Kakashi watched the three genin struggling up the cliff, they only made it about halfway before Sasuke, surprisingly, slipped. Falling quite a few meters before catching himself, painfully, on a rock several meters behind Sakura. His teammates looked down at him, concerned, but Sasuke simply shrugged off the embarrassment and started climbing once again, taking a fair few minutes to catch up to Sakura. A rather large cut poured blood over his forearm but was otherwise ignored by the Uchiha.

Kakashi sighed at his team. They haven't learned anything but more independence from this which was not his intention at all. If he wanted them to act like a team, he'd have to give them a common enemy, in this case, it'll be him.

After several hours of climbing, the team finally dragged themselves to the top. Naruto came first, then Sasuke and Sakura.

The trio heaved, eager for air but only acquiring small amounts.

Sasuke and Naruto had never trained to this level and were completely exhausted while Sakura never knew training like this existed. Kakashi was slightly worried she'd actually pass out.

The silver-haired man gave them a few minutes to gain some air before breathing out and crossing his arms.

The genin looked up at him, still collapsed around the field of ground sixty-six, confused to see disappointment in their sensei's eyes.

"Let's see..." Kakashi began "Sasuke. Tell me why you think this was necessary."

Sasuke stood up and picked up what pride he had left after being so, pathetically, out of breath. "Hn. To train our strength and stamina." he stated, crossing his arms, copying Kakashi.

Kakashi moved on to the next "Naruto?"

Naruto was still looking rather drained but moved onto one knee "to train our patience and resilience?" He said unsurely.

Kakashi turned to the last of the lot and raised his eyebrow, motioning for Sakura to talk.

She looked at the other two before turning to her sensei "Endurance?" She heaved, grasping her wrists as it still hurt from the climb.

Kakashi looked at the three, wondering why he had to be the one to teach them.

After a good five minutes of giving them a slight glare, he sighed again. It seemed he'd be doing that a lot with this group.

"Sasuke. You think this is about strength and stamina when in fact the climb itself does work on that but it was not the purpose of it. Not only that but when Sakura clearly needed assistance, you didn't even glance in her direction!"
The Uchiha had the decency to look ashamed and lowered his head.

"Naruto, when in fact your statement was also true, you are wrong. Of all people, I would've thought you'd be the one to figure it out and not to mention you showed Sakura where to climb yet didn't stick around to see if she was ok and help her! You were too occupied with your own success instead of someone else's health."
Naruto, too, lowered his head in shame for both, not helping his teammate and for letting down his sensei.

"Sakura. You're wrong too, but not only that, you're pathetic. You challenge the boys-"

"How did you-" Sakura gasped.

"-yet you can't even make it close to halfway up the cliff before struggling and giving up on your confident challenge"

Sakura looked on the verge of tears and tried to collect herself.

"You're a disgrace" he ended with frightful venom in his voice.

The trio looked shocked and felt like a joke. Sasuke, who had now taken it as a shot to his pride, drew a kunai and ran toward his Sensei, anger overriding any sense of control and calmness.

Kakashi sighed and gradually hit a pressure point on the boy's wrist, causing a painful spasm. Sasuke cringed, not expecting Kakashi to follow through with his defense. His sensei raised his leg and kicked the side of Sasuke's head. He flew across the field, smashing into a large tree, denting it and creating a small crater where his head hit.

Naruto and Sakura gaped at the scene. Sasuke groaned and slowly lifted himself to his elbows, using one hand to wipe the blood from his lips even though a large amount of it poured from his temple. He stared at his sensei in disbelief.

Kakashi righted himself and stood tall, showing dominance over the lot by releasing a small amount of killing intent. The kids shivered with fear though Sasuke showed a slight amount more resistance, it didn't last long before he started shivering from fear as well.

The genin's eyes were wide as they stared at the man Infront of them, not knowing what to do and feeling genuinely afraid.

"Let me make this clear to you" the copycat nin started "this is not a democracy. I am the leader and you are simple soldiers. I am alpha here and what I say goes. Discipline and respect will be shown in this team and that is exactly what this is. A team. The whole point of this exercise was teamwork!" he ended with a deep stern voice.

The genin were dumbfounded after being told what the lesson was supposed to be. Everything came to them as it all started making sense, they had worked together with the three scrolls. Why couldn't they do it now? Was it because back then, they had to in order to stay genin instead of going back to the academy?

Sakura took in the information her sensei dished out but kept a concerned eye on Sasuke who had staggered to a stand. His eyes held acknowledgment of what Kakashi was saying, if doing things his way would make him stronger then he'd play the part, though he knew Kakashi was no fool. He couldn't lie to the copycat nin, he may get his ass beaten for it but he'd be truthful with his sensei.

Naruto glared daggers at Kakashi, he had hurt his teammate and given them such a simple mission to do yet they couldn't figure it out, they couldn't get past their own selfish agendas to help their team and work together. Most of all he blamed himself for not figuring it out sooner like Kakashi sensei had expected of him.

"Are you ready to take my training seriously yet?" The silver-haired man asked, pointedly looking at Sasuke's direction.

The trio stood the straightest they could after such a show and synchronized together "Hai Sensei!"

"Then let's get started. In my hand" Kakashi started, pulling out three identical looking silver bells "are three bells. Parts of the next phase is within each bell. Find the clue, find the answer. Not hard" Kakashi finished before throwing a bell to each of them who caught it with ease.

His charges looked at their bells in confusion.

Kakashi took a minute to look at them before jumping away, giving them some time to figure it out, if they could.

the trio walked over to each other. "Well? are we going to work together this time?" Naruto questioned, unsure if Sasuke would act out now that Kakashi was gone. Sakura was still giving Sasuke a concerned eye while he was still ignoring her.

