Two years later
"You're all idiots" said Kakashi as he had all three hopeful Genin tied to stumps. Naruto was kicking & screaming while Sakura tried to get Kakashi to let Sasuke down. The Uchiha himself was tied on the opposite end of the pink haired girl ignoring her rants while trying to figure out how he lost. Kakashi had his orders & knew he couldn't just fail the team, but at this point he didn't see any way to make any of them more than cannon fodder in the next shinobi battle let alone major war. His sensei's legacy was for all intent & purposes an idiot who hadn't received much in the form of basic education, let alone any actual shinobi training. The pink haired girl was more like a fangirl banshee with the amount of shrieking she did every time anyone so much as looked at the Uchiha. That boy was possibly the worst. Skill wise he was closely approaching the acceptable skill levels of a shinobi but mentally he was nothing more than a scared child, Kakashi wondered if the Tsukuyomi his brother Itachi placed him in was still effecting him in some way. Mentally Sasuke Uchiha was a danger to himself & anyone who was close to him. "Yesterday I asked you introduce yourselves to each other & your answers were ridiculous, childish at best, which because of your age might seem acceptable to some but you chose to become shinobi's the standards for you are & will always be higher than any civilian". Kakashi put the bells down in front of the group & sighed. "The first two who will give me honest answers with real depth to them can have the bells. What you do with them is your business". No one moved. "Sasuke, you can only full fill your goal by being trained as a shinobi. Don't think for one second that he's been idle & growing weaker. Naruto your dream of becoming Hokage is nonexistent if you don't get a bell. Sakura, the path of a shinobi cannot be explained in a book or in random conversations, this is a lifestyle not a simple job & Sasuke wants nothing more in this life than to become one & he will with or without you". Sakura's eyes widened then dropped low. She thought about every reason she wanted to be a shinobi as a civilian but found no answer worth speaking of. Should she tell them about her brother or her crush? Were they even good enough reasons to live this life? Finally she spoke "My family is know as civilians but my father swears that once upon a time we were actually apart of a clan just not a well known one. Me & my brother are trying to bring back whatever glory or honor we can achieve, I don't know if it's worth it or if we'll even be able to, but I want to try". The Sakurakai, Kakashi thought as he listened. Many didn't know of one of the first clans that defended the Land of Flowers royal family but if Sakura was really a descendant of this clan he knew why Chief Kenji wanted her properly trained. Kakashi cut Sakura down & she ran to a bell. As soon as she picked one up she placed it in Sasuke's pocket. Sasuke looked down at her & somehow even being tied up he managed to look at her with disgust. "Take it, I'll earn it on my own" Sasuke spat then finally look Kakashi in the eye. "Every night I see it, I see their deaths & smell the scent of the corpses that littered the ground". Unwanted tears began to escape while Sasuke's voice grew louder. "What did the therapist say" asked Kakashi. "I didn't get to see one" Sasuke yelled "They said it was beneath a noble clan heir to require help. They said I was all that was left of my bloodline & it was my only duty to see its rebirth. I must kill Itachi, then the civilian counsel will let me rebuild my clan". His voice suddenly became a whisper as if his outburst took everything from him. "I can't stand to be alone, every day, all the time, the silence is deafening. A reminder of what I lost". Kakashi wasn't sure if Sasuke knew he said that last part out loud, but he quietly walked to him & cut him down. Sakura immediately went to hug the boy, but his fist shot out so fast that Kakashi nearly missed catching it before he caved the girl's face in. Looking in his face Kakashi could see that Sasuke looked almost panicked by his reaction. There was possibly an apology on his lips but instead Sasuke snatched the bell out of his pocket & walked away from the girl. Sakura moved towards him, but Kakashi grabbed her arm. "Give him space, that shot may have been a knee jerk reaction, but it would have still taken you out". Kakashi looked towards Naruto who hadn't said anything. "Your unusually quiet, I've not known you that long but that's gotta be a record for you" teased Kakashi. Naruto didn't laugh. "Why didn't you say anything" Kakashi asked. Naruto didn't lift his head, but he did speak. "They have families & clans; I don't have anything. No one except for GiGi & Iruka would care if I failed but they're use to it. I don't want to go back but I'm not going to let my dream keep them from achieving their goals that wouldn't be right. Without anyone noticing Naruto had slipped the rope & was taking the headband off of his head. "You would sacrifice your dream for a girl who physically strikes you just for talking to her & a boy who hasn't shown you one piece of respect" asked Kakashi"? "If I had a family it might be different but to hear that Sakura wants to help her family while the Teme wants to rebuild his entire clan, to take that opportunity for myself would be worse than the hateful words, glares & treatment that I get in this village. I have no one so it won't hurt anyone but me to wait for another year". Naruto smiled, "at least if its Bunshin again we