~Tenshi's POV~
I made my way over to dad after my incident with Sasuke. When I got there, I saw dad reading his book. He looked up at me to see that I was alone. Dad saw the look on my face and softened up.
"Tenshi, are you okay?" He asked me. I nodded and took my defensive stance. He nodded and we began fighting. I could feel everyone's eyes on us as we fought.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" I shouted. Water bullets shot out of my hands as dragons and went for my father. "Wind Style: Great Twister Jutsu!" I shouted. A tornado went around him distracting. That when Tamotsu did a speed Jutsu and ran forward to grab a bell until the alarm went off. I stopped with Tamotsu and walked over to where Naruto was tied up. I leaned on the log farthest from the group.
"All three of you should quit being ninjas," dad told them.
"Quit being ninjas?! What does that mean?! Okay, Okay, we couldn't get the bells, but why do we have to quit!" Naruto shouted.
"Because all of are just punks that don't deserve to be ninjas," dad told them. With that Sasuke got angry and tried attacking my dad. I jumped in front and tackled Sasuke to the ground and sat on his back, holding his arm, with my foot on his head. He kept squirming.
"This is why you don't deserve to be ninjas," I said to them. With that he stopped and the others looked at me but I avoided their gaze. I looked at dad and he nodded. "Why do you think we're put in teams?" I asked them.
"What do you mean, Tenshi?" Sakura asked me. I sighed and shook my head in disappointment.
"In other words, you don't understand the answer to the test," dad told them.
"The answer?" Naruto asked.
"That's right, the answer to determine whether you pass or fail," dad told them.
"We've been asking what that is…" Sakura trailed off. Now I'm getting tired of this.
"Geez!" I exclaimed making them all look at me. "Are your brains empty? You don't understand why we're all in a group?" I asked glaring at them. Naruto shrugged.
"So what about four people being in a group?" he asked.
"Teamwork," dad and I replied at the same time.
"You mean, cooperate with each other?" Sakura asked.
"That's right, but it's too late even if you notice now. If all four of you came at me at once, maybe you could have gotten a bell, but that's too bad," dad told them.
"Wait…why do we need to use teamwork when there's only three bells? If four people work hard to get it, one person will have to bite the bullet. A group conflict will occur instead of teamwork," Sakura said. I nodded.
"Of course, this test tried to put you four against each other," dad told them.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"In this situation, we select those who prioritize teamwork before themselves. That was the purpose, but you three were pathetic. Sakura! You care more about Sasuke than Naruto, even though Naruto was right in front of you and you didn't know where Sasuke was. You didn't even accept Tenshi's offer to help with the bells," dad said to her. Sakura looked at me and gave me an apologetic look, I just ignored her. "Naruto! All you did was work on your own even with Tenshi helped you, you blew her off, you own friend," dad told him. Naruto looked at me and saw the sadness in my eyes and gave me an apologetic look like Sakura, which I also ignored. "And you," dad said looking at Sasuke. "You assumed that those three were only going to burden you and did everything yourself. Tenshi also saved you and you threw it in her face," dad glared at him. Sasuke looked at me from under my foot and gave me a sad look. Honestly, I felt like crying due to all of them. "Missions are done in groups, it's true that ninjas need well-developed individual abilities, but it's teamwork that is much more important," dad said to them.
"An individual action that disrupts the teamwork will result in danger or even death for the teammates, for example," I started, I pulled out a kunai and put it Sasuke's neck. "Sakura! Kill Naruto, or Sasuke's going to die!" I shouted at her. She gasps and Naruto looks panics. "That's what will happen," I told them withdrawing my weapon and let Sasuke go.
"Oh, you surprised me," Sakura mumbled.
"But wait, didn't Tenshi do anything wrong?" Naruto asked. Dad shook his head.
"No she didn't, she tried getting your help," dad started.
"I was willing to get all the bells to help you guys, I would have given all the bells to you three. It would be like me trying to get you all out alive while I'm sacrificing my own life for all of you, and would have happily done that then. But now…I'm not so sure anymore," I said turning away from them. I felt Sasuke place a hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.
~Sasuke's POV~
I'll admit, hearing what she had to say hurt me, but when she shrugged off my hand, it hurt a lot more. I was so cold towards her, I hurt her that much.
"Tenshi, I'm sorry about before…"
"Forget it," she interrupted me. She walked over to a stone that had names on it. Kakashi-Sensei followed her and placed and hand on her shoulder. We followed after them, Naruto still tied up a few feet away.
"Look at this, the numerous names carved into this stone, all these names are praised as heroes in this village and Mangetsu," Sensei told us.
"I like that! I like that! I've decided that I'm going to have my name carved into that! A hero! I'm not going to die a useless death!
"But they're not normal heroes…" Tenshi trailed off.
"So what kind of heroes were they? Come on, tell me!" Naruto begged.
"Those who were K.I.A.," Sensei said wrapped an arm around Tenshi.
"K.I.A.?" Naruto asked.
"Those who were killed in action," Sakura clarified. Naruto's smile drops and he looks down.
"This is a cenotaph. The names of my friends are craved in here as well. Even people from Tenshi's village are on here, such as her mother and step-father," Sensei said holding Tenshi. Tamotsu walked up and nuzzled Tenshi who dropped down and hugged him. Tamotsu was whimpering and we all looked at her.
"Her mother and step-father?" Sakura asked. Sensei nodded and walked up to us.
