Chapter 9

Hatake Kakashi arrived at the academy to pick up his students last among the other jounin, thereby earning himself an unfavorable reputation. Now, with a rehearsed, tedious phrase, on the roof of the academy, he decided to ask them about their interests, dreams, likes, and dislikes—in short, to understand who he was dealing with in his team.

"Teacher!" Sakura raised her hand to speak politely. "Could you give an example?"

"Of course," he responded routinely, "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't like many things, and I like even fewer. Hobbies? I don't have that many..."

"And all we learned about him is just his name," Sakura voiced her thoughts aloud.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it! And I want to become a really strong shinobi to fulfill my dream!"

"Oh wow! And what is the dream?"

"It's a secret, sensei!"

"I like... one... and I love one... Ugh! No, I can't say that!"

Kakashi slightly rolled his one visible eye and sighed deeply. This girl clearly wasn't focusing on what she really should be.

"I want to revive my clan and kill a certain person. That's all."

Before officially accepting Team 7, Hatake Kakashi always conducted a psychological test on the team's trust and cohesion through two bells, which only two team members could acquire, thereby forcing the team to either divide or unite, so that eventually someone might sacrifice themselves and return to the academy. After briefly explaining the rules, he calmly gave the start signal and pulled out a book from his favorite author. If Sakura and Sasuke acted as any ninja would: hiding, devising a plan of action, and attacking, Naruto stood out by simply staying in the same spot where his teammates were last.

"Naruto, why are you still standing...?"

"Because I'm not one to run from danger! I may be dumb, but can I really run or hide from a jounin?!"

Kakashi slightly raised his eyebrows, hearing some logic and sense in his words.

"Maybe... but you would have had a much better chance if you had come up with some kind of good plan. Don't you think?"

"Plans are useless without a good fight!" he said with a joyful grin, slamming his fist into his palm, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He created five clones and threw a smoke bomb beneath himself.

Kakashi was surprised to note that although Naruto had only learned about this technique a few days ago, the coordination and teamwork of the shadow clones were remarkably good. Maybe Naruto was a fool, but he knew how to plan attacks. Still, it was nowhere near enough to even touch him due to the clear difference in strength levels. All shadow clones dissipated almost instantly whenever Naruto sent them into attack.

"Shadow Cloning has never been considered a combat technique. It's more suited for reconnaissance because of how easily the clones are destroyed. Do you really find it hard to understand that you can't beat me with just this...?"

"I know," Naruto admitted breathlessly, forming a concentration seal with a smile on his face. "Cut!"

The ground under Kakashi exploded, creating a smoke screen. At first, before attacking his teacher head-on, the blonde sent a clone behind the bushes and trees, who diligently and determinedly dug a path underground to his teacher, holding an explosive tag. For this plan to work, all that was needed was time and for his teacher to stand in that exact spot for maximum effect.

When a strong wind dispersed the smoke, Naruto and the team members hidden nearby in the bushes were confronted with the unpleasant sight of their supposedly 'dead' teacher. Shocked by such a scene, Naruto stood rooted to the spot, slightly trembling. He had not expected to win... in such a way.

"Maaa... Naruto, you are quite a dangerous guy."

On instinct, he managed to put up a cross block with his hands before turning towards the voice and receiving a powerful kick from the experienced jounin's foot, "But honestly, that was a pretty good attempt," the blow was so strong that it literally sent Naruto flying to the nearest tree. His arms were numb from the impact, and his legs shook from realizing his own weakness. Naruto realized he could not win, but he did not accept this fact and stood up in a fighting stance with a joyful grin.

"I won't give up just like that! This is my ninja way!"

"Then you'll die first in a real fight, Naruto. You need to value your life not just for yourself but for your comrades as well."

This "battle" did not last long. Hatake Kakashi saw determination in his eyes and understood that no matter how much he held back and played with Naruto, he would just keep getting up again and again. He had seen that look once before. The familiar eyes of his old friend. Therefore, he decided to end this fight quickly. A sharp close-up. An instantaneous punch to the solar plexus. The teenager placed his hands on his chest, losing the ability to breathe for a moment. The final strike to the back of the head with the edge of the palm simply knocked him to the ground and knocked him out instantly.

"You showed yourself well, Naruto. I wonder about the others..."

Sasuke Uchiha displayed quite commendable skills in taijutsu and ninjutsu. Learning the Fireball Technique at such a young age was quite an achievement, but he was still far from his genius older brother. Sakura Haruno was the weakest link in this team. Kakashi assumed that given her chakra reserves, tactical analysis (Sakura Haruno was recognized as not the strongest but among the top ten in the theoretical part of her class), she would be the easiest to break out of a relatively weak genjutsu, but as it turned out, this was sufficient to make Sakura faint at the sight of her "dead" comrade. After tying Sakura to a training dummy and bringing her to her senses, he decided to conclude his test with the last condition that would determine their future fate.

