Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!
Xionremind22; Thanks! He could do yeah, and thanks for the votes!
danielhaywoodsnow; Thanks very much! Yeah, they did quite well, huh~? It surely would be yeah, thanks for the suggestions! He will have some missions with other teams, I've got some plans for that. And thanks very much, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it so far~
sebku ssj3; Thanks very much!
Clarent excalibur; That's a cool name~ Yeah, I'd say they probably do, since Anko is their Sensei~
ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! She did yeah, Anko showed that she is responsible enough to be their Sensei. She surely does~ Hehe they both will be playing roles in the story as it goes on~
Dharak23; Anko showed her skills as not only a fighter, but as a mentor, since she'd understand more about Ninja life due to being Orochimaru's former student. I'm glad that you're liking Haku and Karin~ Even if they're still there, Itachi did kill a good majority of their clan, nearly killed her Mother, and threatened to come back to kill Ryouta one day, so while not as obsessed with it as in canon, she still has Itachi as a driving factor, with some differences. Itachi told him a reason about Izumi's leaving, he said that he was kidnapping her against her will, so he believes that she is held captive right now, plus Tobi did demand that she come so she didn't have a choice. She's going to be fun to play around with~ They would be yeah, I could see them doing assassinations pretty well. Thanks!
Guest 1; Thank you very much!
Silver crow; Thanks! They surely did yeah. It wont take all chapter. Anko has yeah. Ameyuri is yeah. Yeah, she knew a good bit about Ryouta due to them spending time together, but she didn't know much about the others. Yeah, he's got quite a number of goals, it will become more apparent to him in the future. That's Karin for you, and yeah Haku is quite sweet. They surely did roll with what Anko wanted them to do. Glad you liked Team Seven's part~ Karin surely did hit the nail on the head, and Anko explained her thoughts on the matter. To control someone completely, it takes a few seconds, to put people under Genjutsu it would take less time. Anko went along with it, mostly thinking of it on the spot. Yeah, seems that Team Six have some kind of water affinity. Yup they showed their skills~ Anko believes in her team. That's Mei for you. Mei will appear way before she did in canon again. I've got some ideas for some arcs. Haku's wearing an outfit similiar but not the exact same. Yeah, their kid would inherit that thanks to fem Gaara. If he did have a kid with Temari, it would be like that. It would be pretty interesting to see that. My Hero sounds good. Yup, seems like that's one of his Quirks. Who knows with Nejire, she could have been. Ryouta and Lee's friendship is going to be important to the story in a few parts. Same deal with Shikamaru. We'll see what happens with Neji quite soon. Himawari will be the child of Ryouta and Hinata yeah. He could adopt him. Sakura will show her stuff. Naruko could do, the training did seem to not be that much compared to how some others developed. Hehe, maybe they'll be on time~ Yeah, he could figure out she'd have Shukaku. He'll have a few fights during the Chunin Exams. That's if she does beat him. Maybe Shikamaru could be with her. Hanabi could be.
Guest 2; We'll be seeing more of what they truly can do pretty soon. Yup, his second element is water. Sure, he'd be able to do that, I always thought it was cool when that happened in the show. There isn't really any time limit for them. Thanks for the votes! No worries~
Guest 3; Thanks! Yeah, it's pretty bad were I live also, hope things get better soon. That's a pretty interesting kind of Jutsu, I really like it~ Thanks for suggesting it! Thanks for the votes!
Skull Flame; Thanks very much! Hehe, he'll find out when they next meet it isn't a joke. It is, it's a Simpsons reference.
MDM11; He might be able to do that yeah. Those would be cool ones to have. Ryouta's got Mangekyou already, he got it when Shisui died. Those would be cool, thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 4; Thanks very much! Yeah, they worked together, and passed their tests~ Haha, I guess that we'll see~ I decided to just show through Ryouta about Mei speaking about a few things like marriage and what's going on in the place she lives, things that will be shown more in the story later on. Thanks for the votes!
Guest 5; Thanks! Yeah, she did a test that concentrated on strength of the body and also the mind thrown in. That would be cool if he could do that. Yeah, the colour would have to change a bit to look less evil like. That's a pretty cool way for him to be able to throw it. That's a pretty cool name. Thanks for the votes!
Guest 6; I'm glad you like Ryouta so far! And I'm glad you like Satsuki also~ Thanks for the suggestions!
Pinkflamingwarriorofjustice; What happens with Zabuza might be surprising, that's all I can say without spoilers. Ryouta will gain some kind of cool sword as the story goes.
maxbrevan; Thanks very much! Thanks for the votes!
Guest 7; Thanks very much! Yeah, he's progressed far in his years. He was taking complete control over it, if he had just put it on a Genjutsu, it would have taken less time. That's a pretty cool design, I haven't finalized it so that helps quite a bit! Thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 8; Thanks! I do like that blade, Ryouta having that would be cool. He is pretty fast. That's pretty cool in how it could be used~ That kind of drawing technique is pretty fun to think about. He could use Sage Mode like that, thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 9; Thanks very much! Karin will know how to defend herself, we'll be seeing her doing it quite soon. They'll become important, Ameyuri more so, but Kushimaru has a part to play. He could gain one if he wished for one. Either of them would be pretty awesome for him to have. Thanks for the suggestions!
DGrayman97; I don't know much about Watchmen, and I tend to focus on Oc centric stories, sorry.
War Sage; Thanks! Glad you liked that part~ Yeah, they had quite the specialty. Hehe, he is going to be surprised when Mei talks about it seriously. Hmm, he very well could be, we'll soon see if that's true~ He could be, he has one of the most experience out of the Rookies with his past. Hiruzen's shut that down. Yeah, he might get many people trying to hire him for his services as a Ninja. It would be quite confusing on what to call each other if Mikoto would be. Yeah, it would be a case like that with Tsunade. If he was alive back then, then yeah he would've made a name for himself. That would take place either Naruto's or Itachi's, most likely Naruto's. Thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 10; Thanks very much! Glad you liked it~ Yeah, we'll be seeing what they're capable of pretty soon. Right now, I haven't thought of doing any crossover elements, it would depend if it would fit with the story or not. Thanks for the suggestions!
Andrew123456; Those are pretty cool Jutsu's to have, I could see them fitting Ryouta quite well. Thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 11; Thanks! You too! Yeah, I think in the manga they usually just appear as white, with Hinata's being a little different. I'd probably just have them be pure white. I could write a few things about the Byakugan, it is a shame that they kinda lost relevance when Shippuden and beyond came about, I believe that the Tenseigan should have been an evolution of the Hyuga's like the Mangekyou is for the Sharingan for Uchiha, and the Jogan should be the evolution for Otsutsuki who have Byakugan, or switch it around or give them another kind of level up that puts them on par with Mangekyou if neither of those Dojutsu's would work, either way it would've been cool to see the Hyuga's gain that power up like that. If he had trust between his animal and himself, then Ryouta could do something like that. Thanks for the votes! He'd be quite tall, not sure about the world, since there's quite tall characters in Naruto, but he'd still be quite tall.
