Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto
Summary : Naruto wished he listened to the Paths and Rikudō when they told him not to enter the forest. Now he was stuck in another world, playing a game with a girl with power comparable to a God. He sighed, "...what did I do to deserve this?"
Credits to 'The Eye of God' for the story image. Thanks.
Review Responses:
shadowmarialove: Well... this is Tendō after all...
Eien Michi: Hahaha, I am wary of advancing the story, especially with the recent revelations in the manga. Kaguya as antagonist, oh my? What a coincidence, that is my plan too...
About Asura and Indra... we'll see...
DruidFWY: Hahaha, real life problems, sorry about that.
Well... read on.
PeaceAndOrder: Could work, if not because they are in their 'serious' mode right now. Besides, Kirin is... well, just read on.
ElementKitsune: Bring them up, and push them down. Candy and Whip policy at its finest.
Kirin is officially chunin in canon-verse. He was a jōnin in Samsara-verse though. Tendō had no rank.
They are 'best friends' after all.
He has, in the introduction chapter.
Almost breaking. ...just wait until Tendō be the one on the receiving end...
Well... to be fair, they won't change that quickly. This is one of the situation where team 7 can work together, but can drift apart easily too. Compare Wave mission and Chunin exam.
Aloxamax: Quite...
Well... swayed is fine. ...being Sasuke's fanboy, lavishing praise on him while ignoring Naruto and Madara's techniques are not fine. I thought he would be more excited seeing the strange techniques that Madara can use... I mean those are techniques from hundred years ago, you know.
Poor kids indeed...
The only way for Tendō's journey to end is for him to die. No other path.
Impstar: We have seen how Kakashi's 'ignore them and let them grow by themselves' approach work in the canon. It failed spectacularly. And soft love will certainly be repelled by Sasuke's attitude...
Crow667: He doesn't. And yes, it was quite short... I promised to post a new Tokyo Guardian chapter but I was too busy, sorry about that. I'll post it when I can.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan: Thanks.
Samsara: Game of Gods
Chapter 25 Team 7 (Part II)
"They are late! Again!" Naruto shouted as he, Sasuke and Sakura sat in the middle of the training grounds, waiting for their sensei and seniors, who, even as clock ticks life away, still does not appear.
The sun gleefully shone upon them in the sky, indicating that the time when they supposed to meet, six in the morning has already long passed.
Sakura nodded, supporting Naruto's anger, "Seriously! Why aren't they here yet! After our seniors insulted Kakashi-sensei yesterday, they aren't any better!"
Sasuke did not voice his complaints out loud, but his glare was more intense than usual.
"...you kids, what are you doing here?" An unfamiliar voice asked them.
The three not-yet-genins turned their heads towards the voice and saw a shinobi wearing standard Konoha shinobi uniform, with his head covered by a bandanna. The shinobi's sunglasses glinted, "Are you kids aware that using the training ground without permission is against the law?"
"Huh?" Naruto blinked. "Without permission?"
"Our sensei told us to meet in this training ground!" Sakura protested.
The sunglasses (As Naruto dubbed him in his mind) seemed taken aback, "Then, may I have your sensei name? Perhaps he has run into some kind of trouble."
"Hatake Kakashi," Sakura answered dutifully.
The shinobi blinked, "Last I saw Hatake-san, he was fishing with Jiraiya-sama's apprentice and Uchiha-san."
The three members of team 7 froze.
"...where?" Sasuke uttered, his eyes full of rage.
The shinobi fixed his sunglasses, "I believe they are at the lake east to Konohagakure."
"Those bastards! They tricked us!" Naruto was the first to roar and sprint towards the direction of the Konoha's main gate. Sakura and Sasuke followed soon after, each of them possessing burning flames of fury within their eyes.
The sunglass wearing shinobi watched the kids leaving him. He took off his bandanna and sunglasses, "Really, they didn't even notice it was me," Kirin sighed. "I'll have to return this to Ebisu-san soon."
Shrugging, he walked away to the opposite direction of where the not-yet-genins went.
"Sensei!" Naruto shouted as he and his army of clones rushed towards Kakashi and Tendō, who, as the sunglass-wearing shinobi told them, were fishing.
"Kakashi, I already fought them yesterday. It is your turn today," Tendō told the jōnin.
The silver haired man shrugged, giving the approaching army of Orange an eye-smile. "Oh well... Let's just get this over with."
As the Narutos assault began, Kakashi avoided each of the attacks while giving light punches back towards the army, dispelling the clones one by one.