"Naruto, Sasuke, although you lost to me, you demonstrated quite good abilities and managed to oppose me unlike Sakura, so I will give you another chance. You both will eat these delicious boxes of food and you will be forbidden to feed your comrade. If you can complete such a simple task, maybe I will think about not sending you back to the academy..." With these words, Hatake Kakashi disappeared in a puff of white smoke and moved nearby, patiently waiting for his team's reaction. Here Naruto and Sasuke opened their food boxes and touched the chopsticks. Sasuke quietly began to eat his meal, and only Naruto remained dissatisfied with this arrangement, silently staring at the white rice in his box. After some time, a terrible growl of the girl's stomach was heard:

"I haven't had dinner since yesterday evening because of the teacher's punishment," she said uncertainly, blushing shyly, chuckling a bit.

Naruto turned his puppy-eyed, tearful gaze to Sakura and, swiveling his head back and forth, took a small rice ball and handed it to Sakura.

"Naruto! What are you doing?!"

"Naruto, didn't you hear what the teacher told us?" Sasuke grumbled displeasedly, but he too stopped eating.

"Come on! Well, I can't watch Sakura suffer. I even made her a promise, and if I eat this stupid rice, it definitely won't look cool!"

"It's just a stupid promise! Don't you dare give me food. I won't forgive you if because of this Sasuke is sent back to the academy...!"

A sad smile was her answer, and his sudden move with a rice ball quickly cut off her disapproving speech.

"Well...? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Sasuke also abruptly stood up and, squatting next to Sakura, extended a rice ball to her with his chopsticks, to which she was joyfully ready to accept the food, just as their teacher appeared amidst thunder and lightning.

"Do you even realize what you've done?!"

A long pause filled with a threatening aura of bloodlust followed, and then...

"You all passed!"

"Haaaaaa?!"

The expression on his team's faces was one to capture in a photograph. Later, Kakashi explained to them that a shinobi does not necessarily have to be merely an instrument in the village's hands.

"In the shinobi world, those who do not follow the rules are scum, but those who do not care about their comrades are worse than scum."

After completing the exam, Hatake Kakashi and his team headed to the Hokage's residence to receive their first assignment. Their enthusiastic mood quickly evaporated as they were assigned almost daily D-rank missions, which were quite simple civil tasks. The team's discontent turned into indignation when after these "honorable" missions from the Hokage himself, Hatake Kakashi left them on "Independent" Training. To be precise, he gave them a simple set of physical exercises until the end of the day. This continued for just over a month until Naruto exploded with dissatisfaction towards the Hokage himself.

"...The next mission will be D-rank."

"That's it! I'm sick of these 'missions'! Isn't there anything other than these stupid D-rank missions?! Anything but these tedious missions!"

Judging by Sasuke's snort, he somewhat agreed with his teammate.

"Alright, then. Come in, please..."

The assignment was a C-rank to escort the bridge builder Tazuna from the Land of Waves back to his village. His respected status was wiped clean by the disrespectful behavior of a drunkard who clutched a bottle of alcohol in his hand...

Takeshi slightly crumpled the note from the Hokage in his hand that starting tomorrow, Team 7 would be heading out on their first C-rank mission, escorting someone to the Land of Waves. The mission itself was not particularly challenging, and they might only encounter minor bandits along the way... But based on the information from the ANBU archives, the situation in the Land of Waves was extremely unstable due to a couple of known criminal syndicates taking control of a small territory. One of which was led by a man named Gato. Unlike the previous syndicate leader whom he had managed to eliminate on a mission five years ago, this one was somewhat intelligent and could hire rogue shinobi to do his dirty work, which already raised the mission's rank to B-rank. Genin, having no combat experience, were not capable of defeating experienced shinobi, so Takeshi hoped that in the event of rogue shinobi appearing, Kakashi would refuse to continue and return for a mission rank upgrade. After all, Hatake Kakashi, more than anyone, should not risk the lives of his genin for the sake of completing a mission.

Eventually, all his expectations turned out to be wrong...

After Team 7 left the borders of their village, a couple of hours of peaceful walking later, they encountered a rather strange-looking "puddle" considering there had been no rain in Konoha for three days. Takeshi calmly observed from a nearby tree branch the team's future actions. With a splash from the puddle, two rogue shinobi suddenly appeared with a sharpened chain connected by two clawed steel hands. The chain captured their teacher and sliced him into small pieces. Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki showed resilience and psychological stability in the situation, starting the fight "without" their teacher. Sasuke threw a shuriken at the chain, embedding it in a tree, and to prevent further use, he pierced the shuriken's ring with a kunai.