Brainstorm Sorcerer; Thanks! Glad you like it! Yeah, that would have been a cool method. Yup, he can use Water Release as well as Fire. That is a pretty cool Jutsu, I like the Water Dragon also. They definitely could combine together to create new and interesting techniques. He will use the acid ability in such a way later on. I thought Earth would fit with Anko. Yeah, that's even a Jutsu Haku used in canon, the Ice Rock Dome, used it when being revived by Kabuto. There will be some sort of flashback to when that happens. Kakashi's reaction was more to her goal of it, than really thinking about it deeper than that. I'm sure Anko wouldn't want to wear it, kinda like Kurenai doesn't. Hehe, I guess that it would show that, since while not a Ninja at that time, he did still end up on a mission that could be described as S Class with the Kiri Ninja. Yeah, I could see him being around that height during Shippuden and when he's an adult. Pain would view Ryouta as a highly dangerous threat. Anko's definitely going to enjoy that. Anko and Karin aren't gonna be happy about doing some of the missions they will be doing. Ameyuri and Kushimaru will be yeah. Hehe, Mei wasn't joking about that alright~ Yeah, she's apart of the harem, otherwise there would be little point to doing it. There can still be things like that with other male characters. Yeah, it's going to be fun~
guest 31; They could be in the harem.
Guest 12; Thanks for the votes!
Guest 13; Yeah, he does have Mangekyou so if he was in a true bind he could reveal that, and he's got some dangerous skills he couldn't use on a comrade like Anko. Thanks for the votes!
Well, with those reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
Kakashi's Bell Test!
Early in the morning, before many people would be awake, Satsuki calmly laid in bed next to Ryouta.
However, an alarm went off, causing Satsuki to open wide.
Her eyebrow twitched, seeing the time, and saw that it was just after four in the morning.
Rubbing her eyes, she went to move, when she saw Ryouta also beginning to open his own eyes.
He looked towards the alarm that Satsuki switched off, the clock there showed the time, and he let out a small yawn.
"It's quite early..."
He groaned, Satsuki's sleepy eyes met with his own.
"Sorry, I should've slept in a different room as not to wake you."
Ryouta waved his hand.
"Don't worry Satsuki-chan, it's alright. I have to get up early also, got to go meet Anko-sensei in a few hours..."
Satsuki offered a soft smile towards the young boy.
"I have to go early, you stay in bed. You already became a Ninja, today I will become a Ninja."
Ryouta could hear the drive in her voice.
It wasn't overconfidence either.
"You sure? I could...make you some breakfast...I know Mikoto-san is gone by now...so I could do it for you..."
"Our new Sensei wouldn't allow us to have any...well, he heavily implied that we shouldn't have any."
"Okay then...see you later Satsuki-chan..."
"Yeah, see you later."
Ryouta smiled as his eyes began to close.
Satsuki pulled herself out of the warmth of the bed, and went towards the door so she could go to her own room to get dressed.
But then as she went, she felt a hand on top of her own, so her eyes turned to see Ryouta smiling towards her.
"Good luck Satsuki-chan."
Satsuki offered a small smirk.
"I'll be fine."
"Remember...you have teammates with you...work with them...you aren't alone."
Satsuki gave a bemused look, before leaning back towards him, and briefly caught his cheek with her lips.
He smiled as she pulled away.
"Leave it to me."
Ryouta watched as she went out of the door, opening that was the case with her and her team.
He knew they'd have some difficulty due to how Naruko and Satsuki didn't seem to get along that well.
Though he wondered if Sakura would be able to help them out, he knew that it would be difficult, but he believed in her.
Satsuki walked out of her house, and walked towards the field that they were told to meet on.
She was the first to arrive, but soon was followed by a sleepy Sakura, and finally Naruko.
Sakura sat down by a memorial stone, and Naruko pulled her legs to her chest, looking around and saw a body of water towards the right, trees were all around them, and there were three logs that were sticking out of the ground.
"Aah, I'm really hungry..."
Naruko began, as Sakura glanced towards her.
"Me too..."
Naruko cheerfully looked towards Sakura, and adopted a grin.
"Say, what do you think we're gonna do anyway?! Think we'll be fighting some strong Ninja?!"
"I don't know, Sensei said that we'd be doing survival training...so I guess he'll be making us do some intense training maybe?"
Sakura replied with a kind smile on her face, as she watched Naruko lean back, falling on her back, and stared up at the sky.
"Yeah...I can't wait! Whatever is thrown at me, I'll do my best!"
"We all will." Sakura continued, feeling a bit more relaxed. "Though Naruko, I've noticed something a bit odd lately."
Naruko shot back up, almost surprising Sakura at how fast she moved.
"What?"
"Ever since we graduated, you've been avoiding Ryou-kun. Why is that?"
Naruko stiffened, and she thought about back to what Mizuki said.
She knew that she shouldn't listen to him, but on the off chance that he was speaking the truth about the Nine Tails killing Ryouta's Father...
"Eh...Naruko, something wrong? You kinda went quiet..."
"Y-Yeah! Nothing's wrong Sakura-chan!"
Sakura wasn't convinced.
But she saw that Naruko didn't want to seem to speak about it, so she didn't say anything.
Sakura looked on as time passed them by, and nothing seemed to be coming of it.
"Geez...it's been nearly an hour, and nothing's happened yet..."
"Come on Sensei!" Naruko yelled over Sakura who looked up at the sky. "Where are you?!"
She yelled, so Satsuki moved closer towards them.
"He's late, later than I thought."
"Do you think he did it on purpose?"
Sakura asked, Satsuki shrugged.
"Maybe."
"Then, should we go and speak to Hokage-sama?"
"We leave here, he might show up. Lets just wait here, and if he isn't here in a few hours, we'll go then."
Sakura thought that made sense, so she hugged her knees once more, looking up into the sky and waited for the Sensei to appear. However long that was going to take.
Later on, Ryouta met up with his own team.
At seven in the morning, Karin looked a little tired, Haku seemed to be really ready for what was going to happen next, the same for Ryouta.
But Anko seemed to be yawning and looked disinterested.
They stood in front of the Hokage, who was giving a bemused look towards Anko.
"First of all, now that you're Ninja of Konoha, it is expected that each of you perform missions for the village. However mundane they might be, they'll still be vital for you to learn and grow as Ninja, and as people as well."
The three Genin began nodding their heads.
They understood not every mission was going to be something that would be life changing.
Anko took a stick of dango out, and began eating it as Hiruzen continued.
"This will give you the skills to accomplish higher grade missions..." As he spoke, Anko stretched her arm. "Is everything okay Anko?"
Anko yawned.
"Yeah, not so bad. So, lay it on us, a mission. C Rank maybe? B Rank perhaps~? Or maybe even A Rank! These kids got this!"
Hiruzen chuckled awkwardly.
"I've got a mission for the hospital."
Anko looked towards it, and saw what kind of mission it was.
"...So it's a D Rank Mission huh..."
Anko sounded slightly disappointed, Hiruzen presumed that she would be, since Anko was more used to taking dangerous missions and lived for action.
"You've got Genin now, you start at the bottom I'm afraid."
Anko waved her hand.
"Could be relaxing, it's alright. We've got this, haven't we team?"
[Yes Sensei!]
Though they were quite pleased to do any mission, they were wondering what kind of mission they could be doing at the hospital.
They found out exactly what it was when they got there, and they seemingly had to begin picking up rubbish around the hospital and doing cleaning duties.
"Is this really what we're doing Sensei?"
"We can finish quickly if we hurry Karin."
Karin and Anko looked slightly bored as cleaned different areas of the hospital.
"Still, it isn't that bad, we will do higher ranked missions eventually. I remember travelling with Zabuza-san, and it was really fun to see the new sights, and beauty of nature."
Haku added as she began cleaning.
"I'm sure that we will soon Haku-chan. Just have to deal with these missions first."
Ryouta himself used his speed to sweep through the area of the hospital, and clean up a floor by himself.
"That's the attitude Uchiha boy and Haku, we complete these missions then we can do other hardcore stuff."
Anko looked on, and gave a sly smile as Karin raised an eyebrow towards the young woman.