From the corner of Kakashi's eye, he saw hint of red and blue among the Narutos. 'They're together. And they aren't getting in their teammates' way like yesterday.'
'But...' Kakashi was replaced by a log as Sasuke's kunai hit it. 'Sasuke and Sakura are a bit confused on how to attack, since there are too many Narutos and they don't know which one is the real one. Rather than teamwork, this is more of them leaving each other to their own devices.'
Soon enough, the army of Narutos were gone, leaving the three genins against an unscratched Kakashi.
"...is that all?" Kakashi asked in a bored drawl, taking out his Icha Icha Paradise book.
Naruto gritted his teeth, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Just as his clones were about to swarm Kakashi once more.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" The army of clones were vaporized by a fireball heading towards Kakashi.
Kakashi's lone eye glinted, seeing Sasuke's attack. 'That's the end of this fight then.'
"Let us see..." Tendō made a slash mark on a slab of stone. "Not being able to figure out Kirin's disguise, minus five points."
Then he looked towards the genins who were tied around a tree near him.
"Not being able to hit Hatake, minus ten points," This time, he made two slashes on the stone. On the riverside near them, Kakashi waved happily towards the genins.
The genins said nothing, they simply glared at him.
"Having zero strategy as you approached us, blinded with anger, minus ten points," Another two slashes.
"Finally, zero teamwork. Zero attempt to communicate your plan to your teammates, minus twenty points," This time, four slashes were made.
Tendō shook his head, "Another failure for you. Even after you made that cool declaration yesterday. What was it?"
Tendō transformed into Naruto, "We'll make you a deal, sensei!" he mimicked Naruto's shout, "If we get both bells tomorrow, then we'll pass together. If we fail to get both bells, we'll fail together!"
Then he transformed back to his usual self, "And yet, you guys failed anyway. Well... you kids still have about nine hours before midnight," The 'Jiraiya's apprentice' chuckled, "I doubt it will make any difference though."
He cut the rope around the three genins and the three wasted no time in charging towards him.
"By the way," The elder blond began as the kids approached him, "I am a clone."
He exploded into smoke, and the three collided with each other.
"I'm a clone too!" The Kakashi near them shouted as another sound of explosion echoed.
"...those bastards are dead!" Naruto shouted, immediately jumping, already prepared to run through the village to find their sensei and seniors.
"Wait, Naruto!" Sakura grabbed his leg just as he was about to run. "We can't get the bells like this. We need strategy!"
Sasuke grunted as he stood, "...it pains me to admit, but they're far stronger than us. I- We won't be able to steal a bell without any plan."
Naruto frowned, "What was that for Sasuke?! You could've hit me with that big fire of yours!" Naruto shouted, recalling how Sasuke destroyed most of his clones, just before Kakashi knocked them unconscious in the previous fight.
Sasuke glared, "Your clones are getting in our way. Don't you have any other techniques?! It might be useful when you have to fight alone but with us around, we don't know if the 'you' in our way is 'real' or not."
Naruto glared back, not wanting to lose.
"Calm down, you two!" Sakura shouted. "We're supposed to be working together!"
Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other for a few moment, until Naruto finally looked away, "...alright, I won't use clones anymore."
Sasuke nodded, "If you are going to use clones. At least make it clear for us which one is the 'real' you."
"Maybe we can make some secret codes?" Sakura suggested. "It might help us make a plan when fighting them too."
Naruto and Sasuke turned towards her with interest, though Sasuke tried to feign disinterest, "What's your plan?"
Tendō and Kakashi ate their ramen as Teuchi questioned them of Naruto's progress. It was nighttime right now, four more hours and the genins will fail their test.
The blond shrugged, "They took two steps forward and one step backward," He answered.
Teuchi frowned, "I see... Will they pass?" He asked again.
Tendō motioned to Kakashi to answer, "I am an outsider here. It is Hatake's decision."
Kakashi eye-smiled, "Well... I don't mind passing them as long as they show potential for teamwork. But Kirin and Tendō here had other plans."
Teuchi raised an eyebrow, interested.
"First, if they show good teamw-" Kakashi's words were cut by a loud voice.
"Kakashi-sensei, Sadist-sensei! We challenge you!" Naruto shouted as he entered Ichiraku Ramen.
"Speak of the Orange, and it shall appear, huh?" Tendō chuckled. "Good luck, Hatake."
Kakashi turned towards the elder blond with a questioning look, "What will you be doing while I fight?"