"Her step-father, Ookami no Toboe, was a Jounin like me, he was a good man and loved Tenshi like she was his own. He died a year after Tenshi's little sister, Tori, was born. Tenshi's mother was the Mangetsukage of the village, she died trying to protect her daughters when Tenshi was five," Sensei told us. I looked at Tenshi, she had tears running down her face and she was looking at the stone. Tamotsu licked her tears away and Tenshi smiled a sad smile at him. She stood up and walked over to us. I looked and saw Naruto close to tears just as we were. "I'll give you one more chance. However, the battle for the bell will be much harsher after lunch. Eat lunch only if you are up to the challenge. But! Don't let Naruto eat. This is punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat lunch early. If anyone feeds him, the person will immediately fail. I'm the rule here, got it?" He asked us. He then left us to eat, but Tenshi wasn't eating. She fed a piece of meat to Tamotsu and he ate it.
"I'm okay even if I don't eat! I'm okay!" Naruto shouted. Then his stomach growled. "Okay…" he trailed off.
"Tenshi, I'm sorry about before, can you ever forgive me?" Sakura asked her. Tenshi just ignored her and walked over to Naruto grabbing some food putting it in front of his mouth.
"Tenshi, what are you doing? You'll be in trouble," Naruto said to her.
"Do you want to eat or not?" She asked him. He looked at her sadly and ate. "Besides, I already ate this morning, I'm fine," she told him. I walked up and offered some food to Naruto. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
"Hey, Sasuke! Sensei just said…"
"Don't worry, I don't sense him nearby. We four are going to get the bells together, it's only going to be trouble if he's hungry," I said to her. I looked at Tenshi and she smiled and kept feeding Naruto. That's when Sakura started helping.
"Tenshi, we're all really sorry for ditching you, will you forgive us?" Naruto asked her. Tenshi looked at us, all of us having hope in our eyes. She smiled at us and nodded.
"Of course, I just hope you all learned your lesson," she said to us. we all nodded smiling a bit. Soon, Sensei appeared
"You four…!" Sensei growled causing Naruto and Sakura to scream. I pushed Tenshi behind me in case of anything. "You four broke the rule, are you prepared for punishment?" he asked us. Lightning and dark clouds appeared. "Any last words?" He asked us. Naruto started freaking out with Sakura
"We're a four man team, right?" I asked glaring at Sensei.
"Yeah, we four are one!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right!" Naruto agreed.
"You four are one, eh? Anything else you'd like to say?" He asked. That's when Tenshi looked at him calmly. How the hell can she be calm?!
"Yeah, I have something to say…" she said to him. She then smiled. "I think you can cut the act, dad, they learned their lesson!" She told him.
"You passed!" he said to all of us.
"Huh?!" We shouted. Tenshi was laughing, clutching her stomach.
"You pass," Sensei told us.
"Pass? Why?" Sakura asked. Sensei looked at Tenshi.
"You can clear the sky now," he said to her. She did that?! She cleared the sky still laughing. "You four are the first, the people I had previously were blockheads who just listened to what I had said. Ninja's need to think beyond normal. In the world of ninja, those who break the rules are called scum, but those who don't take care of their friends even worse than scum," Sensei told us. Naruto was cheering and Sakura smiled. I smiled a little and looked at Tenshi. She stopped laughing and smiled at me. I walked up to her as Sensei walked away.
"That was pretty cool," I said to her. She then blushed a bit, cute.
"Thanks, we should go," she said to me. I grabbed her wrist.
"Wait, I'm sorry about your family, about what you and Tamotsu had to go through, if you ever need to talk…I'm here," I told her scratching the back of my head. She smiled at me and kissed my cheek making me blush causing her to giggle. She ran off and I ran up with her. But we all left Naruto who was calling for us to come back. Tenshi reached in her pouch and through a kunai at the ropes setting him free. She then went back to running, she then looked at me and nodded for me to follow.
"Hey dad, I'll see you a little later! Sasuke and I are going to hang out for a bit," Tenshi called over to him, I was in shock. Then she looked at me. "Is that okay?" she asked me. I snapped out of it and nodded. I saw Sakura glaring at Tenshi, she really needs to lay off.
"Have fun, we'll have missions tomorrow, don't be out too late, Tenshi," Sensei told her. Tenshi nodded and I followed her with Tamotsu.
"You want to get something to eat?" She asked me. I nodded with a small smile. We went to a place where we got meat buns and dangos and then went to the park to eat. We sat on the swings and talked while we ate. I watched as ate her food and fed some of her food to Tamotsu. Those two are so close you would think they were siblings, too bad Tamotsu's a wolf. Tamotsu came up to me looking at the meat bun I was holding. He placed his head on my lap and gave me the puppy dog eyes. Tenshi was giggling. "Tamotsu, you know it's rude to beg," she scolded him. He whimpered and I pat his head and gave my meat bun. When he finished eating it he looked at me and barked a thank you. He nuzzled against my leg and laid his head on my lap again, I started petting him and his tail wagged out of control. "He really likes you, he's usually really on guard around everyone," Tenshi told me.
"Then what makes me so different?" I asked him. His ears perked up and he got off my lap. He trotted over to Tenshi and he looked at her. She nodded at him.
"Okay, I'll tell him," she said to him, okay now I'm confused. "He says you know how it feels to lose the people you care about. It wasn't just me who lost some one, but Tamo lost his twin brother and former family, so he knows how you feel. He wants you to know that you're not alone," she smiled at me. Tamotsu nodded his head at me, and I gave him a small smile. I pat Tamotsu's head and nod.
"Thanks, Tamotsu, you too, Tenshi," I said to them. With that we walked home. I offered to walk her home but we were by my compound. She kissed my cheek making me blush again and she left. I swear she will be the death of me.