Sakura’s lack of strength to measure against his meager water clone was much more evident than she might have liked. In the eyes of the young genin, the clone’s rate of attack and displayed technique in countering her moves and delivering its own were clearly keeping her pushed to her limit in both body and mind. The true test was surviving—as he told her—but as well as survival, Sakura was meant to experience the gripping realization that she was outmatched no matter her tactics and strikes sent. Kakashi’s keen Sharingan eye took notice of her gritted teeth becoming tighter and tighter with each parry. As every blow came to her, both physical and ninja tool, her strength was slowly starting to diminish. In time that fact was proven by the disarming his clone had made, causing her only weapon to go flying out of her hand and into the water below them. From that point, his student had made a clever call to release the chakra keeping her afloat, allowing her to sink into the water and vanish from sight. 

The clone remained highly alert for Sakura’s next move while Kakashi monitored. The ability of his eye allowed him to see chakra; it wasn’t to the extent of the Byakugan, but Sakura’s chakra flow could be found even without actively molding it within her body. Yet even if she had not known this herself, the effort of removing herself from a contest that she had no chance of overcoming was a wise decision. Her mentor stood in silence and waited, until finally her inevitable counterattack had come in the form of her reemerging from the lake at a distance she deemed appropriate. The group of Kakashi’s looked toward her with only the clone remaining prepared. It quickly deflected her kunai with ease and had countered her next strike without much struggle. Not allowing herself to be kept down for long, Sakura had used more of her chakra to push herself forward towards the clone. The two continued this intense clash until Kakashi had seen enough, and pulled back on his clone’s power and speed to allow Sakura an opportunity she would be a fool to miss. 

Dispatching the deliberately weakened water clone, it’s defeated return to nothing but liquid had signaled Sakura’s victory and allowed her time to catch her breath without the pressure of an oppressing opponent. Her performance was adequate; if he did not think applauding would seem sarcastic, he might have offered her a round. 

The mention of his clones’ unfriendly attitude made him smile beneath his mask, [color=0076a3][b]“He wasn’t as handsome as me, either.”[/b][/color] He added playfully. Sending the clone to retrieve the kunai she had left below him, the Jonin had given her several moments to mend her wound and catch her breath. Waiting until he was sure she was prepared – as well as his clone returning with the kunai, which he took in his own grasp – he returned her kunai to her with a casual toss, all while making certain the sharpened end would flip towards him as it made its descent towards her. 

[color=0076a3][b]“You held out well for your first time – I’ll even admit that your tactic to submerge yourself underneath your opponent was also clever, something I might have done. Maybe you’ll turn out more like me in combat than Lady Tsunade, but only time will tell.”[/b][/color] Kakashi spoke thoughtfully. Taking a short pause, her mentor looked her over carefully. The strikes from earlier might leave some slight bruising, and she had already taken care of the cut on her arm, yet it was probably best that he did not overdo it. [color=0076a3][b]“All right, I’ll explain the technique you just faced and show you one more tactic before we move on. What you just dealt with was obviously the Water Clone technique, and what sets it apart from the normal clone technique is that the clones are physical, but they only use one-tenth of the original wielders power. They have the ability to use techniques just like the Shadow Clone technique that Naruto uses, however, it’s important to remember that they are much weaker than the Shadow Clone technique. Should you give the order for them to use a technique, they could prematurely disperse before they’ve actually sustained any damage. In the hands of an accomplished user of water-style ninjutsu, this won’t matter.” [/b][/color]

He did not make her potential obvious, but it was clear in the way he ceased speaking and allowed the information to settle in her mind that Sakura realize for herself that that could be her. Devoting enough time to her ninjutsu would offer her that potential and make her extremely deadly in environments such as the very one they were standing in. 

[color=0076a3][b]“When we get settled for the night I’ll instruct you on the proper hand seals. Up next, we’ll cover our final tactic for the day: Deception.” [/b][/color]Kakashi looked towards his idle remaining clone, which had brought both hands together in front of its chest to emphasize an incoming move for Sakura. It did not go further than that, as Kakashi was not yet finished preparing her for what was to come. [color=0076a3][b]“The unorthodox does well in keeping foes unbalanced. Even if you’re not as fast as your opponent, or possess a wider range of techniques, you can still inflict significant damage by simply outsmarting them.”[/b][/color] His Sharingan eye wandered to her, but due to the nature of the final tactic he had lowered his headband back down. The explanation of his Sharingan and its abilities would occur later that night. His normal eye had reopened, casting a downward glance towards Sakura’s arms, chest, and then to her feet. 

[color=0076a3][b]“Deception can be an effective tool in landing a critical blow to put unfavorable odds back in your favor. There are multiple ways of performing it – both in and out of combat – but we’ll quickly cover the combat portion.”[/b][/color] He gestured towards his clone which had begun performing hand seals that Sakura could by now see were leading up to the Water Dragon technique. It was moving slow, deliberately allowing Sakura to monitor every single sign to confirm her suspicion, until suddenly changing its flow in the middle and performing signs that did not result in the Water Dragon. Kakashi resumed, [color=0076a3][b]“You can see that it’s performing a technique. In one of your later lessons I’ll help you work to prevent them from completing jutsu, but for the time being just prepare for what could come at any time. There are going to be hand seals even I can’t recognize, so you need to be mindful of your surroundings just as much as I’ll have to. So, get ready.”[/b][/color]

The water clone had ceased performing hand seals for just a moment, then advanced into the familiar territory Sakura could recognize: it was completing the Water Dragon technique again, only this time not diverting and instead picking up speed gradually as it continued. The real Kakashi nodded his head to her and leaped a considerable distance to her left while the clone generated the technique. Water had begun to stir just in front of the clone, and the head of the Water Dragon technique had begun to emerge from the water beneath them. As it grew, it’s red eyes had begun to leer at Sakura who was standing several short feet below it. 

In an instant it had dispersed its form and reverted into nothing but scattered, unmanageable water that was of no threat to Sakura herself. Planting the idea of deception in her head – to prepare for the worst possible outcome – was likely to make her consider that this was just a ploy for the incoming attack managed by the clone. The situation had changed; instead of the water clone attacking Sakura, the real Kakashi had already taken aim at Sakura’s shoulder and released a concentrated, weakened gunshot of chakra as the water fell towards the lake. Having taken care to remain just outside of her peripheral vision, it would be up to the rest of her senses to pick up on the true attack and avoid his blast. Should his blow manage to connect, it would leave nothing more than a moderate bruise of little consequence. 

His greatest intention was making sure she left with her lessons learned.