"Well done, Sasuke!" — shadow cloning, two clones behind the blonde, Naruto's rapid approach and a hook to the jaw sent the first flying, the clones using his back as a springboard to deliver finishing blows. A direct kick to the stomach and a rather showy spinning heel kick in mid-air to the jaw. Sasuke did not particularly show off and also knocked out his opponent with a punch to the jaw. Hatake Kakashi emerged from behind the trees, lightly applauding his team.

"That was not bad. You showed good reaction to a critical situation. Especially you, Naruto, Sasuke. While Sakura was off to the side, she also stood up to protect our client. So, you can go ahead slowly, and I'll catch up with you quickly. I need to first get information from them and then have a serious talk with Tazuna."

Hatake Kakashi did not conduct a lengthy interrogation. He put both into genjutsu using his Sharingan and learned that a well-known criminal head, Gato, had ordered Tazuna's assassination and now they were also their targets. Pulling a kunai and simply finishing the Fog's Demon Brothers from behind. Hatake Kakashi knew more than anyone that the Mist's shinobi always complete their missions, so there was no point in leaving them alive. A short, barely audible sound of slicing the wind. His black cloak with long sleeves, similarly colored gloves, and a white mask were quite distinctive features of his appearance.

"What are you planning to do, Hatake Kakashi?"

"Maaa... I thought your task was just to observe, Faceless," Kakashi responded with some boredom and melancholy, slightly turning his head towards his observer.

"You are endangering two valuable village resources. Abandon the mission and return to Konoha for a mission rank reassessment."

"'Village resources'? Is that what it's called now? As for your request. I'll give the team a choice..." — Takeshi abruptly interrupted him.

"Choice? They are just children, led by their emotions. What do we care about the fate of some builder and the Land of Waves? If you don't turn back, I will note this in the report."

"You can note it. I don't care. We will complete this mission."

A brief oppressive pause followed, and, clenching his fists, Takeshi calmly responded.

"Hmph... you will answer for the consequences of this action. I promise."

"Empty promises are worth nothing."

"You clearly overestimate yourself." — with these words, Takeshi disappeared in a blurred black trail.

Takeshi tried to find logic in the actions of the experienced jounin but could not. No teacher would recklessly risk the lives of their students. So why was he doing the opposite? Pride? Hardly. Mistakes of the past? Most likely. Hatake Kakashi wanted to prove to himself that this time he could protect those close to him. And this somewhat annoyed Takeshi. Showing care and love should be done through actions, not foolish deeds. The Hokage had forbidden revealing themselves to Team #7. As Hatake Kakashi explained, he was just an observer, but there was one exception.

Here's the text translated into English, with the formatting you requested:

"If the Jinchuriki or Sasuke Uchiha are under the threat of death, and their teacher is unable to eliminate this threat, only then do you have the right to intervene."—these were the words of the Hokage. It took them three days to reach the border of the Land of Waves. Having arrived at the village, Tazuna, an old acquaintance, decided to accompany them in his boat. However, upon reaching the shore, this old friend of Tazuna suddenly decided to start the motor of his boat and quickly disappeared, thereby alerting almost the entire territory of the village about their location.

"There will be an ambush..."—Takechi noted, still patiently waiting, standing nearly a hundred meters away from them on the water using the technique of invisible camouflage. At first, Naruto, unexpectedly following his sixth sense, threw his kunai into the bushes, and from those very bushes, a frightened white rabbit ran out. His teammates hadn't had the chance to comment on this action when Hatake Kakashi, who had been silent until that moment, loudly gave the command.

"Everyone down!"

Almost at the last moment, everyone complied and managed to dodge a projectile, which turned out to be a sword of gigantic size, resembling a huge meat cleaver. Judging by its appearance and the protector with a crossed-out mist, it was one of the swordsmen of the Mist named Zabuza.

"Why does my premonition never fail me..."—Takechi thought resignedly and still did not move from his spot. If needed, he would intervene, but not now. He was only half listening to their dialogue. It all boiled down to a usual introduction and the fact that the swordsman wanted to kill the bridge builder, and Kakashi and his team could not allow this.

"Well, I would be disappointed if you just let me do my job. But this way... it will be fun!"