"Hn. Obviously. If we don't, Kakashi-Sensei will come back and who knows what he'll do then" The Uchiha muttered as a cold shiver went down his spine, still, he tried to hide his fear. He hadn't been this shaken up since the Uchiha Massacre, it made him feel weak and weakness was not an option anymore. Not for him.

"Alright... Then let's see what we can get from these bells" Sakura suggested, breaking her gaze from the boy and looking down at her bell as the boys copied her actions.

After 10 minutes of just staring at the bells, Naruto groaned in defeat "I can't figure it out, what are we supposed to do with this!" The blonde boy yelled, throwing the bell to the ground and stomping on it.

"Naruto! What are you doing! Stop that Baka!" Sakura barked, pushing Naruto to the side before picking up the bell and eyeing it.

Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

"Hmm, Sakura, why did you push me? it's too hard, Believe it" Naruto complained, rubbing his head from where he hit it against the ground.

"Hn, Dobe, can't you see she's figured something out?" Sasuke grunted, shoving his hands into his pockets and glancing over to Sakura's direction.

Naruto acknowledged what Sasuke said and looked at Sakura who was intensely staring at the bell.

"Sakura? what did you find?"

The pink haired Kunoichi snapped out of her trance and answered Naruto "There's some sort of description inside the bell"

The boys widened their eyes and took a step closer to see the Kanji symbol for team inside. "Kunyomi?" Sakura muttered, clearly confused along with her teammates.

Sasuke took another moment to stare at the symbol, thinking it to be a waste of time if Kakashi was trying to say they had to work as a team, he was already dealing with them. What more did he want?

Naruto was slightly excited, his bell had the team symbol, which usually meant friends. Maybe he won't be alone from now on, either way, Naruto felt excited at the possibility.

Sakura looked at their reactions, feeling slightly put off, observing how obvious their emotions were showing and what they were thinking. "Anyway..." She muttered, gaining the attention of the other two. Sakura looked down at her own bell and at a glance between the slits, dark ink could be seen in between. She, too, crushed her bell and bent it open.

Naruto and Sasuke leaned over her shoulder to peek inside. The Kanji for family stood out especially to the boys "Kazoku" Sakura murmured sadly, glancing at her teammates, Both of whom, looked away with slight glares.

"Hn. Is he trying to make fun of us for not having parents?" Sasuke growled, obviously a sensitive point had been struck. Naruto felt extremely sad at the mention of family but recovered swiftly and snatched Sasuke's bell from him while he was still glaring at the ground.

Th raven-haired boy directed his glare at Naruto but otherwise said nothing.

Smashing the last bell and taking a glimpse inside, the Kanji for peace peered back at him.

Naruto looked up at his friends, who stared back expectantly and guarded.

"Heiwa"

The genin took a minute to absorb the information given to them and try to decipher what it meant.

"I've got nothing, what about you guys?" Naruto admitted, sheepishly.

"Nothing" Sakura sighed glumly.

The two looked at Sasuke who shifted under their gaze "hn, probably his dream team" He mocked, crossing his arms as the other two snickered.

The wind picked up slightly, blowing leaves across the field. The genin stiffened, feeling uneasy as a strange cold feeling settled upon them.

A pile of leaves formed Infront of them and soon became a tiny whirlwind before Kakashi appeared inside, his gaze striking fear into his charges hearts.

"What was that Sasuke?" Kakashi innocently asked.

"Gomen sensei... But this is what you expect of us, isn't it?" Sasuke replied, his tone hesitant but otherwise respectful. Obviously, he hadn't wanted another beating from the copycat.

"Yes. As you said, a dream team which will become a reality" Kakashi went on "Naruto, you were given kunyomi, not because you'll lead the team but because you'll protect it. Your position in this squad will be support and defense, you'll also be the intelligence for this team, any information on nins will be relayed to the team before battle against said foe" Naruto looked slightly disappointed, he had wanted to be on the front line of attacking but couldn't complain at his position either as it wasn't all that bad.

Kakashi moved on to Sakura who looked eager to learn her position. "Sakura you will be last defense and support, it'll be your job to scout and infiltrate to gain information. You'll be more focused on support than anything. You will treat your team as family, looking after them." Sakura slightly smiled, glad she hadn't received a harder position, she wasn't cut out for the front line anyway.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke who was waiting patiently for his position.

"Sasuke. You'll be on the front line, you'll be on attack and interrogation. Your job is to protect this team before any of them reach your teammates, if an enemy is captured, it is up to you to gain information from them. You will lay your life down before letting an enemy pass your defenses. Peace will be kept through you." Kakashi finished.

Sasuke had no problem with his position apart from laying his life down for the two idiots on his team, but in time he would get used to it.

"Knowledge is power, don't forget that"

"Understood?" Kakashi asked in a firm voice, Looking each of them in the eye.

"Hai" They said, actually feeling like a team for once.

Kakashi's demeanor suddenly changed and almost gave the kids a whiplash as he gave a carefree closed eye smile.

The genin deadpanned at their sensei's bipolar mood before being dismissed. Told to meet again tomorrow and climb the cliff every morning when meeting at the training ground. This was now officially their training ground and they'd have to get used to it.

Kakashi looked on at his charges as they took the stairs down the steep cliff, deep in thought but appearing more at ease with each other.

Thoughts of his old teammates kept clouding his mind but he promised himself he wasn't going to mope around. Even after Obito died, it was decided he'd become stronger for him and with that thought, Kakashi set out his own hardcore training before heading home to read icha icha paradise.