Inside, many dangerous-looking, huge people mingled around and Tenko was sure to pass out the moment one of those scarred giants came over to them.
Sasuke gave her a light kick into the side to keep her shit together and a loud shriek effectively distracted the fox from panicking.
Ino attached herself to the Uchiha's arm and no matter how much he shook said limb or gave her the annoyed look, the blonde did not let go.
But Ino gave a heated glare to Sakura before her eyes grew bigger and bigger.
"What happened to your hair, billboard-brow?!" Sakura for her part shrugged her shoulders.
"A rabbit and Kakashi-sensei." Shikamaru and Choji, who followed after their female teammate with less vigour, gave each other questioning looks, but didn't bother to ask.
"Troublesome." Choji nodded, opened a new bag of chips and started munching his snack.
"Let go of me," Sasuke said after trying to shake the girl off with fruitless effort.
"But Sasuke-kun, we haven't seen each other in such a long time. I really missed you!"
"Ino-chan, let go of Sasuke-teme. He doesn't like it," the calm but determined voice of Naruto surprised Team 10 and even Choji stopped eating for two full seconds.
"Naruto, what happened to you? Where is your loud twin?" Shikamaru joked in surprise, but he gave a suspicious glance at the blonde. This time Sakura interrupted.
"Naruto-kun has always been like this, Shikamaru-kun. We just didn't take the time to really talk to him."
"Billboard-brow, are you sick?" A throbbing vein appeared on Sakura's eyebrow, but before she could counter, a new voice was cutting in.
"Hey, dead-last. I am surprised to see you guys here. So, all of the Rookie 9 take the exam?" Kiba gave his usual cocky grin and slapped Naruto on the back with just a bit too much force than necessary.
"Tell me, what did they do for your pre-test? We had our possessions stolen and had to track the responsible Chunin down. And capture him, of course."
"Pre… test?" Naruto asked in confusion, looking to his teammates for support. What was the dog-breath talking about?
"Yeah, the one to join the exam. How did you deal with it? I bet, the great Uchiha had to pull your weight," came another remark from the Inuzuka.
"Why would there be a pre-test?" Tenko asked this time and Team 7 was too confused to react to the brunette's insult towards his peer's strength.
"It's for us rookies. Because we are new, Hokage-sama wanted to make sure we are skilled enough to participate," the Nara heir was kind enough to elaborate with an expression showing he clearly wanted to be anywhere else.
"But… we had no pre-test." Sakura said and tilted her head in question.
"Huh?!" Team 10 plus Kiba said. Hinata and Shino were too silent for such a reaction and the Hyuga heiress was too busy breathing and not fainting in the three-metre-radius around Naruto she stood in.
"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei told us he'd nominate us and then he gave us the registration forms and here we are. There was no test." The confirmation of Naruto made everyone else just more confused. Meanwhile, Sasuke managed to get his fangirl off of him and quickly pressed himself between his teammates for the safety of his personal space.
.
Seven days ago
Kakashi was standing in front of the Hokage with his fellow colleagues for the exam nomination. Some teams already chickened out, but the Copy-ninja held his head high. His Genin were ready.
They survived in another dimension with limited resources while fighting and hunting with crude tools made of bone next to their decreasing number of weapons. And they all were so much better than before.
Sasuke used a few dozens jutsu for evasion and attack and his second elemental affinity came along slowly but it was a steady process. His taijutsu only improved since day one.
Naruto knew a few jutsu from the earth, fire and water elements – not meaning he was particularly good at any of them, but he could use this wide repertoire to surprise his opponent - and his training with wind chakra came along, too. Kakashi made a mental note to ask Asuma for help.
Sakura showed promise in a chakra-infused, offensive taijutsu style – Kakashi would call it brawling and by now, without a strong-enough opponent, it was not even worth calling it a fight, the girl could kill boars with one punch! – and her use of nin- and genjutsu were also developing nicely.
Then there was Tenko. Had she been a human student of his, no way in hell would she be allowed to join, Kakashi decided easily. But she was not the team's offensive power, so it was fine. Tenko was a profound dodger in hand-to-hand combat and if she'd just finally loose the hesitation to use her teeth, she could become decent enough supportive fighter.
"I, Hatake Kakashi, am the Jonin sensei of Team 7, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura… and Tenko." This made Gai chuckle in the background. "I nominate my team for the Chunin exam."
Kurenai and Asuma did the same and everything turned out peachy, but then Iruka-sensei piped up and voiced his concerns, mostly for Naruto.