Everything started quickly and unexpectedly. A sudden convergence of Kakashi and the swordsman and the entire area was covered in fog. Thanks to his special Life-Seeking ability, Takechi could feel the red heat signatures in the Fog and could precisely say where and who was standing in any given place. Agonizing minutes of battle and the fog began to slightly disperse. To Takechi's surprise and disappointment, Hatake Kakashi let himself be caught in a certain water sphere and apparently could not escape.

"Run! You are no match for him!"—Kakashi managed to shout from inside the water sphere.

"Terrible commander..."—if it weren't for the Anbu mask, Takechi would have slapped his face. An opponent of this level would never allow ordinary genin to escape. After their duel, it would take nothing for him to catch up and kill them. The right decision and command would serve as usual protection for Tazuna and sticking together. Luckily, his team understood this better than him.

"No way, Kakashi-sensei! I became a shinobi not just to keep running away! You know that!"—the smile-grin was slightly crooked due to their opponent constantly emitting a thirst for blood.

"Hmph... pointless. Running from such an opponent,"—Sasuke agreed with Naruto, maintaining a cool and calm expression, but a slight sweat and tremor in his hands revealed his hidden fear for his life. Meanwhile, Zabuza formed a seal with one hand and created several water clones.

"Now that's bad..."—Takechi noted to himself and prepared to discreetly intervene. In one wild leap, he quietly landed opposite the team of genin and Zabuza and Kakashi. Although the clones only had a fifth of the strength of their original, this was enough to kill the genin. However, he still hoped the genin would get their first experience fighting to the death. After all, he was here for them and could intervene at any moment... Luckily, their opponent decided to just play with them and teach them a "valuable final lesson."

"Only those who know how to kill can call themselves shinobi!"—a water clone kicked Naruto, sending him flying, an attempt to strike the clone by Sasuke ended in failure, and a blow to the stomach only knocked all the air out of his lungs and sent him on a brief flight, but, unlike his previous companion, he managed to throw shurikens with both hands while still in the air and kill the water clone. Realizing that this was a way to kill the clones calmly, Naruto came up with a fairly simple plan to eliminate them. Creating two dozen shadow clones, they rushed at their opponents and simultaneously threw shurikens at the clones. The water clones couldn't properly defend against such an attack, but the shadow clones couldn't quite respond to the strikes of the huge sword and were dispersed, forming a small cloud of smoke, from behind which one of Zabuza's surviving clones approached from behind the bridge builder and Sakura and swung his massive sword, but was abruptly dispersed by a kunai thrown with all the strength of Takechi.

"Sasuke! Go ahead!"

"Ah? Got it."

Sasuke pulled out a four-bladed huge shuriken from behind his back and threw it with all his might at Zabuza. The shuriken, predictably, missed, but already being in the air, it turned into a shadow clone of Naruto, who threw a kunai at Zabuza. That was enough to disrupt Zabuza's water sphere technique, after which their battle continued. Fighting Hatake Kakashi turned out to be a real torture for Zabuza, all because this jonin had a fairly popular nickname "The Copy Ninja", all due to the transplanted Sharingan that allowed him to almost know in advance what the opponent would do or even say. In the end, the simultaneously created Water Dragon techniques turned out to be stronger than the one who originally planned to create it, and a weak small genjutsu induced by the Sharingan threw off the concentration in space. The result—an obvious victory for Hatake Kakashi. However, towards the end, before delivering the final blow, a senbon hit Zabuza in the neck, instantly depriving him of life. The attacker turned out to be an unknown person in a white mask.

"An Anbu from the Mist?"

"Thank you for your cooperation."—and, nodding briefly, he picked up the body and also disappeared quickly.

Takechi silently watched how just this one battle exhausted the experienced jonin. And judging by the outcome of the battle, their opponent was still alive and would attempt to strike again. And the next time, they would be more cautious. Given that the jonin would be incapacitated for some time, where were the guarantees that Gato wouldn't send someone else to eliminate them, of the same rank as the swordsman himself? Correct. There were none, and therefore, this freed his hands to act independently, heading straight to Gato's lair. He was able to learn the meeting place from the souls of the demon brothers, which he had managed to take at the last moment.

Gato's lair looked like a kind of underground bunker, which was reliably guarded by a couple of... normally armed people.

"Ha...?"

An invisible shadow passed by them, a splash, a head, and several body parts fell to the ground. With a sweep of his katana, he cleansed the blood from the blade. Inside, there were several people of a bandit appearance, but their fate was similar to those who guarded the doors of the bunker outside. With a kick, he knocked the door off its hinges. In a fairly well-furnished office, sat a chubby and small man in round glasses, who wasn't particularly scared by his appearance.