know I can do that". "I hate that fake smile" Sasuke said. Everyone looked at him. "You always do that whether it's in class or when they're kicking you out of stores, you always kept that stupid smile." This pissed Naruto off. "I'd rather smile than walk around brooding, at least you had a family & knew happiness once". Naruto screamed. Sasuke walked up to Naruto & pushed him to the ground. "You don't know what you're talking about, I had everything & now I have nothing. No mother, no father, no clan I'm alone, you've never had anyone so who are you to tell me what it would be like to lose everything & spend every night watching it over & over again. To hell with you Naruto, you don't understand anything". Naruto got up & tackled Sasuke to the ground. "You chose to be alone; you don't have to live by yourself you choose to" he yelled. "You don't know what it's like to be forced to live on the street, being chased by people who call you evil, monster & demon not knowing why or being able to defend yourself. You live in a mansion; I lived on the street till GiGi found me & got me my own apartment cause no one wanted to even be around me". Sasuke's face faulted momentarily while Sakura began to tear up. "No one knew, I don't need anyone to take pity on me, I just need to become Hokage then everyone will have to respect me" Naruto said. "It doesn't matter" said a seething Sasuke as he pushed Naruto off of him. "They won't really care, you think those stupid girls who run behind me & beg me for attention actually care about me, they don't even know me". Sakura's eyes went wide as he spoke. "They think knowing some arbitrary stuff like what I like to do means anything, it doesn't. Not one of them has ever even tried to get to know me, who I am, what I've been through it's always just you look handsome Sasuke, you're so strong Sasuke, take me out to eat Sasuke, not once have they ever thought about anything more than getting my name. A name steeped in the blood of my family, for no reason". Kakashi almost missed it, but Naruto's hair began to stand a little taller & his whiskers began to stand on end a bit. At the same time Sasuke's eyes flashed bright red for almost a second, so quickly that if you weren't trained you would never have noticed. It was time to intervene, but instead it was Sakura who stepped forward. "I'm sorry" she said. "I'm sorry Naruto for treating you the way I do, I never would have dreamed that you went through any of that, I was always told by the other students that their parents said that you shouldn't be talked to or played with. I knew you were annoying honestly & when I asked my parents they told me to see for myself & I did & in the beginning you were my friend, but you hated Sasuke & for some reason all I want is for Sasuke to see me & care for me but I don't know why". Sasuke gave a sigh of derision at her words. "I told you Dobe" he said looking at Naruto "it's all fake". "It's not fake, you've suffered a lot & I wanted to be the thing that makes you smile at first but when I found out that Ino liked you it became a competition & when it became an organization it was just survival to get your attention. But your more than that & I am so so sorry that I made your life into less than what it was". At this point Sakura was in tears, Sasuke had his head down & Naruto was holding back his own tears. Kakshi who had at that point pretty much become a faded image finally walked towards the group. "You pass" he said with a smile. Everyone turned to him honestly surprised they all forgot that the Jonin was there with them. "The test was, is about teamwork but you all have found something more profound. If you really take the time to think about what you have all said & done in the last few minutes you're working to form bonds. That's the true purpose of having a team. Sasuke we can never replace your team trust me I know this more than you realize but the bonds & relationships you can make with your team can help lighten the pain & the guilt, but I will tell you one thing a true ninja must look underneath the underneath. Make sure your vengeance is justified & don't just take what you've been told at face value". Sasuke's eyes went wide but before he could say anything Kakashi turned to look at Naruto. "Naruto your parents died protecting this village & while the civilians may not like you, the shinobi clans will always respect & honor what you have done for this village just as much as your honored parents sacrifice. I know its hard to see past the lonely nights, but reports show that you spend a lot of time with Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akimichi & Kiba Inuzuka". Naruto nodded & smiled at the thought of spending time with Shino working on his garden, speed eating with Chōji at Ramen Ichiraku's, going prank for prank with Kiba & relaxing with Shikamaru in the evenings before they both had to go home. He had found friends, good friends & yeah he wished he had a family to go home to at night but maybe, just maybe he wasn't as alone as he felt. "Sakura you are considered the top kunoichi in your class, I need you to act like it. If you truly wish to live up to the legacy of the Sakurakai you need to focus on your training. Besides" he said with a smirk. "As the heir to the Uchiha clan Sasuke can only date/marry someone who is powerful enough to stand beside him". "Sakura smiled & said "It's okay Kakashi sensei I'm gonna get so strong that Sasuke will be begging me to be his wife". "Stupid" stated Sasuke but everyone could see the tinge of red on his cheeks at her declaration.