And if this act of mother-hen-ism did one think, it pissed Kakashi off.
His logical side told the man, Iruka was just worried for the children, but there laid the problem. They were so much more than children now. They were growing up and sheltering only did one thing, hold them back from improving, physically and mentally.
And there the emotional side of Kakashi came into play. His students grew so very much on their last trip and shared their personal problems. They started to trust their teammates enough to open themselves and especially Naruto did not only find acceptance, but his teammates also supported him in his training and offered more patience. To hold them back from the exam could cause emotional unbalance in his team, to Sasuke it would definitely.
"I don't think you understand, Iruka-sensei. Naruto-kun is my student now, as are Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan. The moment they graduated, they became soldiers and had to leave their childhood behind. And don't assume their abilities from what you saw back in the academy."
Kakashi's voice was harsh, but he gave himself a mental pat on the shoulder for the nice formulation of his words. He would have been harder, stricter, but a small voice reminded him that the man in front of him had no idea what a wild camping trip his previous students lived through. And Iruka-sensei just wanted to know them to be safe.
Before the little argument had any space to heat up, Sarutobi cleared his throat.
"How about we decide on a compromise? Chunin will test each rookie team for their skills to take the exam."
Iruka-sensei visible was about to agree, when the copy-nin talked again.
"I assure you, Hokage-sama, my team will not need the test. Their abilities are higher than his peers'. I would dare to say they are nearly challenging the graduation class from last year."
This comment gained Kakashi some stinky eyes from his colleagues and a sharp breath from Gai in the background, followed by something about the hip and cool attitude of his.
The Jonin did not fight the grin behind his mask.
Sarutobi knew why his shinobi made the bold statement and quickly tried to form a diplomatic decision.
"I will have someone assess their skills in their usual training then. If my man verifies your statement, you will get the registration papers in the noon."
It was clear as day that nobody was too happy with the special treatment Team 7 got, but when the Third said: "This is a special case. When Kakashi-san shares the information related to Team 7's circumstances, you will understand." Everyone got the note to drop it and wait for their comrade to spill the beans.
Oh, was Kakashi ready to show off his students at their next get together! But until then, he'd enjoy the sadistic pleasure he got from withholding said information from his colleagues and tease them about it.
Tenzo was chosen to assess the Genin and after lunch, the man sent a clone to confirm Kakashi's bragging. The kids were indeed better than their peers.
.
Back at the Chunin Exam
"Why would they not test you g-" Kiba started, but he was interrupted by a stranger.
"Hey, it would be wise not to yell around so much. You are the new rookies, right? This is no school trip, so stop acting like you are." A grey-ish-haired guy with glasses walked over to the three teams.
"Huh? And who are you?" Ino asked loudly.
'Seriously, woman. Didn't you hear what he said? Not so loud' Tenko mentally lectured her and started studying the stranger, when her mind tried to bring up an old memory that couldn't exist.
'Huh, why-? No, I don't know him, right? The hair… with those ugly glasses. Why does it feel- is that familiarity? Did I see him in the streets of Konoha? No. I avoid them when I can. But if I never saw him before, where did I- maybe, before I came to Konoha? Nah, that's unlikely. That guy is a Genin, why would I only...?.'
"My name is Yakushi Kabuto." The smile he gave looked believable enough, but something was off. The strange sense of familiarity still tried to remind the fox of something, she was not able to remember.
Tenko attempted to be as subtle as possible, when she continued observing him. What was bothering her about him?
Team 7 stood close enough to hear Sakura's whisper.
"Oh god… his hair. It is just like the Kakashi-sun at dusk." Shivers ran down the spines of Team 7 and Tenko secretly started to sniff in the young adult's direction.
He did not stink like soap, thankfully, but just when the fox was about to dull her sense of smell, the underlying trace of a disgusting and unpleasant stench assaulted her nose.
It was subtle, not noticeable if you didn't try to take apart his scent. To some part, Kabuto smelled cold, the scent was oily and reeked of stale water and rotten gras. Snakes.
"Kakashi-sun hair and he reeks of snakes," Tenko hissed quietly, not to let anyone eavesdrop on their short conversation. "I don't care who he is, but if the next thing he tells us is his preference for soap bars or worse, cats, I am out of here!"
"Aren't you exaggerating again?" Naruto asked quietly.
"I am not, thank you very much! If one thing is worse than cats, it is snakes and this guy gives me the creeps…," her voice took on a hard undertone.