Here's the text translated into English, with the formatting you requested:

"Hmph... you look experienced and dangerous, shinobi. If you're after the swordsman's head, he's in the next room. You can kill him and take his place. Believe me, with my money, you could live well..." He was simply tired of listening to the useless speech of this arrogant man. The throw of his katana, as if in slow motion, pierced through the man's neck. Blood sprayed out like a fountain, and gurgling, rasping sounds came from his mouth. With a swift approach, he grabbed the handle and, adding flame to its blade, made a powerful slash that split the body in two down to the floor. The smell of excrement and burning flesh was similar to that of the undead from his past world. Nasty and unchanged. Such men could only be cleansed by fire. With unhurried steps, he reached the next room and quietly opened the door. Three senbons at near-sonic speed targeted critical, yet non-lethal, points on the body. With a light flick, he deflected them all in front of him. In the room, on the bed, lay the Mist swordsman Zabuza, and in front of him was the very shinobi who had picked up his "dead" body. This time, however, he was unmasked and stood before Zabuza with senbons ready. With his thumb and forefinger, he ran them along the blade of his katana, extinguishing the flame and sheathing the blade.

"Haku, step aside..."

"N-no...?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

"I... I can't. He will kill you."

"Is the weapon refusing to follow my order? That's new," he said sarcastically, almost voicing his thoughts. "I didn't expect they would send 'The Nameless' for my head. Although... your actions have perplexed me. What do you want?"

"I feel nothing for people like Gato, but you are different. You have strength. I want to give you a chance."

"A 'chance'? You want to recruit us? 'Nukenins'? What a silly joke..."

"Then what's the point of talking to you?"

"Hmph... maybe you want to deceive us and extract the secret of our techniques. Who knows..."

"Almost," Takechi replied openly, "Konoha could use such strength, and for that reason, I offer you this chance. Although I said I would give it to you, it should actually be granted by our Hokage."

"Suppose I'm interested in living a little longer. How do you plan to recruit us?"

"I was trained with a special fuin, which they apply to us. To the Anbu."

"That makes sense. So you want to eliminate the possibility of betrayal on our part. I agree."

Takechi was somewhat surprised that Zabuza agreed so quickly and easily. Even under the threat of death, some shinobi, too proud, vain, and freedom-loving, cannot accept control over them. Takechi could only guess why he agreed. A brief glance at the troubled look of his partner named Haku, who had a quite specific pleasant appearance and it was hard to determine his gender at a glance.

"It seems you are the one who has found something worth living for, not dying for," he said with a brief smile. After placing a flame-shaped mark on the back of their heads, he informed them of its dangerous feature.

"Now, if you refuse to carry out any of my orders, you will die from burning in your own chakra flame. Head to the 'Living Shore' hotel in the Capital of the Land of Fire. In a week, our agent will come to you. If you kill him or refuse to follow the escort—death. If you attempt to escape—death. If you try to remove the seal..."

"Death. Yes, I get it."

"The right to control will be transferred directly to the Hokage, and from there, everything will depend on him."

"Why do you need all this...?"

"Maybe because we are similar? In any case, that was my desire. As was yours to have this child with you."

"I... I'm not a child," Haku said uncertainly.

"I am very good at reading people through their eyes and I clearly saw innocence in yours. It can be confirmed by the fact that you didn't aim the senbons at vital points of the body even though I was a direct threat to your master. I would be glad to talk more about the philosophy and psychology of people, but I have neither the desire nor the time for this. Once you regain your strength, head to the meeting point, and meanwhile, I will write a detailed report on everything..."

"What guarantees do we have that they won't just kill us at the meeting place?"

"There are none. Only my word."

"You certainly don't know how to reassure," Zabuza smiled, though with his shark-like grin, it resembled more of a snarl.

"As I said earlier, your fate is in the hands of my Hokage."

"Well... at least, I think he should be better than that lousy Mizukage," he grumbled aloud.

With a single seal, Takechi disappeared from the room in a cloud of white smoke, replacing himself with a shadow clone that watched over Team 7. As evening approached, and taking advantage of the fact that Hatake Kakashi would not run away from them this time, Naruto quite insistently asked him to train them.

"Maaa... alright, alright. Come, I'll show you an important technique that every shinobi should know."

The brunette expected some kind of technique, combat move, or tactic, but clearly did not expect him to provide them with a simple training technique for walking on vertical surfaces. Considering that every shinobi should have mastered this technique, Takechi simply could not understand why Hatake Kakashi had not even taught them the basic "Fundamentals." At some point, anger and irritation at Hatake Kakashi just quickly vanished. Like a switch had flipped in his head. He simply stopped caring about this pathetic excuse for a man.

A few days later...

