Kakashi gave Sakura a thumbs up to reply to her call of watching his back. His expectations were high and he was certain that Sakura's were as well. Once five minutes of nothing had passed and he had pulled farther and farther ahead, he pulled back on speed and did as he mentioned earlier. Allowing Sakura a better opportunity to launch an attack every five minutes was a fair handicap from his perspective. Five minutes had soon become ten, then fifteen, until finally twenty minutes had gone by. Preparing to pull back on his speed yet again to give Sakura a strong opening, he looked over his shoulder in time to see that she was increasing her pace to race towards him, chakra fueling the leaps she made across the strong branches of the dense forest. He could make out a build-up of chakra at her fingertip, and once she had taken aim towards his head her teacher had let out a small huff of amusement. The beam launched towards him, prompting him to casually side-step the attempt and allow it to collide with a tree just ahead of them. Another glance behind him had shown him Sakura's glare in full display. Understandable considering the frustrating circumstances she was in, but he wasn't about to encourage her efforts just yet. 

Becoming a much more mobile target from that point forward, Sakura's efforts would need to be doubled in order to land a blow of significance. In eleven more minutes, merely one minute after he had reset his position to allow her a better opportunity to strike, she had taken another shot at  him. Avoiding the blow was as simple as jumping higher than her shot. Another miss, only to collide with another tree just ahead of him. He landed and once more looked over his shoulder to read the state of her mind. She appeared upset, almost angry at him for what he was doing. Training did not come easy, and Tsunade would not be any easier than he was being right now. The emphasis of her frustration was placed in the tone of her words towards him. Sakura did not offend him, instead just made it clear to the Copy Ninja that she was being affected. The lack of immediate progress was shaking her. This wasn't about performing handsigns and avoiding his dogs any further, and that was something she would need to accept in an instant. She could not excel in everything, and without Naruto and Sasuke around to measure herself against she could not raise herself higher than anyone else like last time. The only person she could blame was herself, and the only person that was bearing witness to her efforts was her teacher. 

[b]"Thank you. You're quite good at missing,"[/b] Kakashi teased with a wink,[b] "despite being my precious student."[/b] Facing forward again, he held hopes that she'd use that for encouragement rather than discouragement. Hours of this had gone on, with her time at gathering chakra improving, but her progress at hitting him still shaky at best. Striking a jonin-level opponent wasn't designed to be easy with her level of skills and inexperience. This was a test of handling two tasks at a single time. Hitting him was not her ultimate goal, nor was it his. If she could gather that chakra to the tip of her finger and release it without even thinking about it, she would pass his test. The idea of hitting him was just her ultimate goal, and that was something he didn't think she could accomplish until she was a jonin herself. After enough time had gone on, he signaled for her to stop and stopped at a nearby clearing, clapping his hands together. [b]"How about we take a break and eat?" [/b]

No argument from Sakura, as expected.

Retrieving the lunches she had packed, Kakashi had set down his pack and retrieved a map of the Land of Fire. He had known the country like the back of his hand due to countless missions related to securing it during the last war, but what he was looking for in particular was a large body of water necessary for Sakura to continue her training. She had come up behind him to question how far they've gone since leaving Konoha.

[b]"From our current stopping point we're another couple hours from the next town, surprisingly ahead of schedule."[/b] Kakashi looked over his shoulder, paying her the courtesy of eye contact as he explained the situation they were in. He believed they might have taken another hour to get this far originally, yet the determination of his student was underestimated. Sakura's agility was gradually improving over the course of the last few hours. Kakashi was still easily faster, yet in the periods where he allowed her opportunity to close in on him with ease she was not wasting opportunities. Controlled bursts of stamina to launch her attack were used and used well. It took plenty of energy to scowl as much as she had, too. [b]"I'm considering stopping again at a nearby lake, here." [/b]He returned his attention to the map, pointing at a mass of water just west of their current position, which his finger was originally pointed towards.[b] "After we eat we'll head over there and I'll instruct you on the Water Clone technique, as well as how to add water itself to the Gunshot technique you've been working on for the past few hours."[/b]

Folding the map up and setting it back inside his bag, Kakashi retrieved the lunch Sakura had left for him and examined the contents carefully. A well-prepared lunch with meat, fish, and vegetables. No complaints. Breaking the chopsticks apart, he rested himself back against the base of a tree and let his eye drift skyward.

[b]"Taro is proficient in Earth-Style ninjutsu, but what he's most known for is his Kekkei Genkai. 'Dry Hand' allows him to absorb the moisture and nutrients out of anything organic, that obviously includes us. The techniques I set aside for you aren't particularly powerful against Earth-Style, so Gunshot will be what we'll put a majority of our efforts in before we reach Tanzaku. Your hand seals will be an afterthought, as well as your overall speed and awareness."[/b] Kakashi glanced towards her. His voice was already deadly serious in tone, but his next set of words were spoken low enough to make her fully realize that she could not be mistaken about what he would say next. [b]"This guy isn't on the level of Zabuza, but we're going off on outdated intelligence. I fought against him once before in the past, and he was as much of a match for me as Zabuza himself. He could be as different from that time as you are now, from who you were during the first bell test Team Seven had. If for any reason I'm compromised and I ask you to retreat from the battle, I need you to follow that order. Am I clear?" [/b]