"Shouldn't you be encouraging us to do all of these missions to the best we can?"
Karin asked, but Anko seemed to remain aloof.
"Perhaps you're right, and I am wanting you all to do it to the best of your ability. Hokage-sama will eventually recognize our talents, and then we can be sent on missions that I'm sure you all want to go on, like protecting people, or escort missions or something that would involve flexing those muscles you've made during the Academy. Testing out the Jutsu's that you've learned over the years."
They all couldn't deny that was the case.
Even Karin wished to see more of the world, and do some missions that required them to leave the village.
"Yeah...you're right. But we should still do our best, even if it is just missions like this."
Ryouta gave a bemused look towards Karin.
"I agree Karin-chan, lets do our best!"
Karin's eyes went towards Ryouta, then she grinned.
"Sensei! Lets do this quickly and proficiently! I can feel it deep down inside of me! The desire! The passion!"
Anko looked at the red head with bemused eyes, and thought that she looked rather determined compared to before.
"Yeah, you're right girl! Okay! Haku, you take all the floors with your Water Release, but not inside of the patients rooms, Ryouta you clean around the outside of the hospital. Karin, you go and do some of the patients rooms on the lower floors, I'll do it from the sixth floor and up to the top, and then lets meet at the front gates when you're finished!"
[Yes Sensei!]
Splitting off, Ryouta went outside, and began cleaning up the excess trash that had been scattered around. Thanks to his Body Flicker, it didn't take long for Ryouta to pick up every piece of trash that was around and even used some fire to burn them into nothingness.
When he finished, Ryouta sat in front of the hospital, and took out a book from a scroll he was carrying.
He looked through the book quietly, while thinking about Naruko.
"They called her a monster...she has a good deal of chakra, so if that somehow is linked...then surely there must be something in here..."
Ryouta quietly read it to himself.
For five minutes, he didn't find anything of particular note, things that didn't connect to Naruko in anyway.
However, he did then come across something, though it was vague.
"Tailed...Beasts...huh...it doesn't say much about it in this book though, only they're some kind of chakra monsters...I'll have to get another one...I also remember hearing about a situation that happened years ago in the village about some kind of monster...I wonder, could it be this Tailed Beast thing...? I'll have to get some more material...still, I wont jump to conclusions without getting more information about these Tailed Beasts...and see if there could be a connection to Naruko-chan..."
As he was thinking, he caught the surprising sight of someone approaching.
It was Hinata, who was clutching her hand.
She seemed to be in pain.
Ryouta began walking up to her, when she noticed him.
Her cheeks began to turn a healthy red colour, and she began to become shyer as time went on.
When he got before her, his eyes looked at her hand.
"Hinata-san, are you okay? Your hand..."
"Y-Yes...I-I hurt...it...this morning...more than I thought...M-My Sensei...s-she sent me here...t-to get it fixed..."
Hinata shyly said.
"I see, may I have a look?"
Hinata's mind was dazzled, and she could only begin to nod her head.
Unwrapping the bandage that Hinata had placed onto it, and saw the wound.
Overlooking it Ryouta smiled.
"I should be able to heal that for you, if you like?"
"Y-You can?"
Hinata was amazed.
For all the time that she had followed and watched him from afar, she hadn't seen him being able to heal people.
"Do you remember Izumi-chan?" Hinata nodded. "Before she left, she taught me the basics of how to perform the Mystical Palm Jutsu and about the human body, over the years I've been training with it as I always remember what she said to me."
"What d-did she say?"
Hinata asked, genuinely intrigued.
"That even knowing a bit of how to treat someone's wound can mean the difference between life and death. I'm not an expert on it, but I know how to fix injuries like this...Yeah, this wound isn't too bad~"
Hinata continued to be amazed, and went with him to a nearby bench. Then he weaved through some hand signs, green chakra flew around his hands, and he placed them towards her own hand, beginning to fix it.
Feeling the flooding of his chakra, it was a calmness that she hadn't experienced in a good long while.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get this wound Hinata-san?"
"W-Well...I've been...t-training...m-maybe a bit...too hard..."
She admitted, Ryouta chortled.
"I know the feeling, I tend to do that sometimes when I'm really in the zone and practising how to master a new Jutsu. Mikoto-san usually tells me to not train so hard, and she's right. Training too much wont be productive, it will hinder our growth, you know? There's only so many hours in the day after all."
Hinata let a very small giggle to come out of her mouth.
"Y-You're right...I just don't...want to fall behind...I saw Naruko-chan...she's able to use...the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu..."
"Yeah, she did very well in using that huh? But you don't have to train yourself down into the dirt Hinata-san, not to the point you hurt yourself like this."
Hinata felt her face flushing more as she felt his chakra wash over her, his words causing her to feel good, and they also held truth within them.
"Yes...R-Ryouta-kun..."
"Hmmm?"
Hinata tried to meet his eyes, but her instant shyness kicked in, and she began looking down towards the ground.
"I-Izumi-san...she's been gone...for a long time now...d-do you...think about her...?"
"I think about her all of the time." He confessed. "She was...my sister. Everything but blood, she was someone I cherished, that's why I train hard to find her, and bring her back one day. Though I'm not sure when that is, I'll keep training until I'm ready. That's why Mikoto-san tells me to not train so hard~"
Hinata liked that he had such a goal.
But it also made her think of what her own goals would be.
She did have a few in mind.
"I also met Neji-san, just after graduating from the Academy."
Hinata paused when he said that.
She knew Neji wasn't the most friendly, so she wondered what he had said to Ryouta.
"I-I see...w-what did you...t-talk about?"
"We talked about...really weird actually. He talked about destiny, and how we'd have to fight one day."
"Destiny...h-he wants to fight...you?"
"He seemed to believe it was a certainty, but I don't think it is. Uchiha's, for the most part, destiny for me was to be someone that would never succeed, but I kept going and will keep going until I do succeed."
Hinata began to feel more inspiration by the moment.
It was nice, and comforting to hear that from Ryouta.
"Brother Neji...he's someone...that is very talented...Ryouta-kun...if you do ever fight him...please be careful..."
Ryouta appreciated the words she had, it showed that she did care quite a bit for him.
"I don't have any plans right now to fight him, but if we did, I'll be careful and do my best."
"Yes...I'm glad, I don't...want anything...to happen to you...Ryouta-kun..."
"You're very kind, Hinata-san. You too, don't train too hard, okay?" Ryouta pulled his hands back, and offered a smile. "There, it's all done now."
Hinata looked at her hand, and saw that it was indeed fixed.
She didn't even feel any pain when she moved her hand.
"Wow...it's fixed...thank you Ryouta-kun."
"No problem, I'm glad your hand is better. Say, maybe we could train together sometime? I know Hyuga use different methods, but we could learn from one another, couldn't we?"
Hinata went to move her hand, when she saw that she had accidentally allowed it to rest within Ryouta's own hand.
She looked at their connected hands, and she gasped, pulling it away.
"S-Sorry!"
"Hehe, you don't have to apologize Hinata-san. So, what do you say? Want to train together sometime?"
Hinata began nodding shyly, while Ryouta flashed a kind smile towards her.
When he did, she felt her nervous heart beginning to ease, and her face began to curl upwards.
Soon she began smiling, something Ryouta loved to see.
"You should smile more Hinata-san, it's really great~"
Hinata bashfully batted her eyelashes.
She could feel the heat go through her face, and felt her body tensing up at the words of Ryouta.
Ryouta continued to smile, as did Hinata.