"Something about him doesn't sit right with me, you know? Like- like I've seen him before, but it's… I can't grasp the memory. It's - I don't know, only the shadow of it still exists in my mind? No- forget that. This shouldn't concern you. We are here to take your exam, not talk about my recent revelations."
Team 7 had ignored the ongoing conversation while listening to the summon and they all shot glances to Tenko and then the older Genin. Naruto and Sasuke both felt even more sceptical about this guy now.
The Uchiha boy wouldn't have trusted any stranger in this building with a plastic spoon to begin with, but what the fox said concerned Sasuke. Nothing he'd ever share with his team of idiots.
While meeting new people Tenko usually was open when Naruto was not in any danger of bullying and, liking to admit it or not, the last Uchiha had started to trust the fox enough to go with her judgement.
To immediately warn them about strangers only happened once last week with the red-haired Sand shinobi, who even Kakashi warned them about in his own way.
Naruto didn't know what to do or how to act. This Kabuto-guy was friendly with their Rookie group and hadn't glared at the blonde like the villagers would. But there the problem laid. His eyes and smile did not match, it was like Naruto's façade when he made everyone believe he was fine.
Tenko said she did not feel comfortable around Kabuto and she clearly was wary. Naruto would make sure his friend was safe! If than meant, they'd have to avoid Kabuto, so be it.
What deeply bothered the blonde boy was Tenko's last comment. Memories. His friend had no memories from her life before coming to Konoha, before taking over the boy of a fox summon. What did this mean, when Tenko recognised Kabuto in some way?
Sakura meanwhile directed her attention on the fox. She could trust her teammates to be suspicious enough of Kabuto for three people right now.
The girl studied the way, Tenko's tails twitched, how her eyes stared at their old classmates and the older Genin while her mind clearly was somewhere else. Maybe trying to figure out where she saw Kabuto before? The fox as hunched over slightly, her head lowered in a defensive gesture and her ears constantly pointed around the room, searching for something.
She was the epitome of suspicion and hostility.
Team 7 only paid attention, when Kabuto had already pulled out a stack of cards and gave two examples of his information-thingy about Rock Lee and Gaara.
Tenko had no idea if it was normal to have such a skill as Genin – especially one who reeked of snakes -, but she stored the information away for later.
Next to her, Sakura fixed the cards with a hard look and a similar thought. If the civilian born girl had learned one thing as a member of Team 7, it was a healthy dose of paranoia kept you alive on your toes, out of Naruto's traps and away from poisonous plants and animals in different dimensions.
"How can he have so many information about others?" Sasuke grunted a whisper to their group and even Naruto agreed with his rival-friend's suspicion.
Tenko was only guessing, but should the older Genin have run around and somehow gotten his fingers on all their information, Team 7 had a good chance, their recent progress hadn't been noted down anywhere by now.
"Okay, I have a new plan. We have to check how accurate his information about us are and make everyone believe you guys are still on your old skill levels. Having everyone underestimate you gives us a great advantage. I don't want Karuno-"
"Kabuto," Sakura corrected.
"I don't want snake-guy to know too much about you with his nifty information trick, understood?"
Maybe it was the worry in her voice or the tenseness in her body, but the pre-teens gave a silent nod.
"Oh, come on, those were easy enough with the time they are Genin already. How about someone more difficult? Hmm… what can you tell us about Tenko-chan?"
Ino suddenly asked and the fox was about to chew the girl's leg off for gaining attention from the snake-guy. What would Ino want to know about the fox? She could always ask.
"The summon, huh? You certainly gained yourself a reputation in the village." He started after drawing a card. "You have the rang of a two-tailed fox and are known around here for some months. You were known for your… company, dislike of ninja work and have no skills in nin-, gen- or taijutsu. A big struggle concerns your chakra cont-"
"Shut up!" Naruto interrupted loudly and anger-filled eyes fixed the older Genin on the spot. "How do you know those things?"
His voice was sharper than a kunai and both his teammates quickly took an offensive stance, too. Next to them, Kiba shifted into a slightly defensive stance as well.
Kabuto seemed to notice he was no longer welcome, grabbed his cards and disappeared into the crowd without another word.
"Kami, dead-last, what was that about?" Ino asked loudly, but her attitude changed the moment she looked into Naruto's face.
There was a hostility his old classmates never saw before and Sakura and Sasuke were just as intense. The trio used their bodies to shield the fox from the other participants in the big classroom.
