Garou lashed out at Kakashi as the ladder barely had time to move. Kakashi ducked under Garou's punch as Kakashi blocked a surprise kick, 'He's fast!' Kakashi thought as Garou smirked

"You left yourself wide open," Garou said as he struck Kakahi in the head. It landed as Kakashi was forced into the ground. Garou scoffed as he seemed disappointed, but that frown vanished as Kakashi was replaced with a broken wooden log, "Tch, should've known," Garou whispered as he took a step to the left, dodging a kunai,

"You're good," Kakashi said, appearing behind Garou, "but I'm better,"

"Same could be said for you," Garou replied as he grabbed Kakashi's wrist and threw him over his shoulder. Garou cocked back his fist as he held onto Kakashi. Throwing a punch, Garou struck Kakashi in the head and repeated this action as Kakashi locked his legs around Garou's body. Kakashi reached out with his open hand and punched Garou in the face, but Garou didn't flinch as the ladder continued to punch the former. Meanwhile, Naruto was laying on the ground, astonished at what he's witnessing, "T-this can't be possible," Naruto whispered, "G-Garou-sensei is... on a whole other level,"

"COME ON, ANBU! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE AN ELITE?! WHERE I COME FROM, YOU'RE B-CLASS, AT BEST!" Garou screamed as he continued to throw punch after punch

'Someone this strong shouldn't be able to exist... h-he's on par with Tsunade-sama, NO! He's beyond Tsunade-sama!' Kakashi thought as he was continually punched by Garou. Kakashi then started to form hand-signs, taking a deep breath, he used an opening between the series of punches Garou was throwing and said: "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" and blew fire from his mouth. Garou's eyes widened as he stopped his assault and released Kakashi. Doing backflips to get away from the attack, Kakashi used this opportunity to use the blood Garou beat out of him and smeared it across his own hand. Gaining distance between himself and Garou, Kakashi performed more hand signs as he placed his palm on the ground, "Summoning: Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu!" Kakashi said as a giant seal appeared on the ground. Garou saw the seal and then saw a bunch of dirt mounts rushing toward him. Before he touched the ground, Garou felt something bite his leg and looked down to see a dog wearing glasses biting down on him. The sensation continued all over his body as he felt the weight being piled onto him. Pretty soon, Garou was covered in dogs.

"F-finally got ya," Kakashi said as Garou inspected himself

"Dogs? Really? Oh, come on... now I'm gonna feel bad," Garou said, whispering that last part. As Kakashi began to relax, Garou started spinning on the spot. The spin got faster and faster with each passing second until the dogs started to fly off of Garou. The dogs either hit trees or rolled across the ground and each one had blood and/or cloth in their mouths. One of the dogs, a small, pug-like dog with brown fur and a dark brown snout and ears, wearing a blue vest with the 'heno-heno-moheji' seal and a Konoha forehead protector on top of his head, landed next to Kakashi

"T-this is gonna be harder than I thought," the dog said as he stood on all fours

"Sorry about that, Pakkun, I thought all of you would've been able to hold him down," Kakashi replied

"Don't worry about it... h-hey, isn't that the Hokage's brat?" Pakkun asked as he looked at Naruto, who was still tired from the morning warm-ups

"Yeah. Can you do me a favor and get him away from here? I'm afraid the fight is gonna get him in the crossfire,"

"No problem," Pakku said as he dashed to Naruto. Naruto was still in shock at the fight ensuing before him, not noticing Pakkun approaching him. Pakkun grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt as he tossed him into the air, "Bull! Catch!" Pakkun shouted as the dog with dark fur and spiked collar jumped into the air.

Bull caught Naruto as the ladder was placed onto the formers' back. Pakkun jumped onto Bull as Bull sprinted for the village. Garou's eyes widened as exhaled, stomping the ground and pushing off his foot, launching himself at the giant ninken. Kakashi went through hand-signs again as he said: "Lightning Blade!", running at Garou. Garou neared Bull and Pakkun as Kakashi also neared Garou. Kakashi brought his jutsu up to Garou's chest as Garou spun in the air and stretched out his leg, "Outta my way," Garou said, making Kakashi's eyes widen. Kakashi was struck in the head, slamming him into the ground by Garous' kick. Sprinting toward Naruto, Garou appeared next to Bull as he kicked the dog hard enough to leave Naruto floating in the air. Garou caught Naruto as Bull crashed into a tree, whining, "Bull? Can you get up?" Pakkun asked as Bull struggled to stand, "Don't move if you don't think you can,"

"Stupid brat, don't you pay attention to your surroundings?" Garou asked Naruto

"S-sorry, sensei, I-I didn't even know what was happening," Naruto replied

"Hold on, 'sensei'?" Pakkun questioned as Garou set Naruto on the ground

"Can you move your legs yet?" Garou asked

"A little," Naruto said as he grabbed Garou's pant leg and pulled himself up to his feet. Naruto's legs shook under his own weight, his feet still burning from this morning. Garou stood still as he watched his student stand, "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think your our enemy," Pakkun said directly to Garou

