Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is an AU fic.
"Rearranging the Puzzle Pieces".
Part 1, Chapter 5
Wave Country- Tsunami's house
Team 7 and Kakashi-sensei prepared to listen intently to what Tazuna had to say.
"So...you wanna know how the kami work and why we've been talking about them? Well...here it is!" Tazuna exclaimed.
"Did you know, that we are superstitious, believing in the kami and all that?"
"The kami?", Naruto asked.
"The gods, goddesses, and deities of Shinto mythology. They are the kami." Tazuna answered. "We worship them every time we can, but there's two we super-worship, and those are the kami of the sun and the moon. They are Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, or Tsukuyomi for short.We worship them every time we can...every time we're able to do so, and they are super grateful for it. They need our prayers, and if they don't, it's a super bad thing, for us and them."
"Wait…what about Hachiman? I remember Harumi-san talking about that kami." Naruto stated.
Inari adds, "I'll answer that, Naruto-san. Hachiman counts too. Hachiman is the kami of warfare. Anything that deals with warfare belongs to him."
"Katanas?" Sasuke asks.
Inari nods.
"Armies?" Sakura inquires.
Inari nods again.
"Even militias and crossbows, -ttebayo?" Naruto inquires.
Inari nods with a smile, holding his crossbow. "Hachiman covers those too, and thanks for reminding me! I need to offer this to him at the portable shrine once the rains calm down."
"What's wrong with your crossbow?" Sakura asks.
"The thing jammed up on me during the battle. I need a new one, or something better than this." Inari pouted.
Inari adds, "And as for me, my namesake notwithstanding, Inari is the kami of foxes, merchants, sake, and luck! Not to mention a whole bunch of other things as well."
Suddenly, there was a knocking...well...a pecking on the door.
"I'll get it." Kakashi says.
He opens the door and receives a note from a messenger hawk, who flies off.
"Well, my cute little genin, I've got some bad news. It seems we've already missed the signups for this year's Chunin Exams held in Konohagakure. The note I've got is one week old." Kakashi states.
Team 7 gasps. "What else is wrong, -ttebayo?" Naruto gripes.
"And…the 3rd Hokage passed away also. Heart attack, it was. The new hokage is now Tsunade, the 5th Hokage." Kakashi states.
Team 7 bowed their heads. "So…how's Konohamaru gonna handle this? Lord Third was like a grandfather to him." Sakura says.
"Probably not very well." Kakashi sighed.
Konohagakure, during the Chunin Exams First Phase
Konohagakure lost a great Hokage, but things were already going to change from this point forward. The Leaf Shinobi all dressed in black for mourning, while a certain few, such as the Hyuuga clan, would dress in white instead.
A team of three shinobi, soon to be known as Team Konohamaru, proceeded to enter the stadium as guests for the phases, not knowing their actions from this point would cement them into becoming a verypowerful team and eliminate a very powerful threat before it was a thing.
A shinobi dressed in black along with a black tuxedo with pockets with a long blue scarf around his neck was crying tearfully. "Lord Third was like a grandfather to me. I can't believe he died like…like…Sage damn it!"
"Konohamaru, he was a grandfather to you…and your clan." A shinobi with snot dripping out of his nose stated.
"I know, Udon, he was…oh, there's the Sand Siblings, dead ahead." Konohamaru stated.
Two shinobi with make-up and Sunagakure headbands appeared before them.
"So...I gotta deal with a bunch of snot nosed brats." A Sunagakure puppeteer said. "Out of the way, kid. I heard what happened to the Third Hokage. He died so pointlessly. A heart attack, of all things…"
A Sunagakure kunoichi with a huge fan added, "Kankuro, back off! Don't do this to him."
Kankuro said, "Shut up, Temari. I'm telling this brat how a shinobi should die in battle."
Kankuro added, "His death was absolutely pathetic! He didn't die in battle like a good shinobi should. He should've gone out fighting, but no!"
Konohamaru was not happy. "Shut up..."
Kankuro continued. "He died, in a desk..."
Konohamaru was furious. "Shut up!"
Kankuro teased him even further, not even realizing the blue scarf was around his neck. "Doing absolutely nothing but paperwork. And that's what I mean by pathetic!"
Konohamaru was now pissed off and unleashing killing intent. "AND YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM INTO THE PURE LANDS FOR ALL I CARE! PULL!" Konohamaru pulled one side of his blue scarf around Kankuro's neck while motioning Udon to pull the other side. And the results were immediate; Kankuro could no longer breathe. He was outright choking and gasping for air.
Konohamaru gave a bloodthirsty smile, while Temari suddenly realized her brother was choking and sought to end things immediately.
"You Leaf Shinobi...you treehuggers...are ENJOYING THIS?" Temari yelled. "HOW DARE YOU!" Temari pulled out a kunai.
