Kakashi and Pakkun both watched as Sakura began to perform the task assigned to her. She was taking it slowly and finding her comfort zone; the pressure was meant to make this a little uneasy, but so far she was doing very well. The water began to tremble and converge, creating a miniature version of the technique that was not at all something Kakashi or Pakkun would be frightened to see coming towards them. Sakura was taking it one small step at a time, but poured more chakra into the technique to make her jutsu stronger and much more fearsome by appearance. Taking note of her struggle to strengthen the technique and maintain complete control, the size increase was momentarily impressive – there was no good in a technique you couldn’t maintain control of, and Sakura was smart enough to know her own limits. Rather than struggle to contend with the new size of her construct, she scaled it back down to a comfortable size that was smaller but more easily maintained with her current skill level. Once that was completed, she had taken to launching the technique to one of many trees scattered around them in the surrounding area. Pakkun looked from the area of impact to Sakura, who appeared very much content with her own performance, as well as curious of his paws. 

**“Do I appear like the type of ninken to lie about such a thing? A deal was a deal.”** Pakkun was prepared to honor Sakura with feeling his high quality soft paws, but Kakashi appeared to have other plans. Following Sakura’s gaze, Pakkun immediately noticed that the Copy Ninja had reached for a kunai from his pouch. 

**“I expected nothing less from you.” **Kakashi felt Sakura’s eyes on him now; he appeared somewhat disinterested in the result, quite the opposite of his statement. She would understand why the tune was beginning to change in just a moment. With kunai in hand he had sliced open his left thumb, creating a small wound that drew blood. Pakkun knew what was coming next. **“Now comes a real test – you’ve done well for your first time, but the easygoing nature of training this far is over.” **

Performing the Dog hand seal after stowing away the kunai once again, Kakashi had knelt down and brought both hands to the ground beneath them. From the small explosion of smoke came [seven ninken](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Ninken?file=Ninken_summoned_to_search_Orochi.png) – all were obviously comrades related to Pakkun, different shapes and sizes but quite the team by appearance and formation alone. Each of them took one long look at Sakura, sizing her up in short silence. An explanation of their appearance was soon to follow, because if Pakkun was here he would be able to fill them in. 

**“Pakkun, can you explain to them?”** Kakashi stood back up and looked to the smallest and long-present ninken. 

**“Understood. Sorry, Sakura,”** Pakkun looked up to the pink-haired kunoichi,** “You can rub my paw at another time.”** He began to step away, allowing Kakashi time to brief Sakura in privacy. Pakkun already knew of Kakashi’s conditions, and all they needed now was his signal to begin. Once the group of eight had cleared out at least twenty feet or so away, Kakashi’s eye had returned to Sakura.

**“What comes next is this: Pakkun and the others are going to come at you as a unit and bite you, not hard, but firmly. Your job is to not allow any of them to do so. Sounds easy, right?”** Kakashi paused, certain that Sakura was more than able to piece together that it was not going to be so simple. The pressure of performing a jutsu successfully under his watch may have gotten to her, but now she had to do it with people actively working to prevent it. Getting her to memorize the seals and perform the jutsu under a peaceful condition was a kindness – Sakura would no longer have that. **“It goes without saying that in the heat of battle an opponent will take advantage of your vulnerability while completing hand seals. You’re intelligent, so memorizing them before wasn’t going to be difficult, and I accepted that. I created this exercise in order to increase your ability to complete a jutsu under pressure, against experienced opponents who can keep up with me on levels required for ANBU operations. It wasn’t designed for you to pass in a day, and unlike before I’m not going to give you tips. This will be trial and error, and I asked Pakkun to not go easy on you, because an enemy won’t.” **

Laid out on the table were the facts that Sakura was being allowed to absorb. Kakashi giving her time to memorize the hand seals and take her time was intentional, not only for her to help memorize it, but to now be put in a situation where she could no longer stand idle and do as she pleased. Against a trained unit like his ninken, Sakura could also determine that her disadvantage was even larger. Under Kakashi’s watch the ninken were a favored tool during his days in ANBU, and here Sakura was merely a Genin in the face of them. Underestimating them could mean a harsher defeat than what Kakashi was already expecting. Yet he wanted this – he wanted Sakura to get weary and experience a level of exhaustion and emotional distress like she had never known before. It might have seemed cruel of him to put her in this position, but by asking for his assistance it had already meant that Sakura was prepared to do what it took to become capable and strong. 

**“You’ll be doing this for an hour minimum, and afterwards we can get some lunch regardless of your progress. If you want to discontinue for the day after this, I’ll leave that decision in your hands.”** Kakashi looked over his shoulder, seeing two of his ninken squad already digging holes in preparation. The team was vital in facing Zabuza in the Land of Waves, and Sakura would have her back against the wall in this exercise. This not only forced her to increase her hand seal speed, but also her stamina, speed, and mental endurance. If he could turn Sasuke into what he was during the Chuunin Finals, then Sakura would be free to imagine how different she’d become in a month’s time.** “I don’t want to see you give up early, but if you’re at your limit then there’s no helping it.” **Kakashi returned his gaze forward to his student, hoping that she understood everything by now. **“Complete all forty four hand seals in one and we’ll move on to the next portion, which will be the exact same only I’ll expect you to create the jutsu as well. If you’re tagged, you start from the beginning.” **Kakashi paused, studying her face closely and hoping that she'd be ready to meet this challenge head on. Just behind him the group of ninken still above ground had begun to study Sakura too from behind Kakashi, examining her as though she was a foreign object to them. Sakura was still in the dark, but Pakkun had relayed the contract regarding him and his team as a possible addition to the girls arsenal. The reactions were mixed, but each of them could agree that that alone made Sakura a person of interest to them. It had also encouraged them to not go on easy on her, not even for a second. If she wanted the right to earn their contract, she had to earn it. 

**“Any questions?” **