A couple of hours after they arrived at the house, Naruto and Sasuke asked Sakura to tend to Kakashi as they trained. She'd been opposed to the idea until Sasuke had asked. This alone had made her give in.
Kakashi was in a terrible state of chakra deprivation. However, the man managed to recover within a week.
On the first day, Naruto and Sasuke had rested heavily. Sasuke didn't know what they should do, and Naruto was letting his clones explore the village under henge. The second day, the two decided they should train against each other extensively. Their practice was extremely helpful for the two, and by the end of the day, Naruto knew much better how to counter Sasuke. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days were the same, except on the sixth, Naruto offered to relieve Sakura of her sensei's watching duties. She refused, saying Sasuke had asked her to do it, and she wouldn't stop because an idiot like Naruto asked.
On the seventh day, Kakashi finally awoke. The man gathered his student to his makeshift hospital bed and spoke.
In a lazy drawl, Kakashi began, "We've confirmed that both of them are dead. However, this fight gave me a realization…"
Naruto and Sasuke leaned in, their attention drawn.
"...I need to train again. I've gotten rusty. However, you too need to train. Sasuke and Naruto proved that they can assist me when things go awry, and so I think we should be able to handle C-Ranks…" Kakashi paused, as he fished for his little orange book, "...However, for me to put so much effort into this, I require a deal."
Naruto continued to lean in and said, "What is the deal?"
"I'll convince the Hokage to give us C-ranks, as well as train you all to the best of your ability. If you all promise to practice working together on your own time. You three could be the future Sannin if you learned to complement each other. Also, you have to buy every single new icha-icha book that comes out."
The seriousness of their sensei's final sentence caused Naruto to topple over dramatically.
Sasuke had his normal bored look, but internally, he was genuinely considering the idea. For him and Naruto, their teamwork was already going to be legendary, but Sakura was their loose end.
Sasuke was about to voice this when Kakashi spoke up again.
"Lastly, Sasuke and Naruto step out for a moment."
The two boys nodded and walked out of the room. Kakashi continued to read his book for a long time and then tossed it on his makeshift bed.
"Sakura. I have half a mind to have the Hokage relieve you of your duties."
Sakura's face faltered. Then it twisted into visible confusion, "W-What are you talking about, sensei?"
Kakashi looked at her, keeping her gaze for an uncomfortable amount of time.
"Both times we've encountered shinobi, you've done nothing. I assume you had Tazuna lead you here, but otherwise, there was no participation on your part. Don't get me wrong, Naruto and Sasuke did their job of attacking shinobi perfectly…" Kakashi grabbed his book in his hand once again, "...You sat there letting them do all the work and direct you. You also only listen to Sasuke, even though you know the ideas are coming from Naruto. I was going to let it be, thinking perhaps you would simply overwhelm them with your academic mind. No, you lack the discipline to actually apply that to shinobi life."
Kakashi let out a breath and subtly gripped the book's binding a little bit tighter.
"I once knew a kunoichi; she was infatuated with me. However, it did not stop her; she was still extremely intelligent and knew medical ninjutsu and genjutsu. She was extremely skilled to the point that she was able to implant replacement eyes for people right after a gruesome battle. She was not much older than you. I can promise you, Sakura, there will be war in your lifetime, and you will have to fight and protect people. Unfortunately, as you are, you are just a civilian with a slightly superior fighting education. If you don't improve within the next month, in both your disposition and ability, I will make it so my entire mind is convinced to relieve you of your shinobi duty."
Sakura was quiet. There was nothing she could say to properly counter that. She just hadn't expected such harsh words from her sensei.
Her sensei didn't say anything else, choosing to lie back down and begin reading once again.
Sakura thought, 'Kakashi-sensei was right. Even Naruto, who was dead last in our class, has shot ahead of me and is sparring with Sasuke. I need to do better. My parents spent a fortune on putting me in the Academy. They've bought me tools and supported my original desire to be a kunoichi. Yet I've spat in their face, doing nothing I should be.'
Kakashi pretended to read his book, but in reality, he was looking at his student. Sakura's face was twisting and slowly losing its light. Kakashi almost groaned; she didn't need to change her happiness to be a good shinobi. Emotions might not serve on a battlefield, but he knew that bottling them up was not a good choice either. So he watched her carefully think his speech over in her head.
Meanwhile, outside the house of Tazuna, Naruto and Sasuke sat in comfortable silence, resting their legs over the side of the dock leading to the house. They didn't have anything to talk about and were simply waiting for Sakura to walk outside and tell them it was okay to return.
As they sat, Naruto skipped rocks across the water, unable to sit still. Then the two of them heard the cawing of a crow in the distance. Within a few minutes, the crow grew less distant and landed on a wooden post sticking out of the water.
"Naruto Uzumaki! Naruto Uzumaki! I have found you!"
Naruto walked up to the crow and picked up the small scroll in its claw.
The scroll read:
Naruto-san, it has been a long while since I last wrote to you. For that, I deeply apologize. I've been extremely busy dealing with border disputes. I wanted to say I will be returning to Konoha within the next two months, as the chunin exams are happening. I assume I will gain the rank and am simply excited to go to see you and Sasuke-san.
I've grown somewhat strong, and I will only be training and doing one or two missions in the next months, to make sure my country makes a good showing. I hope you've kept up with your training. I have, and I won't let you find out until we either fight in the exam or spar after them.
Sincerely, Raito Arashi, Genin. Heir to the Arashi Clan.
Naruto's grin widened exponentially as he read the letter, and he told the crow to stay, and he would feed it. Naruto showed Sasuke the letter before running off inside to grab some live fish bait for the crow. Tazuna's family had some, and as a little kid, Inari occasionally went fishing.
He then wrote his own return letter to Raito before feeding the crow the food and handing it the new scroll. The crow cawed and flew off into the distance. It would not take long to get the message to the recipient. Naruto grinned as he and Sasuke looked at the crow fly off into the distance.