"You know Hinata-san, when your little sister attacked me, it looked rather like a dance~" Ryouta thrust his palms out, something that made Hinata timidly smile. "So, is it like this Hinata-san?" He did several palm thrusts, Hinata's mouth curled more and more upwards, seeing the slightly goofy face that Ryouta had on, while doing so. "Think that I can be a Hyuga with that?"
Hinata let out a small giggle at the small joke he made as she looked into his eyes.
"When you have Byakugan, then you can."
"Haha, alright then~ Guess it wont happen, I'll leave that to you Hinata-san~"
Hinata giggled even more, feeling more and more relaxed by the moment.
She couldn't explain why, but she felt all the nerves she had before beginning to melt away, and all she could do was laugh, and watching Ryouta laugh also caused her to feel good inside, seeing them just relaxing together, without her nerves kicking in, she could just spend time with someone that she admired.
While they were, Hinata's Father happened to be walking by, and saw how Hinata was smiling, and even laughing together with Ryouta, an Uchiha.
A sight that he honestly never thought that he'd see...the fact about her being with an Uchiha...
He didn't say anything, and carried on, making a mental note of what he had seen.
Soon, Anko came out of the hospital together with Haku and Karin, seeing Ryouta and Hinata laughing together.
Haku was surprised to see the usually shy Hinata was now openly giggling. Though she could see some nerves kicking in, for the most part it was Hinata just giggling without being held back by her inner nerves.
"So, have fun with the Hyuga girl Uchiha boy?"
Anko slyly said as she placed her hands on her hips.
Hinata gasped, poking her fingers together while Ryouta rubbed the back of his head.
"I finished cleaning, Hinata-san had a wound on her hand and I fixed it for her."
"Ooh right, is that all~? I can feel the tension between you, seems like there's a little, something, something going on here~?"
Hinata flushed when Anko said it, while Ryouta just gave her a curious stare.
"Are we finished Sensei?"
"We're finished for the time being, lets go report to Hokage-sama about this."
"Right!" Ryouta stood up, bowing to Hinata. "See you later Hinata-san~"
Hinata smiled timidly, waved as they walked off together.
Hinata's eyes went towards Ryouta, and saw him casually speaking with Haku and Karin, while Anko swayed side to side, watching them act naturally.
She even felt some inspiration from what she heard him speak about.
Having finished the mission from the Hokage, and having some time, Ryouta went towards the field that he knew Satsuki and the others would be in to see how their first mission was going, or if it was like how he did, their first test set by the Sensei.
When he got there, he saw that Mikoto was at a distance, and seemed to be watching the trio…
But Ryouta couldn't see anyone else around.
No Sensei or anything.
He went towards Mikoto, and sat down beside her up in the trees.
"Has the Sensei already gone? Did they pass?"
Mikoto chortled awkwardly.
"He hasn't shown up yet."
Ryouta wore surprise on his face.
"But it's been hours, I've already completed a mission..."
Mikoto scratched her cheek.
"Yes...the Sensei that they have, isn't exactly punctual."
Ryouta looked over, and saw the frustrated faces of each of them.
"I hope he shows up soon for their sakes. They haven't had anything to eat just yet, right?" Mikoto nods. "Geez, if they have to fight now, without having eaten anything, it might be tough on them..."
Mikoto continued to watch on, as Ryouta sat back and relaxed.
"So how come you're here Ryou-kun? Worried about Satsuki?"
She lightly teased.
Ryouta did feel his face turning slightly red, but he soon shook his head.
"I'm not worried about her, I know she's very talented and strong, I just wonder what's going to happen, if she will work with her team or not."
"Yes, I'm also a bit worried about that. Ever since what happened with the Uchiha, she has been less willing to work with others that isn't you or me. But, my daughter will...deep down she's a good girl, I know she can do this and work with the others."
Ryouta hoped that was the case.
He wanted all of them to succeed.
Later on, the Sensei finally arrived, Ryouta, and Mikoto sat together in a tree, and watched from a distance so they'd not get in the way of Kakashi training them, and saw how Satsuki, Naruko and Sakura approached the situation.
Kakashi began explaining about what they'd be doing, and how if they didn't manage to get a bell off him, then they'd be sent back to the Academy.
Yet, Ryouta could see that Kakashi was doing a calculated strike against them.
Not physically, but mentally...it was actually something he thought was a sound idea to do for a test.
"There's only two bells...so, he's trying to drive a wedge between them."
"Yes, that's right. He's trying to see what their hearts would tell them to do. Sell out their teammates, work together, it is a rather good test to do to see the capabilities of a Ninja, and see what they'd do in given situations."
"It's different to the test we had with Anko-sensei...though hers was more physically grueling than this. She made us go through the Forest of Death, and protect her, while this seems a bit more psychological."
Mikoto giggled sweetly.
"That sounds quite like Anko~ And I suppose that your test was to see more of your capabilities, because Hokage-sama would know each of you, and how you'd react, giving that information to the Jonin, they made each exam test something that the Sensei thought would be the best to test."
"That would make sense."
"Indeed, now lets see what they're capable of, right Ryou-kun?"
"Haha, right~"
Ryouta lightly smiled, as the battle commensed.
Ryouta and Mikoto witnessed Satsuki, and Sakura hide themselves.
Naruko on the other hand boldly took to her feet, and went towards Kakashi with a strong look on her face.
"Naruko-chan..."
Ryouta murmured, Mikoto smiled.
"That's Naruko-chan for you, she seems to be the type that would charge in directly."
"Yes, she probably would."
While Ryouta spoke, Naruko took out a kunai and charged for Kakashi.
Kakashi casually took out a book, and seemed to be reading it, as Naruko made several stabs towards the silver haired man, but each one that tried to connect with him, Kakashi showed his Jonin level skills, and evaded each and everyone of the strikes.
Then Kakashi smirked under his mask, and appeared behind Naruko before casually using a palm strike to Naruko's back, sending her flying into the body of water near them.
Ryouta gave a bemused look as he watched Naruko come shooting out of the water.
"Sensei! That wasn't fair!"
"Hm? You should've used your tactics to try and stop me, but it seemed that you didn't in the end."
Naruko grit her teeth, and created a multitude of Shadow Clones.
The clones rushed Kakashi, who sighed, and began evading their punches and kicks.
However, Naruko began using her head, and used this chance to have a clone sneak up behind Kakashi, going for the bells that hung by his leg.
The Shadow Clones began to grab Kakashi's arms and legs, trying to pin him down.
Kakashi seemed slightly amused as he saw the clone of Naruko trying to come towards him.
Grinning, Naruko went for it…
But suddenly a puff of smoke appeared, and appearing there was another Naruko clone, who received the punch and exploded into smoke, disappearing from the impact.
"E-Eh?!"
"Where did he go?!"
"He turned into one of us!"
The clones deduced, and began to attack one another.
Ryouta looked around as he saw Satsuki waiting to make her move.
"Naruko-chan has skills the others might not have, but it seems she and my daughter don't always see eye to eye. Lets hope they can come together."
Mikoto explained as they continued to watch.
Naruko's clones dispel, her eyes filled with annoyance, went left and right to see if she could find Kakashi.
However, to her surprise, she found a bell on the ground.
A grin appeared on her face, and she silently cheered.
She rushed towards it, and went to grab it, when a trap laid by Kakashi caught Naruko's leg, wrapped around her leg, and lifted her up into a tree.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!"
Naruko complained as Kakashi appeared once more.
His lone eye went towards her, shaking his head side to side.
"You fell for the trap, Naruko. Use your head, would I really leave a bell on the ground like that?"
Naruko ground her teeth.
