Sakura’s dedication to perfecting the craft he had given her was commendable. At the beginning he had expected her to take no more than five minutes out of impatience, but she had proved him wrong. Five minutes had become ten, then twenty, thirty, and lastly they had reached an hour’s worth of time. His position in the middle of the training field had been moved to a tree close by, just on her left. Resting on the limb of a tree beside the river, Kakashi looked up from his book just as Pakkun was grumbling below him. Pakkun could only witness so much small but notable improvements in Sakura’s ability to perform a great sum of hand seals at one time, and had dozed off to leave Kakashi monitoring her from time to time. Every now and then he would look up to see that she was just as focused as she had been from the start. After an hour was devoted to this task, the Copy Ninja could not refuse her request to continue. Closing his precious Make-Out Paradise book, he sat up and jumped down to the ground and placed it in his back pocket. Pakkun had yawned loudly and got up to follow, eager for a little more excitement to occur with this girls training. 

[b]“I'm surprised you stuck with this as long as you did. I know repetitive exercises aren’t the most exciting, but you really impressed me by not complaining. Naruto and Sasuke on the other hand…”[/b] Kakashi’s voice trailed off, reaching a subject that may still be of some sensitivity to Sakura. Sasuke was more dedicated to training than either Naruto or Sakura given his goals, but would often voice a complaint if he felt that he had nothing to really work towards. Naruto went without saying; he was a hardworking ninja, but was very vocal about his own impatience while Sasuke just showed it through his demeanor. Sakura was proving to be very different from the two of them, and if it kept up then his bet with Pakkun might actually become a reality. [b]“Well, never mind. Let’s move on to the next stage.”[/b]

Kakashi stood closely beside her and turned to face the river, while Pakkun moved around to Sakura’s right side. Her sensei had performed the hand seals she had worked so hard on to get down, hands moving in such a blur that Sakura may only be able to make out a couple at a time if she were lucky. With him to compare to, Sakura would see the level she could reach in time as long as she continued to work hard. With the final seal in place, the water ahead of them had been disturbed. From the depths of the river emerged a large water dragon, its size and serpent-like shape quite an intimidating sight for an inexperienced opponent. With red eyes, the dragon would look down to the three of them from its superior height. 

[b]“This is the Water Dragon Bullet technique in full form.”[/b]Kakashi relaxed his posture, yet continued to hold on to the Bird hand seal as it was the final seal. The dragon had suddenly twitched and launched itself in the air, leaving the river. Soaring up high, it flew past them and collided into the ground a good twenty feet or so, leaving an impressive crater and of course soaking the entire area it had collided with. Breaking the seal as the dragon was destroyed, Kakashi turned around towards the point of impact. Sakura likely had some questions, after all she hadn’t seen this technique since their mission in the Land of Waves against Zabuza. [b]“You’re smart, so I’ll try to be as informal about this as I can. What that technique does is take your chakra and mold it into that form. The size and power is heavily dependent on the ability of the user, so the one I created won’t necessarily be the exact same as yours. If it’s smaller – or weaker – don’t be discouraged by that. In enough time you’ll leave that same mark, maybe even larger than mine.”[/b] 

Pakkun could feel the ground starting to saturate from here; even though Kakashi was instructing Sakura well, he suspected that after seeing a jutsu at that size leaving such a powerful dent in the earth behind them could be discouraging. The small pug looked up at Sakura, hoping not to see signs of discouragement or doubt. It didn't help that Kakashi didn't even need to look at where he was directing the jutsu, but he doubted showing off was his intention.

[b]“Look at the jutsu as an extension of your own will. At first it might seem strange, but in time controlling it will be child’s play. Your chakra control is incredible for your age, so I’m sure you’ll get the hang of this in no time.”[/b] Kakashi’s eye closed, but even though his mask Sakura could make out the signs of a pleasant expression. Taking a few steps back, Kakashi placed his left hand in his pocket and opened his eye once again. [b]“This time I’ll be right behind you if you need me. Just remember that the size won’t matter as long as you can create the jutsu in a reasonable form. Whenever you’re ready you can get started.” [/b]

This time Kakashi wouldn’t pull out his book, and his eye was definitely going to be on her consistently. This might add pressure, but performing jutsu under pressure was going to be something she would need to do regardless. 

Pakkun turned back towards the river and sat down beside Sakura, looking up at her. Now another pair of eyes would be monitoring her at a close proximity. 

[b]“Self-confidence is a big part of performing well, you know.”[/b] The small pug mentioned to her. If Kakashi was right, then that nervous little girl from the Chuunin Exams was in the process of being a long-forgotten memory. That offer to joining her in on the contract seal would be something he’d mention to his fellow ninken, but Sakura’s personality and drive would play a major part in this. Kakashi didn’t mind if he communicated with her, so long as she could get the task done. [b]“If you do well, I’ll let you rub my paw. It's very soft.”[/b] Pakkun raised his left paw for her to see. The pink pads were something he could take pride in, and he had no problem showing them if need be to help Sakura along. This was similar to the time he offered Shikamaru that very same honor during the Chuunin Exams, and he believed it to be a strong motivational tool.