Team 7 stood on their training ground waiting & waiting & waiting. Yesterday Kakashi seemed to be the best Jonin in the village but today. Today they had been waiting since sunrise & as of right now they had been waiting for over three hours. Sasuke practiced his family's interceptor katas while Sakura resisted the urge to watch him. Instead, Sakura focused on a couple of scrolls her brother had given her about finer chakra control & a couple of low level genjutsu she asked about. Her brother was proud that she was finally focusing on her training & he knew that while their parents had specialty skills as their mother was a nurse & their father a security contractor for celebrities they did not have any skills that required the usage of chakra so they could not help either one of them progress as shinobi. Naruto, to his team's surprise was fighting with a couple clones of himself. Naruto let himself be surrounded. Each one attacked him one at a time as Naruto used a combination of street fighting & brawling to take down his clones. The surprise was that as Naruto fought his clones, he was strong & precise. Neither genin had ever seen Naruto fight as efficiently as he was at that moment. On the other side of the village Kakashi was walking out of a tiny house from the civilian side of town. In his hand was a small bag of baked goods he had received this morning when he helped an old lady bring in her groceries after she nearly dropped them. He couldn't figure out why she was out at sunrise or what store was even open that early, but there she was in the middle of the village with two big bags in her shaking arms. If anything, Kakashi was a gentleman & following Obito's example always helped every old lady he passed. This always seemed to coincide with important meetings but even the Hokage had born witness to this dilemma calling as big a mystery as how multiple generations of Genin were still doing the Tora mission daily. When Kakashi finally made it to the training ground he saw Naruto lying on the ground breathing as if he had just run a marathon, Sasuke was practicing his shurikenjutsu's & Sakura was studying scrolls, going through hand signs but not utilizing any chakra. Kakashi stood & watched for a minute before calling his genin over. His eyes moved up into the form of a smile as the team came together. Kakashi noticed that Sasuke did stand a bit apart from the others, but he knew that while Sasuke was willing to be in the team he couldn't yet expect him to act as though they were best friends. "You all were working hard, I appreciate that, but it won't change what needs to be done. You worked on your individual skills, which is fine but did any of you try to work with or help your teammates"? "Sasuke turned his head & said that "There would be no point in me working with them, the dobe & fangirl are to far below me to be effective for me". Kakashi moved faster than any of his students saw & snatched Sasuke off his feet. Before the boy knew it Kakashi had him pinned to a nearby tree with his body leaking killer intent. "You remind me to much of me as a kid & that won't fly on my team" Kakashi said in a low voice. "Do you know anything about your team, anything at all"? Naruto & Sakura turned to see Sasuke pinned & immediately wanted to help but stopped when they heard what Kakashi was saying. "Sakura may not be as combat capable as you, but she's smarter than you are now that she's focusing on more than just you. Naruto has spent years outmaneuvering & hiding from leaf shinobis after his pranks. It's to the point that the only chunin who can track him is Iruka anyone other than jonin or lower wouldn't be able to find him until he stopped for lunch. Do you have any idea how many sabotage missions the leaf village has been contracted to do? Naruto will be the perfect ninja to get in, raise hell, then disappear without a trace". Sasuke looked at Kakashi then at his teammates. Had he really been that wrong. Could the dobe & the fangirl really be on his level? That wasn't possible he was an Uchiha. A genius from a legendary clan, there was no way a civilian girl & an orphan could match him in anything. "Still don't believe me" asked Kakashi. His eyes smile looked almost demonic as he reached behind himself & pulled out a box. All the students' eyes widened in suspense, not sure what he was about to do. Once he opened it they all looked at him like he was crazy. "Shogi, you will play one round with Sakura & if she wins you will do anything she asks you to do & if you refuse I will not only drag you underground again, I'm also going to put a sign next to your head so that everyone can see the shame of the Uchiha. "What would the sign say" asked an eager Naruto. Kakashi whispered something into Sasuke's ear & smiled as his skin turned a pale shade of white. "What if I win" asked Sasuke. Then you will know that you're better isn't that enough for your ego"? Within 5 minutes Sasuke looked at Sakura with a huge grin on his face. Not only had he won, but he demolished her. Sakura didn't cry, she didn't look defeated, she simply looked at Sasuke & asked if she could try again. "One more time won't change anything so sure". The next game went twice as long & ended with a Jishogi point-based draw which Sasuke didn't know was even possible, but Kakashi called it once he saw that both players had at least 24 points based on the remaining & captured pieces. Sasuke was almost livid, he demanded another match, swore it was only a fluke. He never should have requested it. Sakura cleared the board in less than 3 minutes. Sasuke shook in anger. Sasuke glanced towards Kakashi who while he seemed to not be looking Sasuke knew that Kakashi was aware of everything. Sakura