But then, Satsuki silently came shooting out of the trees, throwing several shurikens towards Kakashi.
Mikoto lightly smiled, and watched as Kakashi took out his own kunai, deflecting the incoming attacks, only to see that Satsuki had wires attached to her fingers.
"Ooh, so she's using the Shurikenjutsu..."
Mikoto remarked, as Kakashi tried to make an escape.
However, Satsuki's usage of the control, along with showing her Sharingan eyes, she tracked down Kakashi.
"She's using the Sharingan...she must be serious."
Mikoto murmured, Ryouta nodding.
Kakashi also saw the Sharingan eyes that she was revealing, and murmured "Tricky." as he pulled his own kunai out, several in fact, and tossed them towards the incoming weapons, hitting them blow for blow as Satsuki crossed the distance.
Kakashi was forced to place his book away as he saw Satsuki weaving through some hand signs, Ryouta noticing that Satsuki was drawing Kakashi away from the area Naruko was in, and was fighting by a body of water.
"Fire Release, Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
From her mouth, she shot off several fire balls of average sizes, but shurkens were put within them, and caused them all to go towards Kakashi. Kakashi was quite surprised by what she was doing, so much so that Kakashi had to get a little serious, pulling away as the shuriken flaming spheres shot towards him.
Using his incredible speed, Kakashi moved left and right, watching the balls of fire and shuriken embed into the ground, as Satsuki used that as a distraction, coming up from the right hand side, Kakashi glanced to see her coming in for a high flying kick towards Kakashi's upper right side.
"Haaaah!"
Satsuki yelled as her leg sailed for Kakashi.
Kakashi raised his arm as she brought up her leg, blocking a strong kick from the young girl, pushing her back as she tossed a kunai up close and personal, diverting Kakashi's attention long enough for Satsuki's hand to reach for the bells.
Her fingers touched them, only for Kakashi to bring up his knee, embedding it into Satsuki's torso,and would have succeeded if the Sharingan didn't predict it coming in, allowing her to move her own knee in the way, Kakashi hummed as he pushed her away from him.
Flipping in the air, Satsuki landed on the ground.
"So you managed to block me Uchiha girl, you aren't bad at all. Those eyes of yours do come in handy. But, there's a few things I can see that are flaws."
Ryouta looked to Mikoto as Kakashi said that.
"Mikoto-san, do you think it's about teamwork?"
"Yes, Satsuki is skilled...her trust in many is...difficult for her, after what happened at the Uchiha incident. She trusts us of course...trusting others can be difficult for her..."
"I hope she can do it...I know they've got a chance if they work together...come on Satsuki-chan...everyone..."
Ryouta murmured with Mikoto looking on curiously.
Satsuki brushed a hand through her hair, and let out a breath.
"Is that so? Then try this." She then began flying through hand signs once more. "Fire Release, Great Fireball Jutsu!"
From her mouth, she shot off a decent sized fireball for Kakashi's body.
This time, Kakashi summoned water from the nearby pond and used the water to form a wall blocking off the fireball, and due to that, the steam rose between the two of them, something Kakashi used as a means of escape, burying under the ground, and left Satsuki stood there with a slightly annoyed look on her face, only to see that Kakashi had left a clone behind which was running towards her.
Gritting her teeth, she pulled out a kunai, and readied herself for battle.
As he did, Sakura watched the entire scene, and wondered what she could even do.
Satsuki, the top female student of their class, couldn't even do anything to Kakashi and was stopped.
Naruko, while Sakura was academically more gifted, had seen the skills she had, and even she was beaten.
Sakura kept pondering what she could even do against someone like Kakashi.
It came to the point that she wasn't even sure if she had a chance in succeeding.
"What can I do that they can't? Naruko can make many clones...and Satsuki's able to use elements...compared to that...can I really do anything…? I'm not like them...I don't have anything amazing..."
Sakura wished that she had the answers.
She really did.
Right now, all she could think of doing was making a trap for Kakashi.
On her own, she didn't think she'd be able to do it…
But then something came to her.
As if lightning had jolted her mind.
"A team..." She whispered, looking back at what had happened within her mind. "Neither Satsuki...nor Naruko could do it on their own. But maybe...if we work together...could we do anything? At least, it's worth giving it a try. Still...if we all make a move, and get the two bells...who gets to pass? I wonder...what's going to happen...no, I have to work with them. If I don't do anything, then all the time I was in the Academy was for nothing, I have to try at least together with the others."
Ryouta watched from the side, seeing Sakura's face turn from unsure and helpless, to beginning to grow in more confidence.
He smiled at the sight, he knew deep down Sakura would have the inner strength to continue on.
"Something on your mind Ryou-kun?"
Mikoto asked, Ryouta tilted his head.
"I think Sakura-chan's determination has gone up."
"Hmmm, maybe it has~"
Ryouta then saw Sakura going towards Naruko who was hanging upside down from a tree thanks to Kakashi beforehand.
"H-Hey Sakura-chan~"
Sakura placed a hand on her forehead.
"Geez..."
"Ehehehe...I got caught..."
Sakura sighed, and took out a shuriken, tossing it towards the rope, and brought her down.
Ryouta lightly smiled, seeing Sakura doing that, it showed that she was willing to work with the others, despite the situation Kakashi had put her and the others in.
"Thanks! Now-"
"Wait Naruko!" Naruko paused, turning to the pink haired girl. "We need to regroup with Satsuki, and find a way to try and trap him."
"Ugh..."
Naruko pulled a face, so Sakura folded her arms sternly.
"We have too Naruko. We can't beat a Jonin on our own."
Naruko folded her arms, while Sakura exhaled slowly.
Seeing that Naruko was still unsure, Sakura lowered her tone.
"I know that we are all going for those bells, but as you've seen, we can't win on our own. Kakashi-sensei is too much for any of us alone, we need to work together, and fight. We might have a chance to win if we do that. I know you don't get on with Satsuki, but can we afford to really allow that to send us back to the Academy?"
Ryouta smiled at Sakura, seeing her speak like that, and her tone of voice, it wasn't anger, it was understanding and accepting, yet also filled with wisdom, it showed Sakura really did have a good head on her shoulders, and knew what she needed to so they'd be able to continue on with their Ninja career.
Sakura's words seemed to get through to Naruko, who understood what she was saying.
"Alright fine! But I'm not happy about it!"
Sakura tilted her neck, but then shrugged her shoulders.
"Come on, we need to find Satsuki."
Naruko huffed, folding her arms, and began walking off with Sakura.
Kakashi quietly observed Sakura doing that, and held a small smile on his face.
"Not bad Sakura, not bad at all. It seems that I underestimated her, she is pretty smart."
Kakashi was joyful to see that while Sakura wasn't the strongest, she did have a good mind, and she was able to have Naruko work with her, now he wondered if Satsuki would do the same thing.
As they searched for Satsuki, Naruko looked around and saw Kakashi coming in.
She gasped, and then yelled "Sakura-chan! You find Satsuki! I'll fight Sensei!" Sakura turned and saw Naruko rush towards Kakashi. Kakashi saw Naruko trying harder than before, and brought out several shurikens, tossing them towards Kakashi who deflected each and every one of them.
"Nice try Naruko, but it wont work with simple numbers. A plan has to be..."
However, Naruko did that to make some clones to flank Kakashi's right hand side, so Kakashi turned and swiftly delivered a kick to each of their chests, dispelling the clones, only for Naruko to have used this chance to push herself off of a tree, like a bullet shot for Kakashi's back.
Kakashi's lone eye looked back, seeing the incoming girl, and ducked just in time, but Kakashi smirked when seeing that, managing to dodge the young girl, and then he brought out a wire, tossing it around Naruko, tying her against a tree.
