This was horribly unfair. Is this a punishment? Sakura thought to herself with furrowed brows as she ate her lunch in complete silence, glancing at Sasuke with concern every now and then. Guilt was bubbling in her stomach, and she couldn't help but want to give Sasuke her bento instead. Why is Sasuke receiving all the punishment for what Sakura has done? It felt terrible to burden someone else with the consequences of your mistakes.

"Sasuke-kun.... I don't think Kakashi sensei is anywhere nearby right now," Sakura spoke softly, just in case their sensei was around. Naruto's head perked up in curiosity. Was Sakura going to offer her bento to Sasuke? Initially, Naruto wanted to do so as well, but Sasuke might get mad at him for destroying his only chance to becoming genin right now. To be completely honest, he's slightly taken aback by the fact that Kakashi sensei would give them lunch for free. The only ones who've ever done that for him was Teuchi-san and Ayame-san. Or...maybe it wasn't free. Naruto paled at the thought of Kakashi draining all of his life savings for eating a bento that he offered. What if it was expensive?

"Save it," Sasuke scoffed slightly. He knew Kakashi wasn't anywhere nearby, he couldn't sense his chakra at all. But that didn't mean that he was going to give up his pride just for some stupid ass lunch. As if on cue, a growl erupted from Sasuke's stomach. Sakura could swear he was scowling at himself before hesitantly nodding, giving in to her offer.

"S-Sakura-san, you don't have to....Um, Sasuke can take mine. I don't really feel like eating," Naruto stammered nervously as he slid his bento box over to Sasuke. God, he's a terrible person. Is he really shoving the responsibility of a heavy debt for a bento box in the face of his teammate? But Sasuke was rich and favored by the villagers, maybe he has the ability to make up for such a heavy debt. Surely it'd be 5000...no, maybe 100K ryo for that bento box. Or is he being a bitch again for suspecting his sensei to be someone who would try to leech money off a kid? Maybe not to other kids, but then again, Naruto was Naruto. Why wouldn't anyone drain his life savings and watch him starve to death?

"I don't need it, I can't even eat with my hands tied up like this," Sasuke snarled, slightly irritated from the embarrassment Kakashi is making him go through. Naruto frowned in thought before Sakura opened her mouth to speak. Certainly she wasn't going to- "It's fine! We can feed you!" -suggest to feed him.

Him? Sasuke Uchiha, the last Uchiha, the lone survivor of the bloody Uchiha massacre, the boy full of hatred out in search for sweet revenge. HE!? accepted. THE prideful, arrogant, boastful Sasuke Uchiha now sat, tied to a log, reluctantly opening his mouth as he waited for food to enter his mouth from the chopsticks of a dumbass and a freak. Absolutely unbelievable, he seethed to himself silently. This would scar him for ages to come. It would tarnish his whole name.. Sasuke Uchiha, the boy who claimed to be able to execute his revenge when he couldn't free himself from a log to eat his bento box lunch.

"Here comes the airplane~" Sakura teased as she waved her spoon around before shoving the spoon into Sasuke's mouth. The Uchiha grunted in annoyance, chewing on the food before he swallowed. He stared far off into the distance as an old memory slipped into his head.

"Sasuke, here comes the airplane~!"

"Mom, quit teasing me!! I can eat on my own already.."

"Alright, alright. Eat like a good boy okay? I'm heading back to the kitchen..."

"Mom...." he whispered under his breath. Thankfully for him, Sakura didn't hear him utter a word. The taste of the homemade bento and the thought of this moment with his teammates made his lips twitch up into a small smile. Perhaps...This isn't so bad after all.

His wholesome moment was ruined completely as there was a burst a smoke right before them, blowing away the spoon Sakura was holding in her hand. The three genins stared at the figure within all the smoke in horror as thunder rumbled in the clouds. "Now. I believe I had given you a second chance. I was nice to you in all ways.... but I had one command. One single order for you guys, but what have you done?"

"S-Sensei," Sakura blurted out mindlessly out of fear, trying to make an excuse for their situation. "Sasuke is my teammate- OUR teammate!"

"And that's the excuse you've came up with? What is this? Do you think you can save yourselves on the battlefield with the power of friendship?" Kakashi continued to question her, this time staring at Sakura straight in the eyes. She gulped, hands clutching onto the grass beneath her as she trembled. "Don't you think you are a disgrace as a shinobi?"

"Her guilt led to her selfish and reckless behaviour," Sasuke spoke, glaring at his sensei. Sakura spun towards him with her eyes wide, unsure of what to feel about what Sasuke had just said about her. Betrayal? So what, she 'betrayed' him first. "But there are always times when you have to break the rules for the sake of your fami.... teammates. Isn't that what you said? She chose her teammates over her responsibility as a shinobi."

