Wind, Rain, Lord Fifth and Iruka sit around the table in the scroll room, staring at the two scrolls sitting on the table in front of them. They have no idea what to do. They tested every male senju descendant they could find in the Hidden Leaf after they ran out of the ones who fit the Senju parent/grandparent rule, and they tested every male Uchiha in the village, and a few non-official-clan Uchiha descendants they managed to track down.
"What do we do now?" asks Wind, sighing in defeat. She is stumped. Where are the reincarnations?
"Maybe we did the test wrong?" suggests Rain.
"We did the test correctly," says Lord Fifth. "There's something else wrong. But what?"
"Maybe the reincarnation cycle ended," suggests Iruka. "It is possible that the last reincarnations were friends and accidentally ended the cycle."
The door bangs open and Naruto marches in. "Hi!" He grins, swanning right up to the table and picking up the Scroll of Joe. "So I was thinking: I want to take the test in here. It's fuuinjutsu. I like fuuinjutsu. I want to take the test, 'tebayo."
"Go ahead," says Wind, waving a hand at Naruto. "It probably won't do anything, but we are out of people to test."
"Cool," says Naruto, and unrolls the scroll. Then he slaps his hand down on the test for Ashura's reincarnation and activates his chakra. Wind fully expects the seal to turn red and make a sound resembling a 'get off the stage' buzzer on a talent show.
It does not.
A golden backdrop dops behind Naruto. Two big arrows appear on the backdrop, pointing at Naruto. They light up with a bright, glaring white light before switching off and then on again, and continuing to flash. Two big trumpets appear above the backdrop, letting loose a victorious trumpet call. Several confetti poppers shower Naruto with sparkly, colour-changing confetti.
Wind, Rain, Lord Fifth and Iruka all drop their jaws.
"WHAT KIND OF SEAL IS THAT?!" yells Rain, backing away and taking his chair down in the mad scramble to get away.
"Oh my gosh, it's Naruto," says Iruka, gobsmacked.
"There goes the rest of my sanity," sighs Lord Fifth, resting his forehead on his fingertips.
"Well," says Wind, trying to see the sensible side of the situation. "It looks like we found Ashura."
"Hang on," says Naruto, frowning. "I'm not a Senju, so how can I be Ashura?"
"Both the Senju and the Uzumaki Clans are descended from Ashura, remember?" says Wind, remembering that detail from the vast history lesson in Dave's Scroll. "Maybe because of the lack of eligible Senjus, the cycle reverted to their sister clan."
"That does seem like a reasonable explanation," says Iruka, thoughtfully. "Maybe Indra reverted to a different clan to match the change."
"That could explain why he's not amongst any of the Uchiha candidates," agrees Lord Fifth, stroking his mustache. "But that would mean that the cycle reverted to the Umino Clan,which just leaves you and Nagato as the candidates for Indra."
"I guess I'll take the test then," says Iruka, pulling the scroll away from Naruto and towards himself. The backdrop behind Naruto vanishes with a pop. Iruka places his hand on the Indra test seal and activates his chakra. It lights up red and makes that annoying buzzer-sound. "Looks like we are going to need to find Nagato," says Iruka, sounding as tired as Wind feels.
"Lord Fugaku," says Wind. "Try summoning him with your rinnegan like you summoned Konan. I am fairly sure Nagato keyed himself into the rinne-summons contract too."
"Why did he do that?" asks Naruto. "Is he going to summon himself?"
"Knowing Nagato, probably," says Wind gravely. Nagato is the sort of idiot who would try to summon himself.
"I'll try it, then," says Lord Fifth, doubtfully. He activates his rinnegan and promptly summons Nagato.
Nagato appears in a cloud of steam, soaking wet and singing off key. He is also naked. Realizing they summoned Nagato while he was in the middle of taking a shower, Wind turns and head over to a wall, which she then slams her face into.
"And here I thought I didn't have any sanity left to lose," sighs Lord Fifth, shaking his head.
"Here, have a towel," says Iruka, pulling a towel out of one of his storage seals and handing it to Nagato.
"Nagato, why are you taking a shower in the middle of the day?" asks Rain.
"What's wrong with taking a shower in the middle of the day?" asks Naruto, indignantly. "We go the hot springs in the middle of the day, don't we? It's the same thing, 'tebayo."
"I was taking a shower because YOUR kid thought it would be funny to tip a bucket of muddy water on my head, Rain!" snaps Nagato irritably.
Wind laughs. "That is actually pretty funny," she says. "Is it safe to turn around yet?"
"I am covered in all the important places," says Nagato.
"No you're not," says Rain. "You have to be fully dressed before she turns around, Nagato!"
"I can handle the sight of a man in a towel, Rain," says Wind, sighing. "If it bothers you that much, go get him some proper clothes." She turns around and heads back to the table. Then she sits down and says, "Sit down, Nagato. We have business to take care of."
Nagato sits down, making sure his towel is secure around his waist. "What business?" he asks. "Did you find the reincarnations?"
"We found Ashura," says Lord Fifth. "It's Naruto."
"You couldn't have just sent me a messenger hawk?" asks Nagato, who is still sulking. "I was having a nice shower."
"I'm not entirely sure how the rinnegan summoning works," says Lord Fifth. "But can I reverse-summon you back to your shower once we are done?"
"Yes, you can," says Nagato. "What do you want?"
"We can't find Indra amongst the Uchiha clan," says Iruka. "Ashura reincarnated into the Uzumaki Clan, so now we're testing the Umino Clan. I've taken the test, it's your turn now."
"Stick your hand on that seal and activate your chakra," says Lord Fifth, pointing to the Indra seal.
Nagato does so, and produces the all-too-familiar red buzzer.
"Well," says Rain hurriedly. "It's not Nagato, send him back to his shower before he freezes."
Nagato, who is starting to shiver a bit, says, "Yes please."
"We'll tell you when we find Indra," says Lord Fifth and reverse-summons Nagato back to his shower.
Rain sighs in relief. "I'm so sorry you had to see that, Wind."
"Rain, I can handle the sight of a man in a towel," says Wind firmly, shaking her head. "All the same, we have an even bigger problem right now: we still do not know who Indra reincarnated into."
"Why don't we all go and get some lunch," suggests Iruka. "Maybe something will occur to one of us after we have full stomachs. Do you want to come, Naruto?"
"Nah, I just went to Ichiraku with my team," says Naruto. "But then I had the thought that I should try the test for fun."
"Hang on," says Wind, thinking that maybe there is another way to pinpoint Indra. "Naruto, who is your biggest friend you love to hate?"
"Sasuke..." Naruto growls.
"That's not going to work," sighs Wind. There is no way the reincarnation is a girl. "I was hoping that we could find Indra candidates by finding out who Naruto loves to hate. After all, Indra and Ashura loved to hate each other."
"Let's think on it over lunch," says Lord Fifth. "I need a break from this."
"Hey, while you're all gone, can I show my team what the scroll did when I took the test, 'tebayo?"
"Yeah, sure," agrees Lord Fifth. "And ask them to stay until we get back. Maybe some fresh ideas and eyes will help our search."
"Thanks Mr. Nice Hokage!" says Naruto, and leaves via the window to fetch his team.
"So where shall we go for lunch?" asks Rain.
"The BBQ place," says Wind firmly. "I want something meaty."
The others agree and the group heads off to Yakiniku Q for lunch.