looked at Sasuke fighting her blush & said " You use a forks strategy focusing the movements between your king & a rook. There are quite a few dancing pawns tactics that work well because it not only limits my movements but your options as well". Sasuke moved to stand over her, but before he could Naruto began to yell. "Good job Sakura". The boy cheered while dancing around the table. Kakashi quietly walked over with his book in his hand then popped Naruto on the head. "We're gonna have to get you better acquainted with the acceptable behavior & actions of a shinobi" he stated. "You could have won all three games Sasuke, but you faltered. In the second game you were too arrogant & in the third you overcompensated & overreacted. Your mindset & your ego beat you". Kakashi stood over Sasuke "In every situation you need to learn to treat it as a high-risk situation. The day you don't is the day you lose & next time it may be your life instead of just a game. Now, do you want to try Naruto in stealth & pursuit practice or have Sakura proven my point"? He should have said no, the smirk on the blonde dobe's face should have made every warning alarm in his head send him the message to abort, but he didn't now he was standing on top of the Hokage tower while Naruto was falling. As soon as Kakashi said go Naruto jumped headfirst off of the roof. Sasuke watched as Naruto pulled a kunai, jabbed it into the wall & used the pre corded wire to propel the rest of the way down, yanking the wire once he touched to ground to dislodge the kunai. Sasuke looked back at Kakashi who simply smiled & pointed at Sasuke. Sasuke tried to mimic Naruto's actions but he didn't have chakra wire already attached. He instead ended up rolling down the side of the building finally in desperation jamming a kunai into the wall. Focusing his chakra into his legs Sasuke jumped the rest of the way down going between the tower & a nearby building. Once he was on the ground he saw a small strip of orange on a nearby wall leading around a corner. Figuring Naruto had made a mistake Sasuke rounded the corner & slid. The boy slid until he crashed into a pile of obviously preset up trach cans. After crashing Sasuke tried to stand up but kept slipping. Below him was something maybe slime, "God help that idiot if it was snot" thought Sasuke as he tried to stand. Finally, Sasuke used a low level fire jutsu to burn away whatever the substance was & tried to look for Naruto. He couldn't tell where the boy was, there was no sign that Naruto was ever there & Sasuke had to admit the boy was more skilled than he thought he was. That was until he heard a soft giggle. Looking up he saw a flash of orange crawl into a window. Sasuke ran towards a ladder that was halfway between the ground & the window & pulled it down. Once it reached the ground three orbs rolled from the top. The first orb released something akin to cayenne pepper that immediately overwhelmed Sasuke, the second one released a green gas that smelled of raw sewage in aerosol form, the final orb released smoke but instead of simply dissipating it clung to his skin causing him to itch. In minutes Sasuke was on the ground writhing in pain as Sakura & Kakashi entered the area. Sakura tried to run to Sasuke but was stopped by Kakashi. Both could hear how the giggle turned into full blown laughter as Naruto stood on the staircase watching Sasuke. "What did you do you baka, Sasuke's in real pain right now" Sakura screamed. Kakashi just sighed & used a small suiton jutsu to clean the smoke off of Sasuke's skin & a fuiton jutsu to clear the gas. As Sasuke's breathing began to even out Naruto hopped down from the staircase with a grin. Sakura began to roll up her sleeves like she was going to attack Naruto, but a sudden burst of killer intent stopped her. Sakura slowly looked towards Kakashi as he put his book away to glare at her. "This will be the last time you raise your hand against a teammate" he said. "Not only did Naruto out maneuver Sasuke but he baited Sasuke into a trap that any genin should have seen coming. The days of you hitting him are done. Unless you are sparing you should never attack a fellow leaf shinobi, especially not for completing a mission as intended. If anything, you should congratulate him & find out how the so-called dead last was able to trick your teammate". Sakura had no words as Sasuke stood up glaring at Naruto. "What the hell was that" Sasuke yelled at Naruto. Naruto pulled out four orbs & held them up one at a time. "The red one contains concentrated oleoresin capsicum which I have no clue what that is but Shikamaru said I created it when I was working to use chili peppers to cause intense reactions & I made this". Next he held up the green orb & said he left an absorbent material in a septic tank connected to so tubes he found outside of the hospital. Once the item sat for a few days he molded the container into the orb which is harder to break but also just as fun. "This one" he pointed out while lifting a clear orb that was slightly bigger than the rest "was the most fun to figure out. I combined glue, baking soda, contact solution & focused chakra into it & I received this slimy, snotty goo in return. This last one though is a lot of work that I don't like to do but it is effective. A lot of times I have trash all over my door or even in my house, so I learned to take the bones, some minerals I find in the ninja store & itching powder to make these". Naruto smiled at the looks on everyone's faces. Kakashi stared at Naruto as he soaked in the looks on his team's faces. "A self-taught, mechanical wizened prankster with skills in chemicals capable of catching shinobi from genin to Anbu in large complex traps. Had the