"And so?" Kakashi averted his gaze towards Sasuke, eyeing him sternly. The Uchiha was quick to avoid his gaze before frowning and turning to stare straight at his sensei in the eye again. Fear was not something he could afford to be dragged down by on the battlefield. He couldn't just look at blood and listen to threats only for himself to walk down the memory lane of bloodshed again. There was no use in avoiding these problems, it'll only come back worsened by tenfold.

"I.. I think Sakura did what was right," Naruto finally spoke up after staying silent the whole while. Kakashi then set his eyes upon Naruto who flinched at his gaze, immediately looking away with wide eyes. He shouldn't have. He really shouldn't have said anything, no one gave him the permission to talk, after all. He wouldn't utter another word again, he's done worse than he ever needed to. He nervously fidgeted with the grass in his hands, pulling them up in hopes to calm himself and have the courage to look at Kakashi sensei. But he couldn't. He wasn't like Sasuke, nor was he like Sakura.

"If that's all your excuses, I only have one thing left to say to all of you," Kakashi stared at all of his genins as he spoke. Sasuke gritted his teeth in irritation, both at his sensei and well....mostly his sensei. Sakura prepared herself to be sent back to the academy, making sure to keep this lesson in her mind forever. Naruto silently cursed himself for dragging his teammates down, feeling pity towards them for having Naruto on their team, again. Kakashi sighed, lips curling up into a small smile underneath his mask. "And that is......you pass."

The grey clouds were gone, and the tense atmosphere was replaced with a warm one as Kakashi's smile was now visible to the genins. The three of them stared at him, each with their own dumbfounded expressions showing quite clearly. The first to regain composure and register his words was Naruto, who beamed in delight. Of course he'd be happy, this felt like a dream! He, the idiotic Naruto Uzumaki has become a genin? It's unbelievable even for himself.

Sasuke coughed lightly at his own surprise before letting a smile crawl onto his face, which turned out to be more of a smirk since he failed terribly at trying to hiding the grin threatening to bloom. Sakura's eyes practically shone in happiness as she glanced at her teammates and back at Kakashi, then back at her teammates again. Naruto smiled back at her, and Sasuke gave a small huff with closed eyes, vaguely acknowledging her happiness for all three of them as a team.

"This isn't a joke, is it? Just got to make sure, with all the stupid games you've been playing," Sasuke spoke, holding back the urge to eyeroll at their now official sensei who chuckled awkwardly in return. They were relieved when Kakashi shook his head, crossing his arms as he watched the cute little genins have their moment together.

"Well, I suppose I've already made bad enough of an impression for you guys to think that I'd lie to you about passing and becoming a genin," Kakashi hummed to himself. Sakura and Sasuke agreed, very aggressively nodding their heads at Kakashi's statement. Naruto frowned in confusion, but watched them continue to fire insults at Kakashi who seemed completely indifferent to them, listening with the smile still on his face. "I was thinking of making up for that by treating you guys to a better lunch since I just blew away your bento, but I guess that's not what you guys are looking for, hmm?"

Sakura and Sasuke, mainly Sakura, froze in the middle of their almost endless barrage of insults and criticism. Naruto swore he could see the smugness in Kakashi's eyes as the two of his teammates cleared their throats. Sakura heaved a deep sigh before apologising. "Sorry for all the harsh and inconsiderate words, Kakashi sensei. But since we met yesterday for the first time, I had this feeling that you wouldn't be the best teacher out there. I thought you wouldn't be a very responsible person, and I regret to admit that I still feel that way."

Kakashi's eye twitched in slight annoyance but allowed the girl to continue on. "From how you've been late to both of our team meetings, I am scared that you won't take this job seriously, and result in us being a failure of a shinobi. I have told you my dream, and I want it to become reality. I just cannot do with such an irresponsible teacher like you. I was going to file a complaint about getting a horrible teacher yesterday but I forgot about that. I guess I wouldn't have to file it now, though. I apologise for my words, but I will not take them back because I mean them," Sakura begrudgingly mumbled out her apologies.

'I supposed I could try to work on being more responsible...' Kakashi thought to himself, thinking about Sakura's comments on his responsibility as a teacher. What she said was mostly true so far, so he really had nothing to defend himself with. But he'll see how these kids do first, maybe he'll make use of them to get money with D-rank missions in the position of their sensei. Yep, Sakura was right. He's a horrible teacher, but it's for gaining more experience, after all! Who could these little genins be to complain?

"Alright then, what do you guys want to eat? It's on me, but nothing to expensive or I'm taking your mission rewards away," Kakashi asked his cute little genins, words coming out as more of a threat rather than a sweet taste of reward. Sakura and Sasuke couldn't think of any, but of course, the bright sunshine Naruto could. Seeing how Naruto was practically trembling in excitement to give suggestions, he nodded at the boy as a cue to speak.