Her arms captured, her legs swinging back and forth, while Kakashi held the wire between his fingers.
"I see you let your teammate go find another one? Why is that?"
"B-Because...she's right! We need to work together...even if it is with that damn Satsuki..."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
Though it wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, it was still an improvement to how she acted beforehand.
Ryouta gave a bemused look, while Mikoto chortled awkwardly.
As that happened, Sakura used this chance to go and find Satsuki.
It didn't take her long, and she saw Satsuki fighting against Kakashi's clone, with the two dueling with kunai's. Using the Sharingan, she managed to parry a number of attacks from the clone and pressure the clone with her speed and skill, to the point Sakura was impressed that she could do that.
However, that soon ended when the clone to jump back, as he dropped something.
Before Satsuki could react, it erupted into a smoke cloud, Satsuki tried to retreat, when she felt a stinging sensation in her eyes from the smoke, and because of that distraction, she was surprised when she saw that shurikens were coming through the smoke, using her Sharingan she began to evade them, allowing them to pierce the wall behind her.
Cutting through the smoke, she was surprised to see that he was gone already.
"Damn!"
As she said it, she caught the sight of something approaching from the right, so she turned to see Kakashi coming in, so she went to attack the clone, when the clone took out a paper bomb, tossing it to the ground were it exploded.
The shockwave was enough for Satsuki to jump away and caused some of the ground to break from doing it, something that astonished Satsuki.
But when landing on the ground, the ground below her opened up, it made sense to her.
"He hid underground...and the paper bomb hit some more hidden or he had something there that would expand the shockwave, forcing me to jump to this location so he could grab me and drag me underground to bind me...not bad..."
Satsuki understood what had happened, and she went to deal with the hand, when the clone threw wire attached to a kunai towards her at high speeds along with Kakashi's clone kicking various pieces of uprooted ground from the explosion at her, and she knew that she'd not be able to deal with all at the same time in such a short amount of time.
"Satsuki!"
Sakura tossed several shurikens at the kunai, knocking it off balance otherwise Satsuki would have been captured, allowing Satsuki to swing her foot out for the stones, forcing them away, along with slashing down with her kunai all while in the air, forcing the hand to go underground, and then disappeared from the area as did the clone in a puff of smoke.
Satsuki released a breath as she landed on the ground.
Sakura moved closer.
"Satsuki, are you alright?"
"I'm fine...Thanks for the assist. He used his clone to distract me and attack from underground where my Sharingan couldn't fully see...crafty."
Satsuki replied, Sakura was surprised she thanked her.
"Ah, no problem. But Satsuki..."
Satsuki began to listen, but then saw that time was running out.
"Tch, there isn't a lot of time left."
"Then work with us Satsuki."
Satsuki glanced at Sakura, tilting her head.
"Work together?"
"We can't take Kakashi-sensei alone. You saw him then. We need to come together, and fight him together. I get you and Naruko don't get on great...but right now, can we really afford to lose because of that? We all want to become Genin, we all have a reason...so can't we work together now?"
Satsuki stopped, and thought about it.
She saw how the first fight with Kakashi went, Sakura did help her out, and she didn't know the full capability of Kakashi either, even if she pressured the clone, the real one would be able to fight harder.
"...Fine, lets hurry."
"R-Right! Lets go and meet up with Naruko!"
Satsuki sighed even more, but silently nods her head, and runs off together with Sakura, while Mikoto and Ryouta smiled to one another.
"Kakashi-sensei, he's rather tricky, he placed her into a situation she would have trouble escaping. Even using the ground in such a manner, the paper bomb wasn't just for a distraction, it was apart of his plan to force Satsuki-chan into a situation even her Sharingan wouldn't be able to get out of after learning her skills through fighting. That was quite the Jonin level of thinking, everything being apart of his plan, Kakashi-sensei was quite cool~"
Mikoto nodded.
"Yes, that is true, he planned ahead several times, and made it all apart of his plan. But it also drained his chakra reserves to do so. Kakashi-kun has many skills, but even by his admission his chakra reserves aren't the highest."
"Still, I think he made a calculated risk."
Mikoto mentally agreed.
"So, you think Kakashi-kun is cool?"
Ryouta nodded.
"Yeah...he kinda reminded me of...someone I watched years ago."
Mikoto gently smiled, understanding his thoughts.
"I'm sure he did. Now lets watch and see what's going to happen now~"
Ryouta inclined his neck in agreement.
They take a minute to find Naruko, finding her tied to a tree, so Sakura goes over and unties her.
Satsuki and Naruko stare at one another, sparks going off between their eyes.
But then Sakura got between them.
"Remember, we have to work together so we can pass this exam. You both went against Sensei and didn't win, at least together we have a fighting chance."
Satsuki and Naruko continue to glare at the other.
But then Satsuki relents.
"...You're right, lets work together."
Naruko nods.
"Yeah, but like...who gets the bells? You heard Sensei...he said that only two were going to pass..."
An awkward silence came between them.
"We can cross that bridge later."
Satsuki began, Sakura nods strongly.
"Y-Yeah, lets work on getting them first. Maybe by some miracle, he'll want to pass us all."
"But if he doesn't?"
Naruko asked, Ryouta and Mikoto glanced at one another, before Sakura let out a breath.
"We could always draw straws? I mean...it isn't the best way, but it's the only fair way I'd guess. We all want to be Ninja, and we all don't want others to fail, right?" Satsuki grunted, Naruko nodded strongly. "Then we'll have to do it the only fair way we can. But first, we need to get the actual bells. If we work together, we might be able to take him by surprise. I do have a plan...if you all want to know?"
Satsuki thought that was a fair way.
Naruko also thought the same.
"Alright Sakura, tell us your plan, lets do this."
Satsuki added.
So the trio quickly ran through some ideas, and then took off.
Ryouta smiled, as he looked to Mikoto.
"Sakura-chan, she seems to be the glue that can hold them together."
"She's the most level headed I'd say. She might not be the strongest, but she is smart, and she also understands her teammates."
Mikoto agreed and they watched on, wondering what was going to happen next.
Soon Naruko appeared before Kakashi.
Standing in the middle of the field, the memorial stone was stationed
Kakashi gave a bemused look as he sees Naruko bringing out a kunai.
"Trying to fight me alone again Naruko?"
"Hah! Lets see if I can!"
Naruko charged the young man, kunai in hand.
Getting in closer, Kakashi gave a bemused look, but then saw that Naruko threw the kunai at him. Using his fingers to catch it, he went to toss it back when Naruko brought out more shurikens, tossing them with surprising accuracy for Naruko.
Kakashi flexed his arm, and brought down the shurikens as Naruko came in close, bringing up her leg, and swung it for Kakashi.
The way she moved, caused Kakashi to question a bit on what had happened.
A sudden change in Naruko's fighting style.
The kick was hard enough for Kakashi to force the girl away as he took a few steps back.
As he did, Naruko once more tossed several shurikens as their eyes locked for a brief moment.
As they did, Naruko charged for Kakashi once more, who had already diverted her shurikens away from her.
When Naruko got in close, Kakashi went to swiftly take down Naruko, when her form changed into that of Satsuki.
"She changed into Naruko did she? So where is the real one?"
Kakashi looked mildly surprised as Satsuki waved through some hand signs.
"Fire Release, Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Unleashing a good decent sized fireball from her mouth, it headed for Kakashi who went to retreat, when a few clones jumped out of the bushes.
All of the Naruko clones jumped towards Kakashi, trying to pin him down.
