But a Soldier I can be!
Tenten entered her house through the front gate leading Kankuro behind her by his reins. She had hoped to sneak in unseen when Tenten saw Asuma hobble out on his crutches. He looked at his daughter with a hopeful smile, only to make Tenten feel worse as she turned away and led Kankuro to his stable. Taking of his reins, Tenten allowed her horse to drink from his trough as she looked at her reflection and sighed sadly, brushing hair out of her face.
"Look at me...I will never pass for a perfect bride...Or a perfect daughter..."she began to sing as she removed her necklace and earrings. Just as Tenten was about to walk away she saw Kurenai walk up to Asuma who smiled at her hopefully, only to be replied with a sad shake of his wife's head. Tenten's heart ached at the sight of their disappointed faces as she walked away towards the back garden where she released Konohamaru into the bushes before walking away. "Can it be? I'm not meant to play this part?"
Konohamaru looked at the girl walking away with a guilty look since it was his fault that Tenten messed up. Tenten continued to walk towards the house's large lily pond where she began to cross the bridge leading over it. "Now I see...that if I were truly to be myself," continued Tenten as she balanced herself walking on the railing before jumping down. "I will break my family's heart..."
Tenten walked along the edge of the pond and looked at her reflection sadly in the clear water. "Whoooo is that girl I see? Staring straight, back at me? Why is my reflection someone I...don't know?" she sang leaning her head against the large stone Kyuubi before walking up the stairs to the family shrine.
Not far behind her, Konohamaru had paddled across the pond using a lily pad and hopped up the stairs after the girl who just entered the shrine and glanced at the multiple reflections of herself from the shiny surfaces of the memorials before kneeling in front of the 1st Ancestor. "Some...how... I cannot hide, who I am, though I've tried," sang Tenten bowing before looking at the reflection in front of her. "When will my reflection show, who I am, inside...?"
Tenten used her sleeve to wipe off her make-up and looked at her multiple reflections again before undoing her braids. "When will my reflection show, who I am...inside...?" she finished as Tenten left the shrine tying her hair up again in her usual hair buns as she sat on stone bench under a nearby cherry tree in blossom looking at the earrings given to her earlier that day.
A small cough caught her attention as Tenten looked up to Asuma approaching her. She quickly turned away in shame, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Asuma smiled and sat down beside his daughter. For a moment, there was an awkward silence between the two. "My, my...what beautiful blossoms we have this year!" he exclaimed admiring the cherry blossoms around him when he spotted an unopened bud. "But look," Asuma pointed out to Tenten who turned her head. "This one's late, but I'll bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful of all!" he said taking the earrings from Tenten's hands and wearing them on her.
Tenten smiled at her father feeling better when suddenly a loud rhythmic thumping of the town drum was heard. At that moment, Mizuki, Izumo and Kotetsu came riding in to town with imperial flags straming behind them. The Sarutobi family peeked out from their gate to see a crowd gathering around the trio. Asuma glanced at his wife grimly and walked out. Tenten tried to follow but Kurenai shook her head as she trailed behind her husband. Tenten almost looked dejected when Chiyo cleared her throat and gestured at the nearby ladder next to the stables. The girl nodded a thanks to her grandmother as she used the ladder to allow her to view over the wall.
"Citizens! I bring a proclamation from the capital city of Konoha! The Akatsuki have invaded the Fire Country!" announced Mizuki to everyone. All the townspeople gasped loudly in fear at the news and began whispering among themselves. "By order of the Lady Hokage, one man from each family must come and serve in the Imperial Army!" he continued, pulling out a list of families and began calling out each name.
Tenten gasped loudly when she realized what it meant.
"The Sarutobi Family!" called Mizuki.
Asuma's face looked grim as he gave his crutches to Kurenai and limped towards the man. He bowed respectfully and stood straight. "I am ready to serve the Hokage!" he declared.
Just as Izumo was about to hand a scroll over to him, Tenten jumped down from the wall and ran towards Asuma. "No, Father you can't go!" she cried stepping in between her father and Izumo. "Please sir, my father has already-"
"Silence!" ordered Mizuki riding up and snatching the scroll from Izumo. "You will do well to teach your daughter to hold her tongue in a man's presence!" he sneered at Asuma, with Tenten glaring daggers at the man.
"Tenten, you dishonor me..." said Asuma softly, turning his head away from his daughter. Tenten looked at her father in disbelief at first then in sadness as Chiyo came out and led the poor girl away.
"Report tomorrow at the Eastern Border camp!" ordered Mizuki handing Asuma his scroll.
