and I kept pounding you to the ground incessantly. And Ami, you're literally a failed genin."

Might Guy lowered his head to look at his rival in disbelief. He was about to say something, but the silver-haired man continued.

"It is entirely a voluntary decision if you participate in the exams. My recommendation is not a definitive inscription, and that's why you have to fill out those applications and deliver them to room 301 in the school." Somewhere inside, he still had the faith that one of them would decide not to participate and save the entire team from a likely disastrous outcome. "The choice is completely yours to make."

Naruto squinted at the brutal roast his master had delivered to him and his teammates. However, it had the opposite effect than what the man intended. He raised his fist and then pointed his index finger at the jounin.

"Kakashi, you idiot! I'll prove to you who's the strongest in the village and when I win and become a chunin, I swear to the Sage that I'll beat your ass for what you did to Sakura!"

Sasuke was shaking a little. His limping and lack of balance was so visibly obvious that even Kakashi without his sharingan had noticed it. He wondered if his teammates had noticed too.

Naruto was burning with determination, so much so that it almost seemed like an invisible aura of fire was covering his body. Next to him, Ami was smiling with noticeable excitement. They would no doubt present their applications. Despite the team dynamics so far, at that moment, Uchiha was the only one with doubts.

But he could not let Naruto surpass him.