"Don't any of you dare tell anyone about what you just heard or ask that guy again!" Naruto's brain was running a hundred miles per minute and he immediately searched the room for any sign of attack.
There were just a few people knowing about Tenko's lack in skills or trouble with chakra control. Kakashi had made his students swear to secrecy before letting Sakura and Sasuke in on a few of the fox's secrets. No normal Genin should know about this.
Was he one of Danzo's spies?
Sakura and Sasuke didn't know why their blonde teammate reacted this aggressively, but they concluded it had something to do with the summon's problems they didn't know about yet.
Oh, they were not stupid, far from it, so it was obvious to them, when Naruto or Tenko stopped in their sentence and searched for excuses while they told their team about some of Tenko's worries. One time, Naruto nearly opened his mouth too wide and let the information slip that someone was after Tenko who possessed a frightening amount of insight into her case.
Having a silent conversation with their eyes, both pre-teens concluded this to be the cause of Naruto's mood.
The Rookie 9 nearly jumped out of their skin when the door was shoved open and a scary looking man with deep scars on his face barked orders around.
.
A written test.
A god damn, theoretical test on paper.
Never before was Tenko happier to see a written exam. Sure, Ibiki was scary as fuck, but who cared when there was no violent fighting involved?!
Naruto strongly did, very strongly so.
The Hyuga heiress was working on her own sheet while doing her breathing exercises to not faint and Naruto was about to cry because he had no idea how to answer the questions.
All around them people were writing, cheating and getting called out.
The fox used her body size and sneaked around tables, chairs and strangers' legs towards Sasuke. The boy made enough space on his lap for the fox to squeeze herself onto it and have a good look at the answers, while the boy's body shielded her from anyone's vision.
Doing the best she could, Tenko memorized the answers and basic formulas before tiptoeing to Naruto and getting back to the spot she sat in a couple of minutes ago.
Letting out a long, loud yawn, the summon hoped her poor act was convincing enough to resemble a quick nap.
Sitting back on Naruto's lap, Tenko curled herself up, buried her face in her fluffy tails and started whispering the answers to Naruto.
This went well for a few questions, but the fox was no genius, making her unsure of the next answers without checking again or staring at the sheet in the open. Summon or not, the moment her head popped up and she started whispering, they would get called out. Right now, Naruto would not be able to act calm and subtle if his life depended on it.
"Sorry, sweetheart, but from now on you have to try and make the best of it. At least, the two maths problems and the question about ninja rule 15 and 21.b are done. Good luck."
This time Tenko truly tried to fall asleep.
Hinata had observed the short play next to her and felt worried. Naruto would not be able to answer any more questions at this rate. Slower than a snail her sheet was pushed towards her crush and to the girl unknown bravery made her able to whisper.
"Naruto-kun… y-you can c-c-copy from m-me." Tenko opened one eye and looked up at the shy owner of the soft voice.
'Oh dear, this girl deserves a cookie. And smelling salt judging by the colour of her face.'
But Naruto, sweet, stupid Naruto did not cheat from Hinata, because in his opinion, he did not have to cheat!
'Well, what were you doing with my help then? Offering it to the foreign nin to your left?'
Tenko and Hinata gave each other clueless looks and the fox shrugged her shoulders. Hopefully, Hinata wouldn't assume, Naruto did not reject the help because she was Hinata.
Time went by and when Naruto asked Tenko for some more help, she finally got the information to his previous statement.
The blonde Uzumaki thought Tenko gave him her own answers like she did in their usual teamwork or when she had helped him with homework for school. In his eyes, accepting other's answers, like from Hinata, would be cheating, but since Tenko was his official summon, friend and partner, her 'own' knowledge was acceptable.
"Naruto, are you really that blond?!" Tenko hissed at him as quietly as possible. Earning the surprised looks from Naruto, Hinata and the foreign nin to their left, Tenko was not as silent as she'd hoped to be.
"Never mind, just do some breathing exercises and calm down. If you faint from stress, you won't get far in this exam." She grumbled and buried herself under her tails for a nap.
The ground under Tenko shifted and she fell from Naruto's lap to the ground under the table. With a startled yelp the fox barely managed to land on her paws and sleepily glared up at Naruto, when she finally noticed that he was talking loudly in his usual speech-for-generations-to-come-voice.
'Dear god, how long was I asleep?'
Still trying to orientate herself, Ibiki's deep voice suddenly told the participants present they had passed the tenth question and therefore the first exam.
