"Why are we...tch...being punished?" Naruto grumbled, spitting out small amounts of blood in between heavy breaths.

Sakura's brow was covered in sweat as she concentrated heavily on using her medical ninjutsu to heal the large gash on Naruto back while he was kneeled on the ground, panting heavily. The pinkette found it easier to heal the blonde since he'd chosen to wear some of Sasuke's tighter clothes in order for his normal clothing to withstand this training. Naruto's puffy orange jacket would've only gotten in the way at the moment.

Sasuke stood nearby the two, keeping a lookout though he was in no better condition as his hand twitched with the large, deep, wound on his palm. His forehead was covered in blood, much like Naruto's, as their Sensei decided to go over some harsh training in order for them to get back up to the level he thought they should be.

It wasn't a death-threatening ordeal for the trio but it surely was difficult. Any other Genin or even Chuunin wouldn't be able to survive this type of training.

Sakura groaned softly as her arms shook with exhaustion. She was, luckily, not covered in as much blood as the boys, they'd purposefully pushed her out of the way last minute for many of the Jounin's attacks.

She was grateful but beyond pissed off at them.

"We can't stay here" Sasuke warned, his Sharingan-activated eyes shifting all around the forest they'd decided to hide in. Originally the battle started early in the morning on the training grounds most commonly used by shinobi.

It very quickly escalated to the three students fleeing from their Sensei into the forest, a long way from the training ground.

Naruto huffed and groaned in pain as he gently shook of Sakura's healing hands and stood up, a grimace fixed on his face.

"To, Be careful" Sakura murmured while helping him up.

The blonde clicked his tongue and glanced at the girl before staring straight at Sasuke who was already observing the boy with his Kekkei Genkai.

"He's right, we can't stay here. We need a plan"

"A plan? I thought we had a plan? Run!" Sakura snapped, her concern for her teammates had taken control of her logical mind a while ago.

"Ra! We need you to focus" Sasuke scolded, his glare illuminating his red eyes.

Sakura sucked in a hasty breath and held it, trying to calm herself down "You're right. I'm sorry"

Naruto smiled at the pink-haired girl with ease "Don't worry so much, Ra, as long as we are together. We'll be fine" Naruto assured.

Though the trio didn't realize their Sensei had already found them some time ago and was using his chakra to dumb it down to that of an animal's chakra, which meant Sasuke could notice him but not see him.

The older male smirked as he jumped into action and threw extremely well-placed and well-timed kunai between the three, separating them. Oh, the irony of their situation.

He created four clones, two going for Sasuke and two going for Sakura while the real Kakashi went after Naruto.

Naruto grunted in pain as kunai after kunai kept coming at him, some grazing him and some embedding themselves into his skin.

He started to panic as he noticed Sasuke and Sakura fighting to get to him as he was the most injured but ultimately kept being driven back and further away from their teammate. Naruto kept fighting until he was so deep in the forest, that only the dark shadows of the lonely trees overlooked his bloody self.

Kakashi kept his distance as he watched the young genin frown toward the ground, feeling lost and alone - just like he had when he was a child.

The familiar feeling creeping up on Naruto drove him into a state of panic and he soon found himself breathing heavily and kneeling on the ground.

"What was that about staying together?" Kakashi's voice sounded from afar, startling Naruto as he stood upright in a defensive position.

"You've been working on your defense, haven't you?" The Jounin's voice sounded again though it flittered around the area, making it seem like the sound came from all around the genin.

Naruto gulped, he'd never faced the man alone before.

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask, he silently jumped down and landed behind the blonde. He wasn't a sensory type like Sasuke so the Jounin didn't have to work as hard to cover up his chakra.

Naruto's eyes kept jumping from shadow to shadow, too panicked to think about looking behind him. That was his first and only mistake.

"Naruto" Kakashi whispered as he'd bent down to the genin's ear.