Seeing the flames coming, Kakashi used his reflexes to kick the clones into the fires that roared towards him, but as he did, he heard a rustling noise from up above, so his eye turned to see that there were several rocks tied up high by vines, with Sakura up above.
"Have this!"
Sakura cut the vines, and several rocks began falling down.
Kakashi ground his teeth, pulling towards the right as the left was were a tree was, dodging the fireball and rocks.
But Kakashi noticed something.
The ground hadn't been disturbed when the rocks hit the ground.
Realizing what was going on, and because Kakashi didn't have his Sharingan showing currently, Kakashi placed his hands in a seal.
"Release!"
He commanded, and saw the rocks vanish as if they weren't there.
Satsuki had cast a Genjutsu on him, and forced him to believe that Sakura had dropped a bunch of rocks on him, though he wasn't exactly sure why that was, only to see that Satsuki was shooting a fireball towards him.
Kakashi leapt back at high speeds, the fireball hitting the ground as his feet landed right near the water.
"So, you used Genjutsu. Nice trick Satsuki Uchiha."
Satsuki smirked, as Kakashi looked around.
He wondered were Sakura was, if she wasn't up in the tree.
However, he then heard a noise from behind him, in the water.
Swiftly turning, he saw Naruko shooting up out of the water with a bamboo shoot in her mouth, showing she was using that to breathe while underwater, and while drenched, she made a Shadow Clone, which grabbed her hand, and tossed her towards Kakashi at high speeds.
"Naruko, we've been over this, you can't catch me with that..."
As he was going to say it, Naruko formed a hand sign, and yelled "Transform!" which she did...and transformed into a naked older Ryouta, doing a suggestive pose towards Kakashi who began turning as white as a ghost.
"Sexy Ryou Jutsu! What do you think Sensei? Do I blow you away with my handsome face and sexy body~!?"
Kakashi's face dropped and looked like he was going to gag, while Ryouta placed a hand over his mouth, shaking like a leaf as Mikoto giggled.
"My Ryou-kun, that girls made a naked you again~"
"No...not again...w-what if she shows that to people outside the village Mikoto-san?"
"Hehe, they might think you're an exhibitionist~"
Ryouta bit his lower lip, feeling humiliated as Naruko kept using these pervy Jutsu when it came to him.
But was surprised when Kakashi seemed to stall for a few seconds.
That enough allowed Naruko the time to get in close, and thrust a punch for him.
"Not yet Naruko."
Kakashi blocked the shot, and pushed Naruko back, only to have to dodge back anyway when Satsuki hurled another fireball towards the man, because of the distraction that Naruko gave, it didn't leave Kakashi with many options other than to dodge towards the logs.
However, when he did, he managed to catch the sight of Sakura appearing from behind the logs, having hid there, and her hand going for the bells, her hand was so close that Kakashi was surprised that Sakura was able to cross the distance so quickly.
The moment her fingers touched the bells, and her hand went to wrap around them.
Kakashi grabbed her wrist, and brought it upwards, but her fingers forced the bells to be released from his belt, and fell towards the floor, while she sent a punch for him, Kakashi blocked with his arm, but felt the pressure of the punch, feeling pain in his arm.
"So...she's quite strong as well...she did say she was learning from the Uchiha boy...she used chakra for a burst of speed, and to enhance her strikes a bit, I couldn't see any wasted chakra either, I don't think Satsuki could have done better..."
Kakashi mentally praised as Satsuki and Naruko locked eyes onto the bell.
"We can't lose this chance..."
"We can't let the bells go!"
Satsuki used this chance to dash as fast as she could to grab them, the same for Naruko, mentally yelling within their minds, as Sakiura wrapped her arms around Kakashi's own and tried her best to lock it in a position Kakashi couldn't easily escape from, trying to stop him from moving.
"Sorry Sensei, but I can't let you go!"
Kakashi saw them incoming, and had to admit to being surprised.
Surrounded by all three of them, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to block them all before they reached the bell within the time.
"...From not working together, to suddenly working this well together. I see that they might have what it takes after all. However, there's one thing that I need to see from these girls before I can officially pass them..."
But then, when they neared him, the alarm went off, and the end of the exam came, shocking all three of them.
Ryouta and Mikoto continue to watch on, wondering what was going to happen next.
After the test, Kakashi pulled all three of his students together, sitting them down before him.
"Well...it seems that you didn't manage to get the bells in time. Though there is a reason for this. Naruko, you in the beginning recklessly charged at me, and didn't think you'd be clearly outmatched by myself. Trying to show your skills is fine, but judging your opponent also is essential when you're in a battle."
Naruko looked down at the ground, feeling that maybe Kakashi was right.
Kakashi then continued.
"Satsuki, you believed your teammates would slow you down in the beginning. While indeed you are very skilled, you still have comrades. If they're there, they can back you up, and can support you, you don't always have to do everything alone."
Satsuki didn't want to admit it, but Kakashi was right on the money.
Kakashi then looked towards Sakura.
"And finally Sakura...I actually have to give you credit. You were the only one that wanted to do it as a team from the beginning. You sorted out your teammates, and understood the gap between yourselves, and myself. Also, you understood your teammates, and how they thought, and were able to pull them together. Good work."
"T-Thank you Sensei..."
Sakura replied with a sheepish expression on her face.
"That's why, based on what I witnessed, Sakura is the only one that showed what it takes to become a Ninja in my eyes. She was ready to work with her comrades, she brought you both together when you were reluctant to do so. She might not be the most skilled between the three of you, but she has the mind of a Ninja when it came to fighting. Satsuki, Naruko, you both didn't have the mind of a Ninja for a good portion of that exam. So that's why, I'm only passing Sakura."
Naruko and Satsuki were downtrodden, while Sakura looked towards her two teammates.
While she was excited, she also felt bad for the other two.
"But Sensei...we did it together. We couldn't have come this far without working together. If I can't go on with them...we're a team Sensei. We should all go together."
Kakashi folds his arms.
"Is that so?"
"Y-Yes, Sensei. I wish to go with them."
"Back to the Academy even?"
Sakura winced, when Naruko shook her head.
"No way Sensei! Don't do that to Sakura-chan! You said yourself she showed what it takes!"
Satsuki folded her arms.
"She's right, though I hate to admit it...Sakura showed more than what I did, and she helped me out, otherwise I would have been trapped by you. She brought us together...she was the one that helped come up with the plan."
Mikoto smiled as Naruko and Satsuki said that.
Ryouta did also, it showed that despite them failing, they didn't want Sakura to fail also.
Kakashi looked between them for a good while, he didn't say a thing at all.
But after a good minute, Kakashi chortled.
"I see, you're all willing to now be there for your team, even putting them above yourself...I think you all have some promise after all." Kakashi paused, briefly thinking if he was willing to do it. Ultimately deciding to do so, Kakashi showed his thumb towards them. "So you've all passed."
Sakura, Satsuki and Naruko were stunned for a few seconds.
"Yeah! We did it!"
"I-I can't believe it, we did it!"
Naruko and Sakura cheered as Satsuki allows a small smile to appear on her face.
Kakashi then looked between each member of his team, taking in everything that happened, and decided to impart some wisdom upon them.
"In this world, those who break the rules are considered scum, but those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum. That's why you three passed. You all showed you would go together as a team, or do your best to make sure a friend didn't fail when she stood up for her friends. Though you have a good way to go yet, and things like teamwork needs to become more natural, among other things...we're officially Team Seven from this day onwards."
With that, Ryouta smiled, and looked to Mikoto who wore a proud smile on her face.