The tenth question was some sort of mind game, to test the mental strength of the Genin and the Uzumaki's speech had boosted enough people's courage to stay put.
And then the scariest thing in the entire world happened. Ibiki grinned. His face and scars nearly split with a huge grin while he talked.
Tenko was ready to be done for the day.
This was a god damn, stupid written test. Why did ninjas have to make such a big deal about everything?
Starting to climb her way up to the bench, Tenko tried to pull herself from under the table, but Naruto still stood and blocked most of the space. The fox tried to get up without being able to simply jump and her hind legs didn't reach the bench, so her butt dangled around while Tenko tried crawling herself into the wood.
Two hands went under Tenko and pushed her up. Sweet, shy Hinata gave the summon the needed push and now offered a small smile which was returned.
"Thank you, Hinata-chan. My blockhead of a friend here wasn't too troublesome while I was asleep, I hope."
She sat herself next to the girl and invited Hinata to pet the fox. The poor heiress surely earned it after having to deal with Naruto's temporary periods of idiocy with his personal understanding of cheating.
And Tenko wanted Hinata not to change her opinion about Naruto, because the fox liked to entertain the idea of helping the shy girl to finally get noticed by the blonde Uzumaki. The question was how, but maybe Tenko should wait until after the exam when Naruto's one-track-mind was not focussed on his ninja path alone.
Ibiki went on about the importance of information on a mission and even showed the scars on his head. Ew, that was just… ew.
The man went on and on about what false information could do to you, how this test was to find information with the danger of getting caught and how the tenth question made all of then decide for the whole team and blah blah blah.
Tenko was still convinced the man exaggerated a written exam.
Suddenly the window shattered, and someone fixed a big banner with Kunai to the front of the room. A woman stood up and Tenko was sure she'd pale if she was a human right now. Anko.
In her ghost form Tenko had seen the woman two times and it was two times too much in her opinion.
The first time, Tenko was walking through people to entertain herself with something, when she saw the woman sitting and eating at the dango shop. What was noticeable was her chakra.
Tenko could feel people's chakra intermingle to some extent when people were in a group, but this woman… her chakra was mixed.
There wasn't just her own chakra, but something dark, foreign as well. Tenko felt her transparent body reject even the feeling of it and her defences went up without conscious control.
Some shinobi was making a snide comment about Anko, something like traitors shouldn't be allowed to be on active duty at all and he called Anko a sick snake-woman. At the mention of snakes, a shiver went down Tenko's back. She did not like them, but she also did not like public displays of name-calling.
One moment Anko was eating her dango and the next the wooden stick was pressed against the man's throat and a dark grin crossed over the woman's face. Without saying a word, she slowly turned and left the shop while throwing the dango stick into the wooden wall behind the rude shinobi. Right under his earlobe, nicking his skin just so slightly.
The second time was only a month later, when Tenko was taking a walk through the Forest of Death. Since nothing was able to harm her, she decided to take a look around and get to know the place most people seemed to be wary of or took a long way around.
There were uncomfortably big bugs and animals Tenko would not look at in a zoo, but this surely couldn't be as much of a danger as everyone had made Tenko believe to be, right?
Tenko stood somewhere in the middle of the dark forest, surrounded by bugs and what not, some surely more poisonous than others, when a familiar woman jumped over Tenko in the trees.
It was Anko and her chakra was still tainted with the foreign chakra signature.
She seemed to be training, throwing kunai, senbon and even the stick of the dango she was still chewing on. Dead animals rained down from wherever the weapons were disappearing to and Tenko ran away from the falling bodies while shrieking in disgust.
Nothing could touch her and would just pass through Tenko, but actually letting this happen? No! That was just disgusting!
The transparent woman was still busy voicing out her strong dislike, when snakes shot out of Anko's jacket's sleeves. Out of her sleeves. And they rained down on her, well, on the tiger behind Tenko, but they still had to pass through her on their way.
This was the only time Tenko managed to faint out of disgust thanks to the snakes Anko was throwing around.
Said woman was introducing herself to the Genin when she seemed to notice her early entrance and she bickered about how many Genin still were present. When in trouble, blame someone else, right?
Tenko was not sure if Anko was part of the intimidation squat Ibiki seemed to be part of, but she made the second exam sound scary.
Then they were dismissed for the rest of the day and Tenko kept very close to her friends to not accidentally get kicked by some wild leg from one of the Genin around them.