"Eating my ramen, obviously."
Kakashi and the three genins stood facing each other. Around them were civilians and shinobi who were curious at the commotion, forming a circle around them.
"Again, come at me with an intent to kill," Kakashi told them lazily, opening his Icha Icha book.
Naruto jumped towards Kakashi, his hands moving towards a cross position.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow but allowed Naruto to gather his chakra. After all, if he still plan to use clones even after the beating before, they either have some kind of plan, or they are morons.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted.
Kakashi sighed as he avoided the Naruto clones again. "Are you one trick pony or something?" Kakashi asked. Not only he used clones again, this time, it was obvious which one is the real one as Naruto used it right in front of him. Kakashi easily caught the real Naruto, "Is that all?"
Surprisingly, Naruto grinned, "Bastard!"
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Sasuke fired his jutsu without hesitation.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, 'Is Naruto confident that his body can take on a fire jutsu? Or is he...' Kakashi's eyes widened as the Naruto he caught exploded into smoke, just as the fireball struck him and exploded.
"Did we get him?" Sasuke wondered as he kept his eyes trained on the area around him.
"Not bad, Sasuke," Kakashi appeared behind the Uchiha, "Where's the real Naruto?" He asked as he placed a kunai behind his student's neck. He must stop the Uchiha now, his fire techniques could cause disaster if it hits one of the spectators around them.
"Too bad, sensei," 'Sasuke' smirked, "I'm a clone." 'Sasuke' exploded into smoke.
Kakashi's eye widened. He immediately spun, expecting an attack to come from his back but nothing happened.
"Gotcha!" Naruto jumped from underground, his hand reaching for the bell on Kakashi's waist.
However, Kakashi's honed senses allowed him to leap faster than Naruto, causing the genin to miss, his eyes immediately moved towards Sakura, the only member who had yet to do anything.
Sakura met his stare coldly, something that raised an alarm within Kakashi, as far as he knew, the pink haired girl did not have that kind of personality.
Then, as 'Sakura's' hands moved, Kakashi's suspicions were confirmed.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Kakashi avoided the small fireballs aimed towards him. But then he realized his error. They were fighting in the middle of the street.
Seeing one of the fireball kept moving towards one of the civilian, Kakashi sprung and deflected the fireball just before it hit one of the villager. He was about to scold Sasuke for not watching his aim before he felt a presence behind him.
"Sensei," Kakashi heard Sakura's voice, coming from behind him and he relaxed immediately, figuring out what just happened. "We got the bell!"
Tendō chuckled as he watched the whole battle from the sidelines.
The first 'Naruto', 'Sasuke' and 'Sakura' who appeared in front of Kakashi were not the 'real' ones. They were two 'Naruto' clones and Sasuke disguised as Sakura.
When one of the clone approached Kakashi and used Kage Bunshin, 'Sakura' who was actually Sasuke used Great Fireball. Because Kakashi's attention were focused on 'Naruto', he failed to notice that it was 'Sakura' who launched the technique, instead he assumed it was 'Sasuke'.
Kakashi immediately attacked 'Sasuke', intending to stop the Uchiha's jutsu before they could harm the spectators. This is part of the kids' plan, and the real Naruto who hid underground attacked Kakashi while his guard was down.
From that, the kids must have seen that Kakashi prioritize the civilians' safety, and so, Sasuke took the chance to aim his fireballs towards one of the 'villager', who is actually Sakura in disguise.
Perhaps because Sakura herself is not really a 'shinobi' material with her low chakra capacity and below average physical strength, Kakashi let his guard down and assumed that she was truly a 'civilian caught in a shinobi battle'. Kakashi even forgot that it is very strange for a civilian girl to be here at nighttime. He supposed that was because shinobi are usually active at night, they forgot that civilians were not like them.
Sakura took the chance to steal the bell from Kakashi.
This was beyond his or Kakashi's expectation. They showed good strategy and teamwork, and he could see that Naruto and Sasuke made a few signals to each other, just before Sasuke launched his small fireballs towards Sakura.
However...
"That was an excellent display of teamwork you three," Tendō spoke to the three genins, approaching them as they cheered. "It appears that the three of you has exceeded our expectation."
"Sensei!" Naruto shouted happily, "Then we..."
"Yes," Tendō nodded, "...you guys only have one more hour to pass our test."
"Huh?" Sakura blinked.
Tendō chuckled, "Take a look at that 'bell' in your hand, Haruno."