"Let go, you brat!" Temari exclaimed and dug her kunai into Konohamaru's arm, causing him to let go and cry out in pain, while at the same time, he got a kunai out of his left-hand tuxedo pocket and dug it into Temari's arm in response with his left hand, since his right hand was injured. "YOU BRAT! Now I can't use that arm! Thanks a lot!" Temari exclaimed.
"Konohamaru! Get to a med-nin, now! You gotta make sure that arm andthe hand aren't infected. I'll finish things up here." A kunoichi with Mokuton powers said.
"Thanks, Moegi. It HURTS!" Konohamaru yelled out in pain, who then tried to find a med-nin.
Moegi went to bind Temari via her Mokuton, while also pulling one side of the blue scarf.
Temari could no longer move for a while, as she was forced to watch her brother choke to death.
Eventually, Kankuro suffocated to death, while Temari tearfully watched.
A nearby Leaf ANBU in an animal mask patterned after a squirrel watched the scene unfold and gave a thumbs up to Moegi and Udon. "Where is Sarutobi Konohamaru? I need to give him and your team a commendation from the 5th Hokage."
"I'm sorry, ANBU-san, he went to find a med-nin." Moegi answered.
"A commendation?" Udon asked.
"For stopping a team from Sunagakure who would be a very powerful threat to the Village." the ANBU stated.
The two Leaf shinobi gasped and nodded.
"Are you sure you three aren't ringers for our Village? The 5th Hokage would've given you three a dossier first if you were." The Leaf ANBU inquired.
The two Leaf shinobi shook their heads. "I didn't know those two were a threat. I'm sorry, ANBU-san." Moegi apologized to the ANBU.
The Leaf ANBU nodded. "That is alright. You need a good sense of paranoia these days, I'm afraid."
A jinchuuriki with "Love" tattooed on his cheek walked by and clicked his tongue.
"Pathetic. What happened here?", The jinchuuriki said in a monotone.
Temari was crying. "Gaara...my brother was choked to death by some snot nosed brats with a scarf!"
Gaara stared off into space for a little bit. "Mother said that eliminating potential threats was a good thing. Mother will be pleased."
Temari was disgusted. "Gaara! My brother was not a threat! He was one of ours!"
Gaara stared at Temari. "If you two acted up like that when I was here...Mother would've killed you herself."
Temari was shocked and slapped Gaara. "Gaara! How COULD YOU!" She then continued crying.
Gaara was just confused. He stared at them both. "I know, Mother...he didn't deserve to die like this..."
Konohagakure, the Hokage's Tower
Lady Tsunade, the newly deemed 5th Hokage, was quite a busy lady.
"First the Third Hokage dies, right when the Chunin Exam starts, and now this? I can't believe I gotta clean up his messes, Shizune!" Tsunade yelled.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama, it's quite sad, isn't it?" Shizune said. She heard a knocking at the door.
"I'll get it." Tsunade opens the door. "Oh, it's you two. What happened? Where's Konohamaru?"
Udon and Moegi bowed to the Hokage. "Konohamaru's in the hospital, getting his arm and hand treated for infection due to a kunai wound." Moegi stated.
Tsunade was impressed. "I heard you three managed to stop a very important threat to our Village. Very nice work! You sure I didn't hire you on as ringers for this exam? I would've given you a dossier first If you were."
Udon added, "It wasn't much...it was Konohamaru's idea, really."
Tsunade was intrigued. "Ok...how so?"
Udon answered, "Well...the late Sunagakure puppeteer, Kankuro, teased him about his grandpa, the late Lord Third...and it got so bad, Konohamaru lashed out, with killing intent and everything!"
Tsunade was still intrigued. "Ok...so how did he die?"
"Konohamaru and I pulled on opposite sides of his blue scarf; I had the right side, and Konohamaru had the left. And then, all of a sudden, Temari showed up, stabbed Konohamaru in his right arm with a kunai, and then he stabbed Temari with a kunai in her right arm, disabling that arm."
Moegi added, "I took over for Konohamaru and continued choking Kankuro to death with Konohamaru's scarf. After a while, Kankuro met his ancestors in the Pure Lands."
Tsunade nodded. "Very nice work, you three! As soon as Konohamaru gets healed, I'm gonna talk to Ebisu and have you three fast tracked as a genin team. As of now, you three are Team Konohamaru!"
The two members of the newly deemed team gasped.
"Thank you, Lady Fifth!" they said. Moegi added, "By the way, who did you give dossiers to?"
Tsunade answered, "The ringers I hired and members of the Fire Daimyo's Imperial Court, including the Fire Daimyo himself, as well as Madam Shijimi, his wife."
The two team members nod.
Tsunade added, "I forgot to tell you two, and Konohamaru's getting this speech also, that the Chunin Exams are said to be a substitute for war. Anything can happen and most likely will happen."
"Even killing other team members of opposing villages?" Moegi inquired.