"You wanna test that theory?" Garou asked Pakkun

"Listen, we both want the kid to be safe, that's why you're still standing there... waiting for us to attack," Pakkun explained, noticing how Garou, even though he looked relaxed, was ready to defend both himself and Naruto, "every bone in my body is telling me to run, even at this very moment. The killing intent that's rolling off of your body tells me your willingness to kill everyone around you and yet the kid doesn't seem affected by it at all... meaning he sees you as a guardian,"

"Are you gonna cut to the chase or am I gonna have to come over there and beat it out of you?" Garou asked, getting annoyed by Pakkun's long explanation

"Don't think I didn't hear your remorse for hurting us when we tried to pin you down, I am a dog, I can hear," Pakkun replied, pointing at his own ears as he sat

"Point. Now," Garou demanded

"You're not the enemy... that's why I'm standing down," Pakkun deadpanned

"... Eh?"

"Dunce," Pakkun whispered, shaking his head, "I said, I'm done fighting,"

"Really? Is that your call to make?" Garou asked. Pakkun looked behind Garou and saw Kakashi embedded into the ground, seemingly unconscious. Pakkun sighed, nodding, "Yeah, at this point it is. But you do realize that he's gonna tell the Hokage about this, right?" Pakkun said, pointing at Kakashi

"You make a good point," Garou replied, nodding in agreement

"I-Is there any way we c-can get him to not tell dad?" Naruto asked

" Hold on, 'dad'?" Garou asked

"Y-yeah," Naruto replied. Garou then picked Naruto up by the collar as he brought his eyes to Naruto's, "So, you're the village leaders' kid?" Garou asked

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner!" Naruto said, making Garou scoff

"Listen, kid, I don't care about your status, if anything, that doesn't seem to have any effect on the villagers as they tried to pick fights with you still," Garou stated

"Y-you don't care?"

"Not one bit. I don't care about race, gender, or lineage. If you deserve to be bitch-slapped, you're gonna get bitch slapped. If you want to work hard, then work hard. By the end of the day, when your time is up in the world, money, status, or anything else means nothing in the afterlife," Garou explained, "hell, I'm still training you, aren't I?"

"Y-yeah, I guess you're right," Naruto said as he started to tear up

"Quit the water-works!" Garou shouted. Pakkun and an injured Bull could only sweatdrop at the scene unfolding before them as Pakkun said: "Come on, Bull, let's go dig out Kakashi," as the giant ninken nodded.

Kakashi awoke to find himself staring up at the foliage of Konoha's Forest of Death. The sound of a fire could be heard next to him as he looked over to see a giant deer being roasted above a fire, with all his ninken eating bits and pieces of the deer and Bull chewing on the deers' giant femur, "Morning, Kakashi," Pakkun said as he came over with a plate of venison

"Pakkun? What's going on?" Kakashi asked as he sat up

"Everything will be explained in a bit. Here, eat this," Pakkun stated as he placed the plate on Kakashi's lap

"Where did you get this?"

"That would be me," Garou said as he was eating a deer leg, "Naruto is washing in the lake if you're wondering where he's at,"

"I see," Kakashi replied

"So, while he's doing that. Figured we could chat for a bit," Garou said

"You're willing to talk now?"

"Yeah, I am,"

"*Sigh* Alright, what do you want to talk about?" Kakashi asked, inspecting his plate of food

"Simple... you're not going to tell the... what was it again, Hokage?" Garou asked

"Yeah," Pakkun answered

"Okay. You're not going to tell the Hokage anything that's happened today," Garou stated, taking a chunk out of the deer leg

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," Kakashi said

"And why not?"

"Because, I made an oath," Kakashi replied. Garou shook his head as he stood up, setting down his deer leg, and walked over to Kakashi. Garou grabbed Kakashi by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up to eye-level, "Listen here you stupid, son of a bitch. Naruto doesn't want his father to know he's training because he wants to show his family wrong. You ruin this for him and I'll guarantee that the next time we fight, they'll bury what's left of you in a soup can. Are. We. Clear?" Garou threatened, growling through his teeth

"Y-yes, s-sir," Kakashi replied, shaking in fear at the amount of killing intent Garou was releasing into the air

"Glad we can come to an understanding," Garou said, dropping Kakashi, "now eat up, don't waste food someone took their time to make,"

"Garou-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he came running back to the ground. His hair was wet and the muck and grime on his body from today's training was nowhere to be found, "You wash behind your ears?" Garou asked

"Hai!" Naruto answered

"Good, now get on home," Garou said, handing Naruto a deer loin, "something for the road,"

"Thank you, sensei! See you tomorrow!" Naruto said, thanking his sensei and running toward home. As Naruto ran home, they all failed to notice Itachi watching them from the shadows in the trees, "It's good to see Naruto found someone like him," Itachi whispered as he vanished in a murder of crows.