Said genin felt the color drain from his face as he froze. He quickly turned just in time to half-block a kick from the jounin, though Naruto received a bleeding lip and was kicked back a little, he kept himself upright and continued to block the sudden barrage of attacks his Sensei threw at him.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, Naruto managed to create a clone of himself behind an unsuspecting Kakashi whilst flying through the air and landed a kick on the Jounin's temple.

Naruto grinned bloodily whilst he lay against the base of a large, dark, tree.

Though the genin's smile quickly turned to one of horror as his Sensei exploded into smoke upon hitting a tree.

The blonde sighed and looked down, he knew he'd been beaten but he knew he could also use the Kyuubi's power but what would that prove? That he couldn't hold his own in a fight without getting help?

He'd rather admit defeat for now.

A soft thud landed in front of the boy, he struggled to lift his head and look up at his Sensei with a weak grin.

"Well done, Naruto. You've exceeded my expectations" Kakashi praised, surprising the genin.

The Jounin stared down at the blonde Jinchuuriki and felt proud of him for not using the Kyuubi's power. Truthfully, he was a little surprised the boy had passed his test so easily. A test of will.

The white-haired male kneeled down and used his skills to perform some medical ninjutsu on his charge's most brutal wounds before helping him come to a slow stand.

"Why were we being punished?" Naruto grimly questioned, his eyes sad.

Kakashi paused and looked down at the boy with an unreadable expression and the blonde stared up at him, the most innocent the Jounin has seen him since before their first kill.

"You're not being punished, Naruto..." Kakashi whispered softly, he was never the best at consoling someone that was sad.

Naruto didn't seem to buy it as he simply looked down.

Kakashi sighed "This is training. I told Sasuke I'd train you three in the art of torture as you know - Yes that's right, I knew you and Sakura were spying" Kakashi scolded as Naruto looked up, alarmed "Anyway, I am simply preparing you. The training will be harsh and believe it or not..." Kakashi trailed off, looking visibly uncomfortable as he looked away from the boy.

Naruto arched an eyebrow at the man and rolled his eyes in amusement as he knew what the Jounin was trying to say.

"I... tolerate you three more than others..." Kakashi sighed out while running a hand through his hair.

Clearly, the male never had to admit his feelings like this before and just knowing that fact, Naruto started tearing up at the corners of his eyes with happiness. Kakashi, however strict, was more of a father figure to the whole team than he realized.

"Physically though, you guys should really watch yourselves. I won't go easy on you just because you're my team" The white-haired male smiled, a silent threat lingering in the air.

'Way to kill the mood' Naruto thought to himself with an exasperated look and shook his head.

Kakashi continued healing the blonde and eventually leaned back, checking the boy over again for any more injuries.

Naruto lay with his back against the tree and his head resting on the hard bark with his bright blue eyes, peacefully, closed.

Kakashi smiled and reached forward to ruffle his spiky, unbrushed, hair, awakening the boy who seemed to have regained his energy.

"Shall we go collect your teammates?"

"Hai! Lead the way Kashi-Sensei!" Naruto practically bounced up, his beaming smile made the older male aware of the happiness the boy felt from being praised.

Kakashi supposed he should praise the kids more often if this is the reaction he'd get from one simple compliment.

Meanwhile, the Jounin's clones had subdued the two remaining genin's, albeit with a little difficulty.

Sasuke managed to destroy one but was then subdued faster than he'd like to admit while Sakura hadn't destroyed any, she did decide to make it a little fun for herself as she experimented with her new strength. Flowing little chakra through her hands but in the right nerves to greatly differ the impact turned out to be a lot harder than the pinkette had thought but she managed to greatly wound one of the clones at the end which pushed a flood of pride and confidence into her brain.

First to be collected was the female member of team 7. She was just about to slam her foot down on the clone's head when he disappeared into a puff of smoke. Sakura frowned at the sudden lack of experimentation and, instead of destroying most of the forest floor, landed gently where the clone lay moments before.