The bridge was successfully completed, and the criminals without their leader simply split into various small groups, which were much easier to destroy individually than as a whole. The only right action that Hatake Kakashi took during the time he guarded the bridge was at night when his team patrolled the bridge, he went on "eye-smile" night walks, which ended in a bloody cleanup of bandits in the village. Still, he considered that his team was too young to shed blood and decided to take on this dirty work himself.

Takechi received a letter from the Hokage about his report and permission to recruit Zabuza and Haku into the village, but not without consequences in the form of an important and lengthy conversation. No matter how important and valuable a shinobi Zabuza was, he was still a nukenin, and therefore, for the village, he would indeed be much more valuable dead than alive.

"...I hope you know what you're doing. Try to make sure my trust is justified," were the last lines of the letter, and after some time, the letter began to be consumed by blue flame.

Upon Team 7's return to their village, Hatake Kakashi briefly reported on the mission's completion, after which everyone was dismissed to go home and rest. Nearby, Takechi materialized from the technique of camouflage, sitting next to the Hokage on a chair near the desk, resting his chin on his hand on the table, waiting for the start of... "the show."

Here's the text translated into English with paragraphs and quotation marks as requested:

"Kakashi, stay a minute."

"Yes...?"—came the response with that same bored look and relaxed demeanor. Takechi was indifferent to it all now; what mattered to him was the outcome of this dialogue.

"The Chunin exam is a month away, and I understand your team is likely agreeable to undertaking it."

"Most likely. Almost everyone is performing well."

"Hmph... is that so? Then let me ask you directly,"—the gentle smile abruptly vanished, and the Hokage stood up from his chair and approached Hatake Kakashi—"What are you doing, Kakashi?"

"Um... I'm sorry, Hokage-sama?"

"You were entrusted with a specially prepared team from two nearly destroyed clans. Both have immense potential. Why expose 'almost geniuses' to a mission where they could have died? Thankfully, Takechi was nearby and resolved this... little problem, but that's not what I'm talking about now. I understand that rules don't always need to be followed, but the situation with that mission was different. You could have at least requested support..."

"Hokage-sama, I think you're exaggerating..."

"I haven't finished,"—his cold gaze seemed to look right through him, forcing him to fall silent—"I've also been informed that you're clearly neglecting your duties. There was only one instance where you managed to teach them the simple act of walking on vertical surfaces. Again, a simple question. Do you not have enough time for this? I'm sorry, Kakashi, but these genin are your responsibility, and you can't just walk away or escape from that. One smiles at everything due to psychological pressure and wants to become Hokage, hence he desires strength. Another is a psychologically broken boy who wants to become strong and kill his older brother for the sake of his clan."

"I will take on Sasuke personally when the time comes."

"'When the time comes.' I'm afraid to even think about when that will be. You need to show care and initiative from the first days, not when it's already too late. Do you think I enjoy reprimanding you like a foolish genin in this office? Do you think I want to do what I'm about to do?"

"W-what are you going to do?!"

"I'm sorry, Kakashi, but you are temporarily relieved from leading Team 7 until the exam, and Takechi will take over the team's leadership for the remaining time. It was he who suggested this solution."

"You? You think you can do better than me?!"

"I have no desire to prove anything to someone like you. If it were up to me and my will, I would put you in your place in a simple sparring match. Only, unfortunately, the Hokage is concerned for your safety."

"You have quite the sharp tongue."

"Enough! Like small children!"—the Hokage growled in displeasure, and noticing that the bloodlust between them had dissipated, he turned back to Kakashi—"My decision is final, Kakashi. You have the right to observe, but not to interfere. That is my direct order. Defy it, and I can't vouch for the consequences."

"I obey, Hokage-sama,"—the Copy Ninja clenched his fists tightly and exited the office.

"And yet, do you think you can handle it?"

"Of course. I've studied each of them well, so I can certainly find a way to reach each one. The only thing that slightly annoys me is the unnecessary baggage in the form of Sakura Haruno. I understand that she's meant to be a 'middle ground' that will find balance between the two, but she has no desire for improvement."

"Maybe you could at least try?"

"I can't promise anything. She is the only member of Team 7 that I likely won't be able to train. I have a friend from Anbu who transferred to the medical ninja school as a teacher. Whether she agrees or not—that's up to her. If she agrees—good for her and her team."

The next morning...

"Um... Kakashi-sensei? Is something wrong?"—Sakura Haruno curiously asked, sitting near the training dummies with her team. The grim and displeased look on their teacher was quite rare, as Kakashi almost always expressed boredom and indifference with his eye.

"Yes, Sakura. Just, from this moment, you might as well not call me your teacher."

"You're abandoning us?!"

