25 Conclusion

"Don't worry, you're safe now precious." Kakashi mumbled while lovingly nuzzling the book against his cheek. The three Genin sweat dropped and looked at him weirdly.

"Uh.... Sensei? You're kinda freaking me out here. You're even weirder than that Ebisu dude when it comes to this book." Naruto called Kakashi, a little uncomfortable with the awkward scene before him.

Kakashi coughed as he stood back up, pocketing the book and acting as if he had not just been snuggling a book as one normally would a lover.

"Sorry about that, kids. I guess all of you pass then, you can thank Naruto for that. But do you three know the true nature of this exam? " Kakashi asked them. The three Genin looked at him with confusion evident on their faces.

" Are you telling me this test is all about teamwork? Cuz it seemed like it from the start." Naruto asked him. Kakashi nodded.

" Correct Naruto. The purpose is to see whether you three could forget about your personal interests and successfully work together under these designed circumstances. The duties are done by the team."

" Of course superior individual ability is important to a ninja, but what's even more important than that is teamwork. Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger, and can even get you killed in the battlefield." Kakashi started walking towards the Memorial Stone.

The Memorial Stone is a monument in Konohagakure listing all the ninja who died in service to the village. It looked like a kunai-shaped structure.

"Look at these numerous names carved onto the stone. They are Shinobi recognized as heroes of Konoha. They are all heroes who are killed in action. The Fourth's name is carved on here. My best friend's name is carved on here too." Kakashi muttered while putting a hand on the Memorial Stone. He closed his eyes and paid his respects to the fallen.

He turned back to his students. "You kids are the first Genin team that I've ever passed and put under my tutelage. Everyone else would just do whatever I told them, they were all just morons."

" A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are scum..... That's true...." Kakashi stayed silent before looking up at the sky.

" But you know what? Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." Kakashi gave them a thumbs up.

"That ends the training! All of you pass!!! Starting tomorrow Team 7 will begin it's duties! But before I go.... " Kakashi looked at them.

" Ya know, I was expecting you guys to completely miss the point of this test. It seems I underestimated how close you three are with each other." Kakashi commented. Naruto grinned as he wrapped one of his arms around Sakura while the other around Satsuki.

He pulled them in as he grinned broadly at Kakashi. "These two are the best!! Believe it!!! Without them by my side I would still be a loser right now!" Naruto declared. Sakura blushed and smiled happily at Naruto while Satsuki blushed and started grumbling.

Kakashi chuckled to himself. "Well, that concludes today's meeting, see you kids tomorrow. Meet me tomorrow over at the bridge at 8:00 am so that we can begin our first mission. " Kakashi requested.

" Will you be late again? " Sakura asked him. Kakashi looked back at her and gave her an eye smile.

" I won't. I'm not gonna neglect my duties as a teacher to you three. My neglecting means better chances of you three dying and I'm not letting that happen. That's a promise, Sakura. " Kakashi replied before using the Body Flicker Jutsu to disappear from their sights.

Naruto looked at the girls. "Well, let's go celebrate! I suggest Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto decided, making his two teammates sighed.

"Naruto, you know that it's extremely unhealthy to frequent that place right?" Sakura asked him. Naruto pouted.

"But we haven't had it in a long time." He whined. Satsuki narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's only been two days since we went there Naruto." Satsuki argued with him, making Naruto slump down in defeat. Sakura giggled before patting Naruto's back to console him.

"There there Naruto. Don't be so mean to him, Satsuki." Sakura scolded while glaring at he Uchiha. Satsuki just shrugged in response.

"I think we can make an exception, Naruto. We just did something big in our lives, celebratory ramen should do just fine."

"Yay!!! You're the best Sakura-chan!!"

"I know I am! Believe it!!!"

" Hey! You just copied my thing! "

" Oh, sorry!! Hehe.... "

.

.

Hiruzen sighed to himself as he saw that Kakashi was still not here. "Why don't you all start, Kakashi will probably be several hours late anyway." Sarutobi motioned for the jonin in his office to begin talking.

Someone stepped forward. He was Genma Shiranui, a tokubetsu jonin of and an elite bodyguard to the Hokage.

Tokubetsu Jonin are ninja who, rather than having all-around jōnin skills, only excel in a specific area, much like warrant officers in real-world militaries.

They nevertheless possess enough skill overall, as they are known to have been given the same opportunity as jonin in leading their own genin teams.