"Ahh, Well done, Sakura!"

"Way to go, Ra!"

The pinkette heard from behind her, she turned to see her Sensei and the defense member of the team cheering her on.

Though Sakura sweatdropped at the two, especially since Naruto could hardly walk the last time she saw him and now had a ton of energy, she felt a smile grow on her lips as the moment of support became ingrained in her memories.

"Let's go get Ke!" Naruto said with a determined grin.

"Err... Maybe we should get him later...?" Kakashi suddenly expressed, a guilty tone leaving his usually cool lips.

"Eh?" Naruto whined, feeling tired and unwilling to come back later.

"Sensei" Sakura crossed her arms, a disapproving expression on her face.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and tried to avoid the intense eyes of the young genin.

"What did you do?" She upbraided. Clearly, this was one of the times she didn't mind showing her crush for the Uchiha was still present.

"I didn't do anything" Kakashi sheepishly chuckled "But..."

"What?" Naruto questioned, feeling confused at the man's evasive behavior.

"Well...Team 10 and 8 seem to have found him and from what my clone saw before it dispersed, Ino doesn't seem to want to let go of him and Asuma and Kurenai won't stop questioning him on his appearance...come to think of it, those two teams always seem to be together as well." Kakashi tried changing the subject at the end but to no avail.

"His appearance?" Naruto asked as he crossed his arms as well.

"Look at yourself, To, We don't exactly look presentable" Sakura sighed, blowing a lone strand of hair away from her bloody and dirty face.

Naruto looked down at his own attire and realized that even with the healing that his Sensei did for him, he was still covered in bruises and minor wounds. His clothes were torn in too many places for him to really stitch back together, the blonde was just fortunate he'd worn one of Sasuke's black pants and orange shirts - a major surprise to the blonde that an Uchiha actually owned clothing other than black and white.

"Ehh...maybe we should leave him" Naruto muttered and looked up only to find Sakura glaring, fiercely, at him.

"I-I mean...Yeah, let's go get him" The blonde nervously grinned, holding up his hands in surrender.

Kakashi simply watched from the sidelines with amusement. He, too, was somewhat cautious of the pink-haired female when she became angered but he was still their Sensei, which meant he'd have to swallow his slight fear of the girl and attempt to calm her.

"Don't worry, we're not about to leave a comrade behind" Kakashi gave a closed eye smile.

Sakura nodded and began leading the way. Naruto looked at his Sensei and hastily shook his head while miming for them to run. Although the silver-haired male seriously thought about it, he did mean what he said and shook his head before following after the pinkette.

Naruto heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his thick, muddy, hair before running after the two.

It wasn't long after the trio began their search for Sasuke that they found him being coddled by a very anxious and 'sweet' Ino with her squad and squad 8 behind the two. All of which stared anxiously at the boy who simply wouldn't stop glaring at the lot of them.

Kakashi could see the restraint Sasuke was using to stop himself from doing something the Jounin would have to punish him for later.

"Ahh, There you are Sasuke" The copy nin called out with a smile, his nice facade hiding the warning toward his students to act the same.

"Hn" Sasuke grunted in, what almost sounded like, relief before untangling himself from Ino's, surprisingly strong, grip and making his way over to his teammates.

Sakura looked him over and sighed in relief as no serious injuries had made its way on the genin, unlike her other teammate.

Naruto grinned at the Uchiha and gave him a rough pat on the back which received a small glare in return.

"Kakashi, I should've known you'd be the reason behind their injuries and poor appearance" Kurenai muttered, sighing as she closed her eyes with her head tilted downward in disapproval.

Kakashi simply stared blankly at her, refusing to fall into her trap.

"What's your reason now, Hatake?" Asuma questioned, his cigarette hanging lazily on the corner of his mouth.

The genin of the two Jounin watched on with hesitation. They'd been in a situation like this twice now, thrice if they included this one. The younglings simply wanted to get along with their friends and instead their Sensei's seemed to have it out for the one-eyed male.