Sakura examined the bell closely and gasped, "Genjutsu!"
And indeed, in her hand now was a rock.
"Allow me to inform you kids one thing," Tendō's smirk was of pure amusement, "Since the start of the test, Kakashi and I did not possess a bell. Kirin have both of the bells tied around his waist."
"...so... everything we did just now..." Naruto asked, dread coloring his face.
"Worth absolutely nothing. Your target is still at large," Tendō ended with a cold smile, "You can find Kirin inside the Uchiha clan compound. Good luck."
Tendō and Kakashi left with a swirl of leaves.
A silence filled the street, the spectators of the fight watched the three silent genins with varying emotions from pity to amusement.
"...Sasuke, how far is the Uchiha clan compound?" Naruto asked the Uchiha.
"Ten minutes," Sasuke answered.
"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's beat up that cousin of yours!" The hopefully-soon-to-be-genins dashed towards their destination, filled with vigor.
"What do you mean he isn't here?!" Naruto shouted in surprise, in front of him and his teammates were Kirin's girlfriend, Yuki.
"As I have told you, Kirin is not here. Perhaps Tendō-san tricked you?"
"That's..." Sasuke trailed off. Seemed like something he would do, was left unsaid.
"Then, Yuki-san, do you have any idea where Kirin-senpai is?" Sakura asked her.
Yuki thought for a moment, "This morning, he told me that he is going to climb a mountain."
"...a mountain?" Naruto asked blankly.
"Indeed," Yuki nodded, "Kirin claimed that a friend of his invited him to dine in the middle of a mountain."
"...seriously?" Sakura asked weakly. Maybe he deliberately left from Konoha so that they couldn't pursue him?
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "I see. Thank you."
Yuki nodded, "I'm sorry I couldn't be of help much. Please don't hesitate to drop by again should you have any question."
The three genins walked out of the Uchiha clan compound, dark clouds flew over Naruto and Sakura's heads.
"What are you two doing?" Sasuke asked them, "Let's go."
"Go where?" Naruto asked.
"To the middle of a mountain," Sasuke answered.
"Middle of a mountain..." Sakura repeated again, then her eyes widened in realization. "I see!"
Naruto blinked, not understanding what his two teammates are talking about.
"Here we are," Sakura declared as they stood in front of a house.
Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Whose house is this?"
"Read the name plate," Sasuke commanded. And Naruto did.
"Yamanaka," Naruto read out loud. "Yama no Naka. The Middle of a Mountain..." Naruto's eyes light up. "Kirin-senpai is here?!"
"He was," A ponytailed man answered Naruto's question. "He dined with my family today, however he left already. Visiting a young deer."
"Inoichi-san, it has been quite some time, how are you?" Sakura politely greeted the man, bowing. Sasuke bowed a little while Naruto just stared at the man, puzzled.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto! Be more polite! This man is Yamanaka Inoichi, an elite shinobi and Ino's father!" Sakura scolded the blond.
Naruto did not seem impressed by the introduction but bowed a bit.
Inoichi smiled, "I am fine, and I see that you are in quite a pickle, Haruno-kun. I'll advise you to follow the clue I left you quickly, before he escape. Remember, he is visiting a young deer."
Sakura bowed again, "Yes, thank you very much!"
"A young deer..." Naruto muttered, "That's Shikamaru, right?"
Sasuke and Sakura nodded.
They found Shikamaru asleep near the Nara clan's house.
"Shikamaru, wake up!" Naruto shouted beside the poor Nara's ear.
Shikamaru jumped, he looked at the three people around him, "...troublesome..." He closed his eyes again, trying to return back to the land of dream.
"Nara, keep your eyes open or Naruto will shout at your ear again," Sasuke threatened.
It worked, Shikamaru's eyes were now open, though it was clear that he did not want to be there.
"We are looking for Sasuke-kun's cousin, Kirin. Do you know where he is?"
Shikamaru said nothing but handed them a piece of paper.
"...huh?" Naruto blinked. On it were six 'questions'. And a string of numbers.
1. The Number of Shadows standing over Konohagakure.
2. The Path of Shinobi.
3. Hyūga clan's bloodline.
4. The Pride of Aburame clan.
5. The White Fang of Konoha.
6. Mokuton.
Maru Yon San Jū Jūichi Ni
Naruto read the numbers, "Zero, four, three, ten, eleven and two? What does that mean?"
Sakura shrugged, "First of all, let's try to answer the six questions."