"I will," replied the man, accepting and bowing his head as Mizuki continued to call out other families. Asuma turned and limped back into the Sarutobi compound, ignoring his wife who held out his crutches for him. The three Sarutobi women looked at Asuma sadly as he limped away into the house.
Inside, Asuma went into a special room where a large gold painted cupboard was. He opened to reveal his old Imperial uniform (It's an Anbu uniform with a monkey mask). Just then Tenten was walking past the room when she saw her father and immediately stopped, hiding herself by the door. She slowly looked in to see Asuma pull out a katana from it's sheath. Tenten watched as her father began to practice his swordplay. Everything seemed fine at first until Asuma tried to put his weight on his bum leg. Asuma cringed as he collapsed to the floor. Tenten almost wanted to run in but stopped herself as she watched Asuma slowly pick himself up and looked at the scroll that was given to him and clutched it tightly.
Later on at the dinner table, the atmosphere was tense as the family began to eat. Tenten poured the family their tea before pouring her own. Thunder rumbled outside as Tenten glanced around the table. Chiyo looked at her grand daughter and sipped her tea while Kurenai and Asuma simply ate. Suddenly, Tenten couldn't bear the tension any longer. Slamming her teacup down on the table, the girl stood up angrily. "You shouldn't have to go!" she cried.
"Tenten!" exclaimed Kurenai in surprise.
"There are plenty of young men to fight for the Fire Country!"
"It is an honor to protect my country and my family," replied Asuma, his patience wearing thin.
"So you will die, for honor?" demanded Tenten stamping her foot.
"I will die for doing what's right!" retorted the man, standing up to face his daughter.
"But if-"
"I know my place!" yelled Asuma sternly. "It is time you learned yours!"
Asuma's words stabbed deep into Tenten's heart, making her run out of the house feeling hurt to the stone Kyuubi crying bitterly. She sat curled up at the base of the statue crying when it began to rain heavily, soaking her to the skin. After a few minutes, Tenten glanced over at a reflection of herself in a puddle before looking to see the shadows of her parents through the blinds. Asuma tried to reassure his wife but Kurenai simply turned away from. The man hung his head sadly as he blew out the candle.
Conflicting emotions arose inside her but after seeing how much her mother would sad if something were to happen to Asuma, Tenten knew what she had to do. Walking up to the family shrine, Tenten lighted a couple of joss sticks and placed them on the miniature Kyuubi altar and bowed in silent prayer. Konohamaru watched silently from the shadows before hopping after Tenten.
Tenten slowly and quietly crept into the house to her parents' room where she grabbed her father's scroll from his bedside table and replaced it with her golden earrings. She then went to the special room and walked towards the cupboard. Taking out the sword, Tenten released her hair buns and grabbed the end of it in one hand while the other grasped the katana and sliced through her long hair, cutting so that it ended at her shoulder blades instead of how it used to trail to her butt. Taking a strip of cloth, Tenten used it to tie her hair into a single bun on top of her head before she donned her father's uniform and grabbed his sword.
Meanwhile, Kankuro was busy eating some hay when his stable doors burst open to see an unfamiliar figure. Kankuro whinnied loudly as he reared up on his hind legs when the figure walked up to him was revealed to be Tenten. The girl stroked the horse's nose to calm him before putting Kankuro's reins and saddle on. Tenten led her horse out quietly but not before looking at her house for one last time before swinging herself onto Kankuro's back.
"HIYA!" cried Tenten as Kankuro kicked open the door and neighed loudly before galloping off with Tenten into the night.
At that moment, Chiyo awoke with a start when she sensed something was wrong. Looking into her granddaughter's empty room, her fears were confirmed.
"Tenten is gone!" yelled Chiyo, rushing into Asuma's and Kurenai's room, awaking them with a start.
"What?" exclaimed Asuma when he suddenly glanced down and saw Tenten's earrings where his scroll should be. "No...she couldn't have..."
Quickly, Asuma grabbed his crutches as hobbled into the special room and saw Tenten's locks of brown hair strewn on the floor before he threw open his cupboard. He gasped loudly when he found his armor and sword gone.
"TENTEN!" he cried, throwing down his crutches and hobbling out the house only to trip and fall on the muddy ground hard. "No..." he whispered as Asuma saw the front gates ajar.
Kurenai ran out into the rain to help her husband stand. "You must go after her! She could be killed!"
Asuma grabbed his wife's hand and squeezed it. "If I reveal her, she will be..." he said gravely much to Kurenai's despair.