contents be poison, or even acid, Kakshi had no doubt all of them would be dead right now". Sasuke on the other hand was livid. His body shook in rage "This isn't right, I'm an Uchiha. I'm a legacy none of you should be above me. I'm the best damn it. I have to be". As Sasuke screamed Kakashi stepped forward. "Quiet shinobi. You're embarrassing yourself & your family name. Being an Uchiha is an advantage but not a sign that everyone is inferior to you. I was on the same team as a Uchiha & he was the dead last. Don't lose yourself in your anger, you have no reason to feel inferior simply because someone is just as capable as you or even better". With that said Kakashi lead the team to Training Ground 7. Kakashi told Sasuke & Sakura to stand at different ends of the field. Once Kakashi ordered it the two began to clash. Sakura tried to throw a punch at Sasuke's face, but realized by the smirk on his face that there was no chance of her strike hitting. Sasuke ducked under her strike & punched her in the stomach causing her to fall backwards. Sakura tried to catch her breath, but Sasuke leaped towards her. Mid attack Sasuke was stopped by Kakashi who grabbed the back of his shirt & held the boy in the air. "That is not necessary" stated Kakashi. He lowered Sasuke to the ground then asked him a simple question. "Why did she lose". Sasuke smirked "She lost because no matter how smart she is, she is still weak". "No" Kakashi said, "Why did she lose specifically, it's easy to gloat but right now you need a team that is on the same level that you are if you are truly going to become a team. So why did Sakura lose in your exchange". Sasuke looked at her then looked back at Kakashi "She's weak, her body doesn't move as quickly as it should & her reaction time is far below that of the standard shinobi. Her punch was easy to read because it was slow moving & direct. Moving around her strike was easy & once I struck her, she buckled far more than expected meaning that more than likely she hasn't kept up with any physical training. Kakashi nodded & walked towards the center again. He then looked at Naruto "what can Sakura do to get better". Naruto initially went to say that Sakura was perfect but a glare from Kakashi made him stop. "Naruto, just like Sakura won't get better with Sasuke talking down to her, she also won't get any better with you praising her for skills she does not have. If you want her to get better & survive then help her". Naruto looked at Sakura & lowered his head as he spoke "Sakura, you're so obsessed with being perfect for Sasuke that you always stopped training before you would even sweat because you said you didn't want him to see you looking un lady like. We have to train constantly because if not we would die on the battlefield". "Sasuke would protect me" Sakura stated, but a sigh from her three team members caught her attention. "Team mates work together Sakura" Kakashi stated, but if you expect him to keep an eye on you & protect himself that makes you nothing more than a liability on the field. We all will work together to help each other in battle, but I will never let someone purposely endanger their teammates". Sakura wanted to argue, but she knew they were right. Immediately she thought back to her declaration that she would become someone that Sasuke could rely on. Kakashi left Sakura to think while he called Naruto to spare with Sasuke next. Sasuke's smile returned as he looked at Naruto. "Don't hold back Naruto or Sasuke. You both have access to every skill or ability. If things get to far out of hand I will step in, but I want to see the extent of your abilities". Both genin looked at each other, then charged. Naruto threw a punch as obvious as Sakura but it moved a lot faster than hers. Sasuke was still able to duck under it but when he went to throw a punch Naruto stumbled backwards only receiving minimal damage. Naruto went backwards a few feet but dug in his heels before hearing Sasuke yell "Katon Fireball Jutsu". A ball of fire went flying towards Naruto who immediately created a group of 5 Shadow Clones. 2 gave Naruto a boost so that he could avoid the attack & the others ran towards the attack causing it to detonate. Naruto created another clone & it threw him towards Sasuke. Sasuke threw a handful of shuriken at Naruto which struck dead center. The Naruto that was struck puffed into smoke & suddenly all Naruto's puffed causing a smoke screen. Another Naruto yelled as it charged at Sasuke. Sasuke turned around & moved to charge towards the oncoming Naruto. Both clashed fist to fist & began a close quarter fight. Sasuke kicked at Naruto & Naruto grabbed Sasuke's leg, Sasuke flipped & kicked Naruto in the chest causing him to fall backwards. Sasuke went to grab some more shuriken but Naruto lunged at him & tackled him to the ground. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's collar & flipped him over to roll on top. When Sasuke was on top he tried to punch Naruto in the face, but Naruto showed he was stronger than Sasuke thought & began to roll himself over. Sasuke's one arm wasn't enough to stop him so both boys fell over. Once on the ground Naruto rolled to the side & scrambled to get to his feet, Sasuke kicked up & landed with his back to Naruto but kept his eyes trained on him. Sasuke smirked & Naruto smiled a big grin. "This is over" Sasuke stated & disappeared. Before Naruto could react Sasuke drove an elbow into the back of his neck. He expected Naruto to immediately pass out, but instead Naruto stumbled forward & fell to one knee. Sasuke started to go for a finishing blow but stopped. Instead, he stared at Naruto before taking a deep breath. Sasuke walked around in front of Naruto & offered him his hand.