Three months later, Kakashi still wasn't sure exactly why hehadn't just sent them back to the academy, like he had dozens of students before them.
Certainly, he'd seen something special in them, some spark of brilliance that would never be duplicated exactly in anyone else...but he'd seen the same spark in nearly all the other would-be genin that the academy had sent him, and in fact a good number of them had shone brighter. All of them had been returned,and Kakashi found himself at a loss to explain what exactly had made these three any different, that Kakashi would give them a second chance.
Whatever it was, it wasn't anything to do with Naruto. The boy was unskilled, incompetant, and certainly not ready for service. And it wasn't anything to do with Sasuke, either; His skill had been surprising, but his attitude reminded Kakashi far, far too much of himself as a young man.
Was it Sakura, then, that had caused his moment of weakness? It eemed unlikely. She hadn't even managed to put up a fight against him. She'd spent the whole time worrying about Sasuke, at Naruto's expense...Although, Kakashi considered, at least shewas thinking about someone else on her team. That as certainly an improvement over the other two...
"Sensei!"
Interrupted from his musings, Kakashi looked up from his novel which he wasn't actually reading; too much to think about) to see Sakura standing in front of him, her face slightly flushed, breathing heavy from the morning's exertions. In her arms she held an empty bucket, which had been full of shuriken when Kakashi had handed it her. He'd tasked the students with throwing the shuriken at targets he'd carve into trees, until they'd managed to get a bulls-eye with all of them.
"I'm finished," Sakura said. "Is there anything else you want me to do?"
Kakashi looked past her, at the targets. Sasuke had finished at least an hour ago, his tree marked within the target circle and almost nowhere else. Sakura's tree had had some of the bark stripped off of it by errant throws, but was not in bad shape on the whole. Naruto, on the other hand, had barely hit with any of his throws, and was currently stomping around and cursing out his shuriken. Kakashi shook his head.
"Naruto's throwing technique is completely wrong," he said. If he keeps swinging his arm that way-" he demonstrated quickly with his own right arm- "it's going to pull upwards every single time. Could you go show him how to do it properly? He's much more likely to listen to it coming from you than from me," he added upon seeing her expression.
Sakura turned to look back at Naruto, and grimaced. "I...guess I could," she said, her tone indicating that there were few things that she'd like less to do than give Naruto pointers.
"Just think of it as a chance to show off how much better you are than him," Kakashi said, reaching out with his free hand to ruffle her hair teasingly. "Now, get going. Lunch is waiting for him to finish."
With a nod, Sakura headed back towards where Naruto was trying to hit the target, and failing. Kakashi watched her go, waited until Naruto said something sufficiently stupid to prompt her to hit him, and then went back to wondering what exactly had prompted him to let these three pass.
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Three months later, Kakashi still wasn't sure exactly why hehadn't just sent them back to the academy, like he had dozens of students before them.
Certainly, he'd seen something special in them, some spark of brilliance that would never be duplicated exactly in anyone else...but he'd seen the same spark in nearly all the other would-be genin that the academy had sent him, and in fact a good number of them had shone brighter. All of them had been returned,and Kakashi found himself at a loss to explain what exactly had made these three any different, that Kakashi would give them a second chance.
Whatever it was, it wasn't anything to do with Naruto. The boy was unskilled, incompetant, and certainly not ready for service. And it wasn't anything to do with Sasuke, either; His skill had been surprising, but his attitude reminded Kakashi far, far too much of himself as a young man.
Was it Sakura, then, that had caused his moment of weakness? It eemed unlikely. She hadn't even managed to put up a fight against him. She'd spent the whole time worrying about Sasuke, at Naruto's expense...Although, Kakashi considered, at least shewas thinking about someone else on her team. That as certainly an improvement over the other two...
"Sensei!"
Interrupted from his musings, Kakashi looked up from his novel which he wasn't actually reading; too much to think about) to see Sakura standing in front of him, her face slightly flushed, breathing heavy from the morning's exertions. In her arms she held an empty bucket, which had been full of shuriken when Kakashi had handed it her. He'd tasked the students with throwing the shuriken at targets he'd carve into trees, until they'd managed to get a bulls-eye with all of them.
"I'm finished," Sakura said. "Is there anything else you want me to do?"
Kakashi looked past her, at the targets. Sasuke had finished at least an hour ago, his tree marked within the target circle and almost nowhere else. Sakura's tree had had some of the bark stripped off of it by errant throws, but was not in bad shape on the whole. Naruto, on the other hand, had barely hit with any of his throws, and was currently stomping around and cursing out his shuriken. Kakashi shook his head.
"Naruto's throwing technique is completely wrong," he said. If he keeps swinging his arm that way-" he demonstrated quickly with his own right arm- "it's going to pull upwards every single time. Could you go show him how to do it properly? He's much more likely to listen to it coming from you than from me," he added upon seeing her expression.
Sakura turned to look back at Naruto, and grimaced. "I...guess I could," she said, her tone indicating that there were few things that she'd like less to do than give Naruto pointers.
"Just think of it as a chance to show off how much better you are than him," Kakashi said, reaching out with his free hand to ruffle her hair teasingly. "Now, get going. Lunch is waiting for him to finish."
With a nod, Sakura headed back towards where Naruto was trying to hit the target, and failing. Kakashi watched her go, waited until Naruto said something sufficiently stupid to prompt her to hit him, and then went back to wondering what exactly had prompted him to let these three pass.