Genma has brown, shoulder-length hair which hangs about his face and brown eyes. He wears his forehead protector like a bandanna, and the standard jōnin outfit and always has his trademark senbon in his mouth.

"Lord Hokage, Team 1 has failed." Genma reported as Hiruzen nodded. A second one stepped up and stood beside Genma. He is Aoba Yamashiro and he is also a tokubetsu Jonin like Genma.

Aoba has dark, spiky hair and is always seen wearing red-framed sunglasses which obscures his eyes. He wears the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with flak jacket and forehead protector, the latter of which is worn slightly tilted to the left.

"Team 2 failed as well. They simply don't understand the principals of teamwork." Aoba reported. On this went as teams 3 through 6 failed as well.

"Go on Kurenai-san, since Kakashi isn't here yet." Hiruzen gestured as Kurenai stepped up.

" Team 8 passed." She reported. Asuma went after her, taking a puff of his cigarette.

"Team 10 passed as well." He took a step back as a puff of smoke erupted in the room.

"Sorry I'm late, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around." Kakashi apologized as he appeared from within the smoke.

Several groans were heard at Kakashi's terrible excuse. You would think a ninja as famous as Kakashi would, at the very least, be able to come up with more plausible excuses.

Hiruzen sighed as he shook off his annoyance. "Just give me your report, Kakashi." He grumbled.

"Team 7 passed." Kakashi said with a shrug. For a moment there was such a complete silence that one would almost think they had walked into a grave.

Not even the crickets chirped as everyone stared at the cyclopean jonin with wide eyes and gaping mouths. Kakashi noticed the looks he was receiving and sweat dropped.

"What? I'm not that bad am I?" He asked them.

"YES!!!" Everyone including Hiruzen replied in unison causing Kakashi to rub the back of his head sheepishly.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Very well then. All of you are dismissed." He ordered them. One by one the jonin began to leave in their own unique way, from using the Body Flicker Jutsu to simply walking out the door.

However, Kakashi stayed where he was. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at him. "I take it there is something you still wish to discuss, Kakashi?" Hiruzen asked while talking out his smoking pipe from a drawer.

"I may be overstretching it, but I think my team might be the next pillars of Konoha. Each one of them has so much potential it's practically endless." Kakashi stated confidently. Hiruzen hummed softly.

"You might be right, Kakashi. Naruto is the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, is very good at Fūinjutsu, the Shadow Clone Jutsu and many other aspects of the Shinobi arts, Satsuki is a talented Uchiha who is very good at her clan's Fire Style Jutsu and is the same as Naruto minus the Fūinjutsu and Jinchuriki part."

" Sakura is a genius at chakra control. She's also talented at Genjutsu and very good at medical ninjutsu and being a medic as a whole. Reports about her work in the Konoha Hospital support what I just said." Hiruzen supported Kakashi's statement.

"I really need to question the competence of the academy staff. Why do they not notice how talented these kids are? I mean c'mon, flower pressing classes? Why not include advanced chakra control lessons such as tree and water-walking so that we senseis can focus on teaching them other stuff like nature transformations rather than waste time focusing on these things?" Kakashi asked him. Hiruzen shook his head.

" You would have to blame the civilian council on that. They think that since there is no more war, they can reduce the quality of the academy. I tried to keep it in Kakashi but but the elders gave the okay before I had a say in it. If Minato were here, they would cower under his presence." Hiruzen muttered before looking at Minato's portrait.

"I have no doubt about it. But I do think you should be stricter when it comes to the Council. You can take their advice and opinions to mind, but you have the final say in things. After all, the Konoha Council only exists to help you, the Hokage govern the village. Sorry if I'm stepping out of line here." Kakashi muttered. Hiruzen shook his head.

" No no, you don't need to apologize for that. Because you're right, I am getting softer these days." Hiruzen muttered sadly.

"Uh..... I shouldn't disturb you for much longer, Lord Third. Oh and one last thing... " Kakashi stopped and turned around to look at Hiruzen one last time before leaving the office.

" The Shadow Clone Jutsu should help decrease your workload, sir. It worked for Minato sensei, so it should do wonders for you." Kakashi advised before exiting the office and closing the door behind him.

Hiruzen stayed silent for a while before groaning and angrily slamming his face onto his desk.

"Goddammit!!!!"

To be continued.....