"Umm...I was thinking we could get ramen...at a stall I know! The ramen there is very good, and Teuchi-san is so nice," Naruto blurted out everything he wanted to say right after getting permission to speak up.

"Ramen sounds nice. Any objections?" Kakashi asked the other two cute little genins for approval, ignoring the unknown name Naruto had just mentioned. The two of them shook their heads no, and so it was decided. "Lead the way, Naruto!"

The blonde boy beamed and started to ramble on about how good the ramen there was, including how Teuchi and Ayame occasionally let Naruto have a bowl or two on the house as he spoke. All the time while he walked down the streets of Konoha merrily, he didn't bat an eye or feel anything from the villagers' constant staring for the first time ever. He kept looking back at his teammates to check if they're still following him, as if they'd disappear the next moment he blinks.

Sakura was listening to Naruto enthusiastically, happy to see the boy ramble on so much about his seemingly irrelevant, yet wholesome, meaningful memories and thoughts of his own. This was probably the most she'd seen him talk, and she never wanted it to end. Ever. While Sasuke walked in between both his teammates and his sensei, Kakashi couldn't help but smile softly, recalling his genin days.

"But there are always times when you have to break the rules for the sake of your fami.... teammates."

Maybe his cute little Uchiha genin was just a little tsundere, because Kakashi knew clearly what he heard from him just now during the bell test. And yes, Sasuke was completely right.

"Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto."

The three now official genins turned around to stare at their sensei with a questioning gaze, waiting for him to continue his sentence. Kakashi allowed a smile to slip onto his face as he shut the book he was holding in his hands. "The world of shinobi is cruel, and it's hard to survive without each other. From now on, I hope you can treat each other like family and become the best and the brightest."

Sakura nodded with a determined smile at her sensei and teammates. She wants to be able to consider herself someone close to Naruto, and for Naruto to regard her as family as well. Of course, she was well aware of Naruto's background just like everyone else is. That only made her more determined to give Naruto the chance of experiencing a life with family, rid of his loneliness.

Sakura was no fool, and she would not be convinced that Naruto was completely fine mentally after all the ostracism he faced throughout his whole life. She will change Naruto's possibly shitty life for the better, not just as a teammate, but as family as well. Of course, Sasuke was going to be included as well. It didn't matter if he doesn't want to, as long as they are teammates, Sakura will pull them all together with whatever she could do.

Sasuke had to blink twice as he heard that. He'd never admit that Sakura reminded him of his late mother, but it was an undeniable fact that he found himself more comfortable around her for some reason. Sakura was always much different from the other fangirls, that itself was so very clear. It's easy to mistake Sakura as one of his fangirls, but Sasuke knew Sakura didn't care about him at all back in the academy.

She was a freak that was chasing after nothing other than strength and working way too hard for an academy student. However, as soon as they became teammates, Sakura seemed to view him as more of a person rather than an object, or at least that's what Sasuke felt himself. It kind of warmed his heart a little, even if he knew she was probably going to become a workaholic as she becomes a shinobi.

Naruto on the other hand, could feel nothing but excitement at the thought of having his teammates as family. From his observations, family seemed to be someone you'd be able to meet whenever you're done with work and go home, so does that mean they'd be living together? Do they get hugs, warm words of encouragement and lots, lots of positive attention? He prayed that Kakashi sensei wasn't lying about them becoming family, even though he probably is. Even if he wasn't lying, Naruto might not be included in this so called family. But being teammates meant doing jobs and missions together, so maybe that meant that they'd treat him nicer than other people since they'd still have to cooperate with each other.

But that made Naruto slightly worried as well, what if they get mad at him for not keeping up? After all, he was just the extra that got a chance to join a team, probably out of Hokage-sama's pity. He was aware that he was practically talentless other than having a huge chakra reserve. He admits that he has faster reflexes than civilians of course, like how he could sense the clock that was about to go off, how he still had time to decide whether or not to give in when someone was about to grab him and throw him out of a shop, but surely his teammates could do that much better than he could. But oh, little did Naruto know.

"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Your teammates, your family are always your number one priority no matter what situation it is. Treasure each other dearly," Kakashi advised, his genins listening attentively while nodding their heads. "Do not ever, in any circumstances, disregard each other."

Sakura seemed to feel ashamed at herself after that sentence, and Kakashi decided that he had given enough advice for the genins to hopefully understand. He flipped his book open again and smiled at the three fresh academy graduates who smiled back in return. "Alright then. Naruto, don't stop walking just yet. We're all hungry."