Tsunade nods embarrassingly. "Even that, but the ringers are the ones who normally do that…and it's mainly to eliminate the competition to make things easier for us, or even stopping very powerful threats to the Village if needed."
Udon adds, "Like what we just did?"
Tsunade nodded. "You stopped a powerful puppeteer for good and disabled a kunoichi temporarily. And the jinchuuriki is also disqualified…or should be."
Moegi blinks.
Tsunade added, "Teams for the Chunin Exam are in teams of three members. Since Kankuro met his ancestors, the team is effectively out of the exams. If the members continue to participate, we'll ban the village from participating in our exams permanently."
"Or even execute them?" Moegi inquired.
"If they continue to be a threat to the Village…and especially if said opposing village invades." Tsunade answers.
The two team members nod.
Konohagakure, during the Chunin Exams Second Phase
The first phase had come and gone, with people winning and losing. One team was already out of the exams beforehand, thanks to soon to be named Team Konohamaru. The second phase was mostly more of the same. However, the third phase would really change things.
One Sunagakure shinobi was hiding in the third phase arena, waiting for the other shinobi to wander in. Multiple Sunagakure shinobi were hidden in various spots throughout the arena and many Sound nin were hidden as well.
Orochimaru, disguised as Rasa, the 4th Kazekage, checks for any hidden Sound nin or even ANBU hidden in the arena, thanks to his Shadow Clones. Suddenly, two of them pop. Orochimaru gets feedback and the subsequent memories from those clones and noticed something.
'There are hidden weakspots in the arena where there's no one there...and an easily broken wall on the west end of Konoha. The ANBU's been doubled to shore up the arena's weakspots. However, there's a temple to the east...the monks there may be a threat, but I've got the Sound 4 to intercept. I'll be too busy here watching the other Kages...I hope my Sound 4 and my own shinobi can deal with threats I can't...but Sensei is gone. I wonder who I'll be battling this time.', he thought.
He suddenly noticed the 2nd of the Sannin, and the newly deemed 5th Hokage, Senju Tsunade, and suddenly paled.
'Tsunade of the Sannin? What is she doing here? That's the new Hokage? I'm gonna have some trouble. I better hope that Kimimaro remembers to get here and deal with her before we're too late, or otherwise this invasion will go to pot.' he thought.
Wave Country-Outside Tsunami's house
The rains still went on, and Team 7 missed their exams, but they ended up taking the advantage to train.
Kakashi said, "Well, my cute little genin, I've got a message from Jiraiya of the Sannin, and headmaster of ROOT, sent via messenger toad. He says that there's gonna be a new set of Chunin Exams in Amegakure, held by Lord Pain. There's bound to be mud and dirt and unstable ground, not to mention different parameters this time. However, we're gonna be training here in Wave. Since there's wet spots and puddles, and new lakes, and wet trees, we'll be practicing water walking and training in mud...and also walking in said mud and rainy weather."
Team 7 nods.
Fire Country-The Fire Daimyo's Imperial Palace, within a private room for Imperial Court members
Within a private room in an elaborate palace, a white-haired Inuzuka in formal clothing was playing fetch with a ninken with blue and black fur.
He suddenly heard a knocking on the door and a clunking of expensive armor.
"Inuzuka Shiro, are you ready? We need to go to the Fire Daimyo immediately. The third phase is about to begin, and we better not make him and his wife late."
"I'm coming. Er…what's your name again?", Inuzuka Shiro asked.
A very high ranking samurai scoffed at the question. "You do not even know who I am, Inuzuka Shiro?"
The very high ranking samurai announced himself. "I am the Samurai Commander Yoshitsune. I am to accompany the Fire Daimyo, and his wife, along with a small platoon of my finest samurai."
Inuzuka Shiro asks, "Then where will I be?"
The Samurai Commander answers, "You will be with the rest of your Imperial Court members. Besides you, Inuzuka-san, there will be three more court whose names you recognize. Two are of the Sarutobi clan while the other is of the Hyuuga clan. Both very prestigious shinobi clans."
Shiro suddenly remembered something. "And they live next to me in this palace, right?"
The samurai commander nodded. "In separate rooms. You will have time to introduce yourselves once you meet the Daimyo, Inuzuka-san."
Inuzuka Shiro nodded.
Samurai Commander Yoshitsune added, "And be sure to be armed with a weapon, Inuzuka-san. I do not trust these shinobi in the arena at all, and I would suggest you leave when the Fire Daimyo leaves just in case things go horribly wrong, but hopefully, that will not happen. You might need to fight your way out, just in case. Now, follow me into the war room, please."
Inuzuka Shiro inquired, "How do I know I'm in the war room?"
The Samurai Commander answers, "That is the big room with many chairs, multiple flags, and a big sharp katana that is on your left when you enter."
Inuzuka Shiro nods and proceeds to follow the Commander into the war room along with his ninken. "Let's go, Aomaru! We need to follow the Samurai Commander now."
All three then exit the private room to proceed into the war room.