.
When the room was empty, Ibiki started collecting the exam sheets and his eyes fell on the one from Uzumaki Naruto. He had filled out three questions, two math problems and one about the ninja rules.
What made his answer noticeable was the things he wrote down. Both math answers only showed the general formulas - which were written completely wrong, like the boy had someone dictate them to him – and the direct result.
The rules were right from their content, but to Ibiki it sounded like the boy just wrote down the basic ideas while no word matched with the rule book. In the upper right-hand corner Uzumaki had made a doodle from a two-tailed fox grinning at the man from the T&I department.
Ibiki was not sure if he preferred those strange half-answers or if the boy should have left everything blank. He had noticed the boy only wrote for two or three minutes in the first half of the test and then denied copying from his seat-neighbour, which would have failed them both and their teams for the pure obviousness.
Really, what a strange boy Uzumaki Naruto was. And Ibiki had let him pass.
.
Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai waited for their teams outside of the academy when the passed Genin left the building with big, bright smiles.
Kakashi quickly checked on his students with a calculating look and behind the joy to have passed the first exam, there was a strange air over the quartet.
Team 8 and 10 were the first to reach the three Jonin and tell them all about the trick tenth question in loud, complaining voices. Well, at least Kiba and Ino did. Asuma and Kurenai just gave them patient smiles and praised the kids for a job well done.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei. We passed!" Naruto gave a big grin, but the Jonin saw the light stain in his blonde student's face. His façade was up again.
"Maa, this is great to hear, but Naruto-kun, what was Team 7's rule number three again?" Kakashi gave them an eye-smile and a pat on the head for their passed test.
Naruto lost the smile, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and then a lightbulb lightened in his head.
"Ah!" The boy gave a wry grin before his whole expression went serious. "Sorry, sensei. I thought this was a Team 7-only rule." With the tilt of his head Naruto pointed at the rest of the Rookie 9 next to them, who seemed a bit weirded out.
Sakura let out a deep sigh and patted Naruto's shoulder.
"No, we were alone on our trip. The rule is valid all the time, Naruto."
"What rule?" Shikamaru asked with a face that said nothing would be less boring than his peer's conversation.
"Nothing really." Sakura dismissed the question with the wave of her hand. Nobody from Team 7 wanted to share Naruto's insecurities without said boy's consent. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but did not ask again.
"Well then, I think we should better get you home, before your parents get too worried or Kakashi gets another chance to find Gai and make another fuss about his duty to protect his precious female Genin's innocence from Gai's student."
Sakura buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment, while Naruto fought the laughter bubbling up inside of him.
The thought alone to see their sensei lecture another colleague because his strange student asked Sakura out was more than hilarious.
Sasuke gave a small grin and Kurenai groaned unladylike at the reminder with a pitying smile. Tenko just rubbed her head on Sakura's leg, but she did not fight the chuckling.
Team 8 and 10 were about to leave, when the fox saw something greyish in the corner of her eye. Turning her head, Tenko saw Kabuto enter a side-street while glancing at the Rookie 9. He seemed just as surprised to meet the summon's eyes as she was to meet his.
Immediately, Tenko's look darkened and she bared her teeth at the young man, who quickly continued on his way.
"Wait a moment," the fox called out to the kids and gained their attention. "Kids, do me a favour, will you?" The questioning eyes were enough for Tenko to continue.
"Whatever might happen from now on in the exam, promise me to not get close to this Kabuto-guy. I don't trust him and you shouldn't, either."
The look Tenko got from Kakashi promised a nice little talk and the fox quickly told him: "I tell you as soon as we all get home."
Asuma and Kurenai shared a confused look at the strange request from the summon, but since Kakashi trusted Tenko enough to act serious about it, they would do the same. Asuma then looked up at said man.
"Kakashi, tomorrow evening I expect you at the usual bar to tell us what this and what my dad said is about." This was no question. Kakashi would not join them when the bunch of them asked to come together, so they took to decide on those things.
With a short nod Kakashi turned around and shooed his students to Naruto's apartment.
.
Team 7 was sitting on and around the big couch in Naruto's living and dining room when Kakashi urged Tenko to tell him what her strange request was about.
"Maybe we should change our tactics and start talking our opponents to death. We are practicing enough of that." Tenko mumbled to herself and Sasuke agreed with a "Hn" of his.
"No one would have to fear for their life in a fight against Sasuke-teme." Naruto tried to lighten the mood and Sakura snorted with laughter.