"Number one, the Shadows standing over Konohagakure means the Hokage, right?" Naruto asked his teammates.
They nodded, "The answer is four, yon." Sasuke declared.
"The path of Shinobi?" Sakura questioned.
"Nindō!" Naruto shouted while pumping his fist.
"Number three, Byakugan," Sasuke answered coldly.
"Number four is difficult," Sakura commented.
Naruto read the statement on the paper, "The Pride of Aburame clan. Aburame means Shino's family, right? Does that mean the answer is those bugs they have?"
Sasuke shook his head, "Ita- someone once told me something about them, 'Aburame Shibi is the Pride of Aburame Clan."
"So the answer is this 'Shibi' guy?" Naruto asked, a bit puzzled, yet, he wrote down the answer.
"Number five, the White Fang of Konoha," Sasuke read out, "I do not recall anyone with that title."
Sakura smiled, "I know him! He is Kakashi-sensei's father, Hatake Sakumo. I found out about him while I researched about sensei."
"Last question!" Naruto shouted excitedly, "It's... Mokuton?"
"Senju," Sasuke answered, his tone colder than when he answered the question about Byakugan.
"So... the answers are," The genins reread the piece of paper where they answered the questions.
1. Yon
2. Nindō
3. Byakugan
4. Aburame Shibi
5. Hatake Sakumo
6. Senju
Zero, Four, Three, Ten, Eleven, Two
"What does this mean?" Sakura wondered.
"Troublesome..." They heard Shikamaru mutter, "The 'maru' on the paper doesn't mean zero. It means whole."
"Whole?" Naruto asked the Nara.
"One number, one question. Read the character located on the clue. Number 1 is yon, number 2 is d, number 3 is a and so on."
Sakura read them, "Yon, d, a, i, m, e. Yondaime, the 4th," She finished. "Does that mean senpai is somewhere with connection with the Fourth?"
Shikamaru lazily nodded, "He is on the Hokage Monument, on top of the Fourth's head. Also, you guys only have a few minutes before midnight."
Hearing that, the three immediately dashed towards the Hokage monument, where the four Hokage's 'heads' watched the over village.
"Troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered, "...the questions and answers are too simple..." The Nara recalled how he was dragged into this farce.
"There! I beat you, so, can you help me a bit?" The smiling Uchiha said to him as he handed the shocked Nara a piece of paper. Between the two was a shogi board. Where a game just took place.
"Sometimes, Uchiha," The blond that watched them muttered, "I wonder if you are pretending to be a fool, or honestly an idiot savant."
"...I'll ask for a rematch tomorrow..." Shikamaru muttered as he fell asleep once again.
Uchiha Kirin chuckled as he sensed three chakra signatures approaching him with great speed. He looked at the clock in his hand, it was minutes before midnight.
"Took them long enough," He commented.
The genins saw him from a distance, standing on top of the Fourth Hokage's head, "Senpai! Fight u-" Naruto's shout was cut by a bell thrown towards his face.
"Congratulations," Kirin told them with a smile, "You kids passed."
"Eh, what?" Sakura blinked.
"Tendō didn't tell you? I don't plan on fighting you kids. My only test for you is to see whether you can find me before the time is up." Then the alarm started to ring. "And time is up now. Glad that you've found me before it rang, huh, genins?"
The newly passed genins collapsed immediately, their bodies finally felt the exhaustion that had been following them throughout the day.
Kirin laughed, "Come on, don't be like that. Raise your heads," Kirin waved at them to come towards him.
The three genins limped towards him, and he patted their heads one by one. "Look behind me, what do you guys see?"
The three shinobi looked beyond Kirin and Sakura gasped in surprise. Sasuke's eyes widened while Naruto smiled widely.
During the night of Konoha, the village was supposed to be shrouded in darkness. Instead, white paint covered the roof of Hokage Residence, forming words.
'Congratulations! Genins of Team Seven!'
"Tendō and Kakashi-sensei wrote it," Kirin informed the kids, "From now on, the three of you are shinobi of Konohagakure. Hold your head high and proud, members of Team Seven. For you kids passed the test that we gave you with flying colors."
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura did not know how long they stood, watching the words on the roof of Hokage Residence.
Kirin smiled at the three as he stealthily left the Hokage monument, allowing the genins to soak on the success of their first mission together.
Then Kirin remembered, "I wonder if Kakashi and Tendō told Hokage about this? Oh well..." If those two forgot, then team Seven's first official mission is set.
Cleaning the paint off the Hokage Residence.