"She really passed...I'm glad, I really am happy...my daughter...Naruko-chan...and Sakura-chan, well done."
Ryouta smiled also.
He was glad that they all were able to pass their exams together.
Kakashi then dismissed his team, as his lone eye went towards the memorial stone.
Sakura, Naruko and Satsuki walked by Mikoto and Ryouta.
Satsuki noticed the pair as they walked, with Mikoto waving her hand, and Ryouta smiling towards her, which in turn caused her to smile to herself.
Ryouta noticed that Kakashi seemed to be focused upon it, while Mikoto folded her arms.
"Mikoto-san, Kakashi-sensei..."
"What about him?"
"Is he the man with the Sharingan? Under his headband...I've heard of him before, the man that's copied a thousand Jutsu's."
"Yes, that's right. But as a non Uchiha, it drains his chakra more than it would us. He only uses it when necessary."
"I see, that makes sense...either way, I have another D Rank Mission that starts in about an hour. See you later Mikoto-san."
"Yes, see you later dear."
Mikoto smiled as Ryouta disappeared.
When all of the Genin had gone, Mikoto appeared before Kakashi, looking towards him intently.
"It seems that they have some promise."
"Yes, though I have to be honest I was beginning to wonder if they did. Skills...yes, I can see potential, teamwork...I was starting to think it wouldn't happen, Sakura really surprised me with how she brought them together, I was impressed."
Kakashi replied as he exhaled slowly.
"Deep down, they are good kids, and wish to become strong."
"Your daughter, she's quite skilled. Even using the Sharingan quite well." Kakashi brought up, Mikoto nodding. "From what I heard, she gained it from back then, when the..."
Before Kakashi could finish, Mikoto nods.
"Yes, that's right, she awakened it then and I've been helping her with it, which is why, I saw today that you'll be good for my daughter. She understood that it isn't always about working alone today, and you showing her that even with the Sharingan she has ways to go...I am glad that you were made her Sensei. The same for Naruko-chan, I'm sure you'll be able to help her along in her skills. And as you said, Sakura-chan showed promise today, she has what it takes."
Kakashi bowed his head.
"Thank you, Mikoto-san."
Mikoto waved her hand.
"No need to thank me for stating a few facts. I'll be off, good luck with your new team...it's going to be interesting to say the least~"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"Why would it be?"
Mikoto continued to giggle.
"Ooh, I'm sure it will be~"
Kakashi still wasn't sure what was going on, but he shrugged his shoulders, watching her vanish from sight.
When Satsuki returned home that night, Ryouta was sat in the living room, reading a book he had, hoping that he'd find something out about Naruko and if she was connected to the Tailed Beasts he had found.
As Satsuki came over, he placed it down and offered a smile.
"I saw what you did today, it was amazing Satsuki-chan. I'm really proud. I know it takes a lot for you to trust in others, after what happened with...that person."
Satsuki offered a light smile, as she sat beside him.
"Yeah...but I worked with them, they came in handy. I remembered what you said this morning about comrades, I thought it would at least be worth a try."
Ryouta laughed, seeing that Satsuki was showing a bemused look.
"I saw what you did today, even for Sakura-chan. It was great, seeing you and Naruko-chan stand up for her, working together so well, if it was from the beginning, I bet you'd have gotten that bell. You've come along in the Sharingan, and even surprised me, Kakashi-sensei is quite tricky though, huh."
"Yeah...I'll admit that Sakura didn't do half bad, I didn't know what Sensei had planned...but in that instance, she did bring us together, and I didn't think it would be fair to not pass her because of us. And as you said, Sensei is tricky."
Ryouta smiled, seeing the inner kindness Satsuki had.
Though she was aloof on the outside, Ryouta knew deep inside she was still caring like she was back when they were young.
He brought her close, and continued to smile.
"Do you want me to cook anything for you now?"
Satsuki gave a bemused smirk, remembering their conversation from the morning.
"Yeah, you don't mind?"
"Nope, I don't mind at all. Sit back, relax. I'll cook. Mikoto-san said she'll be back soon, so I'll cook for us three, I'll even cook your favourite Satsuki-chan as a congradulations for passing the exams~"
Satsuki continued to smile as he casually went into the kitchen and began to cook some food for her,
She soon jonined him in the kitchen, were they gave each other heartwarming smiles, before they allowed their lips to naturally meet, expressing their emotion for the other in a tender way.
Some days after this event, Ryouta had tried to approach Naruko on the subject of Mizuki, and could see that he wasn't getting anywhere, so he decided to research about a few things he thought that might lead him to the conclusion that he thought would be best, which is why he put in a special recommendation to Hiruzen himself about certain creatures within the world.
Hiruzen looked over the request while Mikoto silently stood by.
"Mikoto, you know the boy more than myself. If I give him what he's asked for, he'll discover what Naruko is, wont he?"
Mikoto bowed her head.
"Yes, he is a very smart boy, with the right knowledge...he must already suspect about what she is, I presume this is confirmation on his thoughts."
Hiruzen's brows lowered.
"I thought that was the case..."
"Hokage-sama, may I speak my thoughts?"
"Of course, please do."
Mikoto gave a thankful nod.
"Then, my thoughts are that Ryou-kun...he'd be able to handle it Sir. He'd support Naruko-chan, he wouldn't tell a soul if that's what was required. He is worried for his friend, I'm sure that many could understand that. Even if she's the Host of the Nine Tails, nothing between them would change, and it would be good for Naruko-chan, knowing someone knows that secret that's her age, someone that could support her in ways neither you or I could."
Hiruzen stroked his chin as he thought about it.
"Perhaps you're right, I thought about what would happen when she found out, and then how her generation would handle it. Though I am on the same page as yourself, Ryouta-kun is a smart young man, and he's a gentle soul like Shisui was...like his Mother and Father were..."
"I believe that Ryou-kun would handle it very well, and support her."
"As do I, I'll hand over the documents and such myself for what he's requested."
Mikoto bowed her head.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
"Please don't thank me, I'm agreeing with your thoughts on the matter. Can I trust you to speak with him about it?"
"Yes, of course Hokage-sama."
"Then I'll wait until you come back from your mission to hand over the documents."
"I'll be as quick as I can."
Hiruzen inclines his neck.
"Then safe mission."
Mikoto nods, and disappears in a flash.
Hiruzen being left alone, looked out of the window, and a small smile appeared on his wrinkled face.
End chapter!
So, we saw a few things happen this time! Between Team Seven initially not working together, but then with Sakura pulling them together and showing some skills along with Naruko also showcasing some ways to use her Shadow Clones, managing to begin to pressure Kakashi, though by that time, time had run out. Satsuki also showed the Sharingan a bit earlier, something I thought would make sense since Mikoto and Ryouta were with her, they'd be able to help her realize she already had it, along with showing more cooperation thanks to Ryouta and Mikoto's positive influence.
Ryouta even thought Kakashi was quite cool, more on their relationship shall be shown later on.
Ryouta and Hinata had met while on their D Rank mission, and began to bond, with Hinata's Dad seemingly taking note of Ryouta and Hinata's blossoming relationship.
Then at the end, Ryouta had requested directly from the Hokage, having become more and more suspicious, working things out, and with encouragement from Mikoto, is going to find out about the identity of the Nine Tails host, with Hiruzen also believing that they could trust Ryouta with such a secret.
Now with the team tests out of the way, it's time to head for the Land of Waves!
Well until next time, thanks for reading!
Ryouta; Satsuki, Sakura, Naruko, Hinata, Gaara (fem), Ino, Haku (fem), Kurotsuchi, Karin, Konan, Mei, Anko, Samui,