Their sensei sighed loudly and rubbed his face, allowing himself a moment to vocalise the stress Tenko caused in him and the higher-ups.
"I appreciate your sense of humour, Naruto-kun, but I still want to know why Tenko warned the others about this Kabuto."
"Oh, he was really strange, sensei. His smile and body language were a bit off, you know? Kabuto-kun was trying a bit too much, like Naruto on his bad days. I don't think we would have picked it up if it wasn't for the experience we got with this guy here." Sakura started talking and then pointed her thumb at their blonde teammate.
Kakashi made sure to pick up every word they said to analyse them. Another Genin trying to befriend others with a fake persona? Not that this never happened before.
"You can always come across someone who tries to get their way into your group on every mission. Intel gathering is not forbidden on the Chunin Exam." The Jonin explained.
"Yeah, but he was- he was… strange. I don't know what it was, but somehow, I seemed to recognise him, Kakashi. I never saw him in my time here, so, how come my mind rings the danger bells at his sight and tries to remind me of something? It was a bit like with Gaara just- I am sure I saw him before. And he had a bad smell to him! Like snakes."
The copy-ninja listened to Tenko's attempt to put her feelings and worries into words.
"You remember him? From before?"
"No, I- uh, maybe? I don't know. Somehow his profile is familiar to me, but I am sure I never met him before and I don't remember people I saw just once on the streets. And he reeks of snakes. Snakes are evil and he-"
"He had too many information," Sasuke interrupted the fox's stumbling over explanations and Sakura thumbed a fist into her other palm at the boy's reminder.
"Oh, right! He did no intel gathering, sensei, because he had those strange cards with information about all the participants. They were full analyses of people's abilities and skills. He even had some about Tenko-chan!"
Kakashi's eye narrowed at the mention of Tenko's information.
"What did he know?"
"Some general facts about my personality, my lack in any type of jutsu and my previous struggle with chakra control. Before he was able to spill all my flaws out, Naruto stopped him.
Nobody should know about my problems but you guys and Kiba to some extent. But he promised he would keep it a secret and Tsume-san said something about the pack and trust in every member. I don't think Kiba would tell anyone."
"I will contact Hokage-sama and request surveillance. Wherever Kabuto got his information, he can't be sent by Danzo." Kakashi said with a nod.
"Danzo as in Council member and war veteran Danzo? Why would he have information on Tenko-chan?" Sakura asked and her sensei, Naruto and Tenko froze on the spot.
Two heads slowly turned to the Jonin and Naruto gave his best Uchiha-glare.
"We have not told them about Danzo yet."
"Oh." Kakashi had the decency to look embarrassed. "I had thought Tenko-chan planned to finally tell them after our… sleepover."
"No, but I have to give them a brief overview now." Tenko huffed at the man before turning to the pre-teens.
"Okay, I guess you two are smart enough to already know about the… gaps in the things we told you about me, right?"
"Hn, like that wasn't obvious."
"Ditto."
Tenko nodded once.
"Good. I actually expected you to ask us about it but thank you for respecting my privacy. So, you already know what a mess I seem to be and how much trouble loves me.
The thing is, Danzo had his own secret ANBU groups called Root. His subordinates were real creeps without emotions or real names, and he showed some interest in me. Well, in my circumstances, to be precise.
"The old fucker wanted me dead at first, but then he got interested in the idea of soul transfer for whatever reason, since I basically run on chakra transfusion.
He was in contact with Orochimaru, the nuke-nin Sannin and mad scientist, who shared his own ideas on a soul transfer in a letter to the old cyclops.
Long story short, Hokage-sama raided Root, Danzo took the coward's way out by killing himself and now the files concerning me still get decrypted."
After about one minute of silence, Sasuke pressed his thumb and index finger against the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh.
"You are worse that the dope."
Sakura nodded.
"Did it ever occur to you that dropping so many unbelievable bombs on us is a bit difficult to handle? Not that we don't appreciate your honesty, but-"
"You are a body-thief who leeches on a tailed beast's chakra and are target of crazy people with powerful influence." Sasuke summarised.
"What Sasuke-kun said. And now Kabuto appears with too much insight. How does he fit into the picture? And what next? Will some alien race visit next to tell us you come from outer space?"
"Sakura-chan, you are getting ridiculous." Kakashi tried to be of any help in this strange conversation.
"Oh, you seriously expect me not to count on this possibility when Tenko is a whole circus of craziness?"