"No, not at all. Just someone thought I'm a bad teacher for you."

"No! You're a good teacher."

"No need, Sakura. Maybe it's for the best. Who knows,"—he shrugged and pulled out his favorite book from his back pocket—"He should be arriving any minute now." As soon as he said this, Takechi appeared in a cloud of white smoke. His standard black attire and white mask were his usual attire.

"Greetings, Team 7. My name is 'Nameless.' For convenience, you can call me Zero-sensei. Let me say right away that I don't have time to discuss personal issues, so let's get to the main point. To training. We'll start with the simplest. Sakura Haruno."

"H-hai!"

"You are the only one in the team who lacks any useful techniques in nin, gen, or tai, and your chakra reserves are frankly terrible. But don't despair, I'll give you a good chance to prove your significance and usefulness. Here, take this,"—he handed her a small rectangular card with a brief message: "Help her and consider the debt paid, Takechi."

"What is this?"

"Pass this to Saori at the medical ninja school. She's an experienced teacher and won't refuse to help you."

"Are you saying I can't fight?"

"It's good that you realize this. Yes, Sakura Haruno—you are Unnecessary Baggage. And if you at least learn to heal your comrades, you could become a useful member of the team."

Tears flowed from Sakura Haruno's eyes and only seconds later she ran off somewhere into the village.

"Sakura-chan...!"—Naruto cried out, deciding to run after her, but Takechi's hand stopped him.

"Stop. Let her go. She will either understand, accept, and use the opportunity, or she will remain useless baggage. Sooner or later, she had to face the truth. I just pointed it out to her bluntly. Now, the two of you remain. I think it's better to start with Sasuke. Unfortunately, this training will have some... personal nature, so before we start, I'll set up an impenetrable sound and visual barrier."

"Aw, why start with him?!"

"Naruto, you're not a child anymore. Have patience."

"Haai!!!"

A few minutes later...

The barrier was set up and Takechi stretched briefly on the spot.

"Sasuke Uchiha, tell me, did you like Hatake Kakashi as a teacher? Be honest."

"No."

"Quick and honest response. I like it. Then let me thank you and help you achieve your goal. Trust me, although we won't have much time for training, I will definitely make you strong."

A faint smile touched Sasuke's lips. For some reason, he felt that this unknown person was not lying and seemed to emit an aura of strength.

"So... this will be a sparring session, but an unusual one. Give it your all. Got it?!"

"D-yes!"

Sasuke assumed a combat stance, waiting for the command to begin, but what happened next was totally unexpected.

"Ninpo:..."—he whispered almost inaudibly—"Soul Replacement."

A puff of white smoke appeared, and then a face Sasuke never expected to see appeared. It was his father's face, dressed in ordinary jonin attire.

"How dare you use his image against me?!" Sasuke exclaimed angrily, swiftly pulling a kunai from his bag and throwing it at the false image.

Disperse. Remove. Close.

Fugaku's hand trembled slightly and quickly deflected the kunai with his own. His eyes looked bewildered at his palms. Another second passed, and a look of understanding about the current situation appeared.

"I see," came a cold and calm voice, "What's the matter, Sasuke? Itachi is quite an experienced and dangerous shinobi. He has mastered genjutsu and just one eye contact is enough to trap you in an illusion. He could very well use this trick against you."

"He... he wouldn't stoop so low!" Sasuke clashed with the false image, and their kunai blades met. The pressure was so intense it sparked yellow sparks.

"Really? And how well do you really know your older brother?"

"Well enough to kill him!"

"Really? I find that hard to believe. Especially since you haven't even awakened your Sharingan yet and have no idea what exactly contributes to it. Moreover, you don't know how to develop it to match your older brother's level."

"And you... you seem to know?!"

"Of course, Sasuke. After all, I am your father," the blades disengaged, his father's hand caught his and performed a simple sweep. His fist aimed at the face, but struck the ground instead as the boy managed to roll away in time.

"Analyze your opponent's actions."

"Shut up!"

A dozen shurikens thrown. Useless. Dodged with a mere substitution technique.

"Hatred and anger won't help you defeat Itachi. It will only blind you."

"I said shut up!"

"Control your emotions! Discipline your mind!! Emotions can give strength, but they should not overpower you."

"Not another word!"

Hand seals, Fireball Technique, he dodges, but Sasuke managed to knock 'his father' to the ground and raise a kunai for the final blow, yet unexpected tears and a tremble in his hand prevented him from doing what he initially planned. At that moment, the color of Sasuke's iris changed to a bloody hue, and a single tomoe appeared beside his pupil.

"And yet, I was able to help. How does it feel, Sasuke?"