Kakashi sighed when Asuma called him by his last name. He felt the sudden sadness creeping up on him as he realized the people he once called friends were now always trying to find a reason to distance him from the group even more than he already did himself.

"We were training, Asuma" Kakashi responded, purposefully using his first name in hopes the bearded-man would change his mind in treating the copy-nin this way.

"Hm. You call that training, I call that cruelty" He retorted, not letting up the disrespect.

Naruto glared fiercely beside his Sensei at the man that was supposed to be a role model to his students, but all the blonde found was the same attitude the rest of the village had toward him. Naruto could feel the sudden panic and pain at seeing his Sensei being treated the same way and suspected the silver-haired Jounin always knew what the feeling was like.

"Back off" Naruto growled, trying his hardest not to let the Kyuubi's chakra leak through his eyes.

Kurenai snapped her head up at the blonde as Asuma narrowed his eyes at him. "What?" Asuma called, trying to get a louder challenge from the boy.

Shikamaru twisted his head from his friend and his Sensei in worry, he could already see how wrong this situation could go compared to the others.

The rest of the genin could feel the troubled aura and slowly stepped back, behind their Sensei's while Sasuke and Sakura kept their expressions blank. The two teammates didn't know what to do to calm the genin down at this point as they, too, were rather pissed off at their Sensei's so-called 'comrade's' treating him this way.

Kurenai huffed with a small chuckle "I thought you said you trained your team in ultimate discipline and respect, Kakashi"

Kakashi glanced down at the blonde with sadness in his eye, though Naruto didn't see it as he kept his unwavering scowl on the two Jounin. The genin reminded Kakashi so much of Obito that it hurt almost everytime the Jounin looked at him, it just made it harder to bare as Naruto stood up for him as he did for Kakashi when they were kids.

"I'll say it once more. Back off before I make you" The blonde snarled lowly.

Asuma gave his own glare at the blonde, hoping to intimidate him as, both, he and Kurenai released their killing intent.

Kakashi widened his eye at the sudden change in atmosphere and glanced down at their genin who seemed to cower under the pressure of their bloodlust.

Hinata and Ino had tears running down their cheeks as the boy's eyes held fear that none of them had clearly ever experienced.

The silver-haired Jounin placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder gently pushed him back, signaling the distress the whole ordeal was putting the other genin through.

Naruto's eyes softened as they landed on Hinata. He almost immediately stepped back with his head down and his teammates by his side to keep him in check from there out.

Kakashi turned to the two Jounin, who was under a false impression that they'd scared the boy off, and glared. He refused to release any killing intent as the genin wouldn't be able to cope with that so suddenly.

"Look behind you" Kakashi mumbled, disappointed in his peers.

The two hesitantly did so and quickly realized what they were doing with wide eyes.

There stood their team, crying and shaking with fear.

"There's a reason why I put my students through such harsh training" Kakashi softly stated as to not frighten the kids more.

The two Jounin looked back at Kakashi and his team, who was standing stock still with no hint of fear or any kind of emotion on their faces.

"Now...If you'll excuse us. We need to train for phase three of the Chuunin Exams" Kakashi sadly stated before leading his team away. The trio of team 7 watched the two Jounin try to console their students while walking away.

Naruto still felt so angry at what had happened, Sasuke didn't really feel anything toward the ordeal except maybe disappointment - he hoped Konoha and its people would show him a different process of thought and morale than that of the personalities he'd grown up with but it seemed his old life and the village weren't so different in acting superior to those they thought weak.

Sakura, like Kakashi, simply felt sad. Both knew Konoha wasn't really like this, it was just some people and sometimes even close friends could act out.

Kakashi tried not to take it personally but that was hard when Asuma and Kurenai, in particular, always felt tension around him. He remembered the days where he'd tease them about secretly dating or encourage them or even help them out of a sticky situation...Clearly that connection didn't mean much to them anymore.