"Hey! I did not choose this, you know? And Danzo was a creep to begin with. I was put into this situation and have to somehow deal with it." Tenko protested.
"We have to deal with it, stupid." The fox's mouth fell open at the Uchiha's words and even Kakashi gave the boy a surprised but impressed look.
"You know, teme, I think you are alright." Naruto gave a big grin to which Sasuke tried to play down his statement with a "Hn" and a bored glare.
Having his students develop the sense of team spirit and the willingness to put up with the damn fox's problems filled Kakashi with pride as much as it troubled him.
Would Danzo still be alive, his cute, little Genin had no chance against the man's attack. But what was Kakashi useful for when not to be at his students' side to protect them?
His wish to see his team flourish and grow strong together was forming in reality and for nothing in this world would the Jonin allow anyone to hurt them.
But Tenko's problems sadly made up a good part of the danger. Kakashi was sure he just aged a few more years once again. Give him five months and he will retire together with Sarutobi-sama.
"Okay, I think we have to update our team rules." The copy-ninja decided and pulled out a note from one of his vest pockets. As did the children from their bags laying in the corner of the room.
They all had started to make the rules in the colour dimension and agreed to each have a copy for reference.
Kakashi started to re-read the existing rules.
"Rules of Team 7
1. No jutsu tests for Tenko without supervision and a safe distance from non-shinobi.
2. Sasuke and Naruto are not allowed to test flammable, explosive and/or crippling jutsu on each other.
3. Naruto's façade is not necessary when around Team 7's members.
4. No one should hide their feelings and opinions if it could have bad effects on their mental health.
5. Sasuke's plan on vengeance is team business.
5.1. As are all dreams and future plans of Team 7.
6. Sakura is not allowed to test her punches on Team 7 except in spars with enough preparation and warning for her team members or a medic present.
6.1. No chakra-infused punches on the head, Sakura.
7. Kakashi is not allowed to be late more than two hours. Or he has to announce it beforehand.
8. Tenko is not allowed to bite her teammates for social justice.
8.1 Light nipping is allowed in case of bad-mouthing, harsh insults, unfair behaviour, favouritism, fangirling – should this illness ever come back.
And now the new rule:
9. If you run into any problem with an opponent you are no match for, no matter who of Team 7 the target might be, run."
His students took a moment to think about the rule.
"What if we can match them as a team?" Naruto asked.
'Ah, the great case of loopholes again,' Kakashi noted.
"9.1 If, and only if you are a match for your opponent, you are to engage the battle." Kakashi agreed. By now he learned to give his students some space to act in or he has to have another long discussion again.
"Agreed." Sakura said and wrote down the new addition on her sheet.
"Hn." Sasuke did the same and after some pondering Naruto complied.
.
The rest of the day Team 7 filled the storage seal for foods after Kakashi told them about a survival test of sorts.
The pre-teens nearly laughed at their sensei's words, since they would be in Konoha for the second exam and not send into other dimensions.
At the mentioned probability of fighting, Naruto and Sasuke gave their own versions of cheers or smirks and Tenko was ready to throw the towel.
"Maa, Tenko-chan, our cute students count on your support and sharp, little teeth. I did not train with you and let you create so many holes in my old shirt for nothing." Tenko narrowed her eyes in annoyance.
"You made me bite your arm to - and I recite - 'lower my inhibition threshold of attacking'. It is not my problem you sacrificed your clothes."
"We just have the enemy insult or belittle Naruto-kun. This sets her off," Sakura said with a cocky grin on her lips.
"Oh, you little witch. Just be glad about rule 8." Tenko shot back, but she couldn't fight the amused grin at the suggestion. She really did revert to biting for her blonde friend. By now, Tenko did not doubt that she'd do the same for their teammates too.
In a dark, hidden room somewhere in Konoha the walls were filled with safety and privacy seals. Kabuto straightened from his bow and grinned.
"As we predicted, Sasuke-kun is taking the Chunin Exam and the fox summon has joined them as well. The brats seem awfully protective of her and that damn blonde kid nearly blew my cover. Danzo-sama's information were correct, then. Nobody expect anything, and we are ready for the second exam."
A sly smile split thin lips and a long tongue licked over the lower one.
"You did well, Kabuto. Once Sasuke-kun has my mark and the seal is in place, I will just have to wait for him to come to me."
"What should we do with the summon? You never told us what to do with her."
"Oh, don't worry. I take care if this matter myself."