"I... awakened the Sharingan?"

"Yes, you did. Congratulations," a light tap on the chest with a palm slightly pushed him aside and he just stood there, stunned, allowing it to happen, falling onto his backside.

"But... how?! I've trained so much and it was all in vain."

"Remember this feeling when it awakened. Feelings. That's the most important thing in its development to the third stage."

"How do you know all this?"

"Didn't I tell you? Because I am your father..."

"Enough of this nonsense! If you can't say, then just say that," he grumbled displeased and, turning his back, quickly began wiping away tears, viewing it as a sign of weakness.

"Still, I'm glad you're alright, Sasuke."

Even though this voice and image were fake for Sasuke Uchiha, for some strange reason these last words simply did not give him peace, before the Henge image dispersed, revealing the standard image of Takechi.

"Thank you... I could never repay you for this," the echo of Fugaku's voice faintly echoed in Takechi's head.

"It's just training. The dead still can't influence the lives of the living."

"...But thanks to you, maybe they can?"

His question remained unanswered.

Next, last on the list, was Naruto Uzumaki, and here the situation was slightly different.

"Naruto, the only thing I'd like to teach you is a simple understanding of your own technique."

"Um, what's there to understand?"

A heavy, disappointed sigh came from him.

"Alright, I'll provide a simple example. Create a clone," a short nod and a clone appeared with a single seal. Takechi in turn created his own clone.

"Now, they'll step aside and play a game with coins. After which, they'll disperse."

Ten seconds later...

"Ha! I won!" 

"How did you know?"

"Well... the clone, after it dispersed, transferred... the image to my head?"

"Exactly."

"And that means...?"

"Oh... Abyss. How long it takes for you to get it. This is the peculiarity of the technique. Few know that it can not only be used for reconnaissance and studying the enemy's territory and themselves, but also for learning techniques faster, as the experience is transferred to the original. The only side effect is the fatigue that is transferred."

"That's cool, dattebayo! I could become the strongest shinobi and learn lots of techniques! I'll create a hundred clones and...!"

"No, not at all. You will create exactly ten clones for training. No more, no less. Got it?"

"Uh... why?"

"Argh, now I understand why Kakashi runs away from you. You ask too many stupid questions. If I say ten, it means more than ten is not allowed. Your head can't handle more load. Although it's a pretty effective way to train ninjutsu, it puts a lot of strain on your brain. If you saw that image of our game for a couple of seconds, imagine what would happen if a hundred clones at once provided you information?"

"My head will explode?!"

Takechi couldn't help but hit his mask with his palm, forgetting he was wearing it.

"Yes, I'm joking, dattebayo!" he said with a light, unsure smile, throwing his hands behind his head, and then quietly added again. "...It won't explode, right?"

"It definitely will explode, like an overripe watermelon, Naruto. If you keep asking me such questions. So, I think we should start with something simple. Sasuke has already successfully learned an elemental technique, and you should start learning it too."

"Ah! What's my element?"

"Take this leaf and squeeze it between your fingers."

The leaf split in two.

"Wind, huh? Unlucky, though."

"What's that?"

"This element is quite rare and compatible with fire. That means you can quite nicely enhance Sasuke's techniques with your own. The problem is just that there are very few good wind element teachers. I think for now, simple enhancement will suffice. If you can improve it to the maximum, then consider yourself the most dangerous in close combat."

"Cool! And... what should I do?"

"For starters. Take a leaf from the tree and try to slice it between your palms without touching it."

"Um...? If I ask a question, you won't hit me, will you?"

"I'll hit you indeed! I bet you're about to ask another silly question. Learn to think for yourself. I'll explain this one last time in detail. The leaf needs to be cut using wind chakra. You can use ten clones to help. This way, your training will accelerate tenfold. And yes... Naruto, if there's a situation where you come up with a new technique, you wouldn't mind if Sasuke copied it from you, would you?"

"Of course, I don't mind! He's my friend, dattebayo! Just wish he'd give me something in return..."

"He's so naive, silly, yet loyal," Takechi sighed tiredly and smiled slightly at the corners of his mouth. "But it's exactly such fools who make the best friends."

"Don't worry, Sasuke is one of those who don't like to owe anything, so I'm sure he'll find something for you."

"Heh, at least I can show off how cool I am before that, Sasuke," he said, puffing out his chest proudly, hands on his hips, and nose in the air. Takechi suddenly felt an urge to hit Naruto on the head with something heavy, but this desire quickly vanished, replaced by a customary smirk.

"They are still children, after all," the brunette thought to himself, scratching the back of his head with a tired sigh.

Only 29 days left until the Chunin exams...

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