Cursed to live

6

His genin were definitely full of surprises.

Not only were they able to complete their first technically B-rank mission safely, skipping C-rank's entirely, but they managed to come out stronger as a team.

Sakura showed a lot of potential in chakra control and genjutsu. He hadn't intended to introduce the subject to them just yet, but he and Sakura got into a conversation about genjutsu once during the training week because Sakura wanted to discuss the concept of subterfuge with Inari. She asked Kakashi about what he used on her during the genin test and one thing led to another. Kakashi ended up explaining the basics of genjutsu to her and she devoured his words like they were the finest meal.

He agreed to give the team a brief lesson during the week they were recovering from the fight. Sakura was able to break the genjutsu first, followed very closely by Sasuke. Naruto, as predicted, was the dead-last of the team.

And typical of Naruto, he was frustrated, and decided to train harder on genjutsu. Again, Sakura exhibited qualities of a good teacher. She patiently explained to him the basics, which Naruto gave his own interpretation to since he couldn't quite grasp it, and she was there to tell him what he was doing wrong.

Sasuke surprised them by offering to train with Naruto. He didn't have to since he was already quite good at it, but Sasuke didn't seem to mind. So he and Sakura took turns trying genjutsu on Naruto while Naruto tried to break from it. In effect, they improved together.

It was not like everything was good and dandy, of course. Sasuke and Naruto still competed a lot. One time it happened on a simple mission that got so out of hand that Sakura lost her temper and screamed a loud, powerful scream at them. Both Sasuke and Naruto were in a slight state of shock for the rest of the day.

Another surprise was that Sasuke, instead of going off on his own after missions, started to train with Naruto and Sakura at least twice a week. Kakashi was pretty sure this had something to do with the 'mission' he had given Sasuke. Sasuke didn't report back on his status after their little chat at the waterfront. Kakashi didn't ask him, because he could see for himself that Sasuke was improving. Sure enough, Sasuke was still aloof and viewed Naruto and Sakura as inferior to himself, but he started to take care of them and watch over them during missions.

That, however, did not sit well with Naruto.

Naruto's desire to be strong seemed to outdo every possible logic in his head. The more times Sasuke saved him during missions, the more agitated Naruto became. Kakashi was notified more than once that his student was found on the training grounds in the dead of the night past the normal time that genin should be up running about by themselves. They talked about it, or more like Kakashi talked and Naruto just watched the ground around Kakashi's feet with his lips pressed together. Naruto offered no excuse and listened to no advice. With the risk of sounding like Nara Shikaku, this was getting really troublesome.

Kakashi had thought that, given their similar experience in lost and loneliness, Sasuke and Naruto could balance each other out with Sakura as their barometer for normalcy. That was why he tried to encourage Sasuke to connect with Naruto. Who would have thought that Naruto, desperate for friends and attention as he was, would resist.

Their teamwork fell apart a bit when Sakura and Sasuke had a little row during training when she thought he went too far and he thought she wasn't taking the training seriously enough. Mean things were said and Sakura was upset. Those mean things also led to Naruto jumping into Sakura's defence and ended in him and Sasuke brawling on the ground, pulling hair and exchanging punches, which also led to another scream from Sakura. They all went home angry and miserable that day while Kakashi watched them in secret. They didn't try to patch things up afterward although everything seemed somewhat normal the next day.