Chiyo watched the grieving couple from the door before looking towards the sky. "Ancestors, hear our prayer, please watch over Tenten..." she prayed softly.
At that moment, the kanji characters on the 1st Ancestor's memorial began to glow brightly as silvery blue wisps began to shoot out from them and took the form of Sarutobi Hiruzen (The 3rd Hokage if you don't remember) as he sat on top his memorial with a staff materializing beside him. The ghost glanced over to the altar of the mini Kyuubi. "Naruto...awaken!" he commanded as the altar began began to glow and come to life as it fell to the ground bouncing with a metallic clang. Ash from the altar's tray created a smoky effect on the floor.
"I LIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVE-DATTEBAYOOO!" cried a puppy-sized Kyuubi as it emerged from the smoke like Frankenstein. Naruto glanced left and right , sniffing the air. "Yosha! So what mortal needs my protection Great Ancestor? You just say the word and I'm there!"
"Naruto..." said Hiruzen in an irritated voice.
"Now let me say something. Anyone who is foolish enough to threaten our family, vengeance will be MIIIIIINNE!" declared Naruto as he began snarling and growling like a wild animal.
Hiruzen rolled his eyes heavily. "NARUTO!" he called in a loud voice making the fox flinch. "THESE are the family guardians," said Hiruzen gesturing to the small statues of the other tailed beasts. "They..."
Naruto frowned heavily and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Protect the family-ttebayo..." he answered sourly.
"And YOU, Oh Demoted One?"
Naruto glanced over at a small gong at his feet in disdain. "I...ring the gong..."
"That's right. Now, wake up the ancestors please."
Naruto sighed as he picked up the gong and it's mallet. "One family reunion coming right up!" he said sarcastically as he began to ring the gong loudly. "Ok, people let's go! Look alive! Wake up! Wakey-wakey! Rise and shine!"
Immediately, the other memorials began to glow as the rest of the family awoke and sat on their memorials. "I knew it! I KNEW IT! That Tenten was trouble-maker from the start!" exclaimed Koharu loudly, jabbing her cane at Homura, who sat nest to her. (They're the two old people who work for the Hokage)
"Well, don't look at me, she gets it from your side of the family!" retorted Homura.
"She's just trying to help her father!"defended old lady Sansho. (From the Curry of Life arc)
"BUT, if she's discovered, Asuma will be forever shamed! Dishonor would come to the family! Traditional values will disintegrate!" pointed out Ebisu anxiously.
"Not to mention they'll lose the farm!" added in the Nidaime Hokage.
"MY children never would have caused this trouble! They all became acupuncturists!" exclaimed Koharu standing up.
"Well, we can't ALL become acupuncturists!" argued Homura.
"Oh NO! Your great grand-daughter had to be cross-dresser!" argued another.
Meanwhile, Naruto sat on the sidelines watching the ancestors argue loudly as he slurped instant ramen from a cup when one of the ancestors suggested to let a guardian bring her back. Homura immediately snatched up Naruto and his gong and held him up to the Ichibi statue. "Awaken the most cunning!" he ordered when Naruto got snatched by Ebisu.
"No! Send the swiftest!" he said holding Naruto up to the Nibi statue but he got snatched a third time by Koharu and was held up to the Hachibi.
"No, send the wisest!"
"SILENCE!" yelled Hiruzen loudly making her drop Naruto on the ground with a clang. "We must send the most powerful of all-" he said as he was about to gesture to the Kyuubi statue outside when Naruto laughed confidently and climbed on a pedestal.
"Ha-ha! Ok, ok, I get it, I'll go!" he said cheerfully, when everybody suddenly began laughing at the mini fox. "You don't think I can do it? Well watch this!" yelled Naruto as he opened his mouth and fired a small ball of red chakra. "Hah! How's that?"
"You had your chance to protect the Sarutobi Family!" pointed out Hiruzen sternly.
"Your misguidance led Hashirama (The Shodaime) to disaster!" added in Koharu.
"Yeah, thanks a lot..." said Hashirama in bitter sarcasm who literally held his head in his hands.
"And your point is?" asked Naruto, unfazed by the matter.
"THE POINT IS! We will be sending a REAL Kyuubi to fetch Tenten," replied Hiruzen.
Naruto's jaw dropped open. "What? But I'm a real Kyuubi-dattebayo!"
"You are not worthy of this spot! Now awaken the great Stone Kyuubi!"ordered Hiruzen, grabbing Naruto and throwing him out the door.
"So you'll get back to me on the job then?" asked Naruto hopefully only to replied with a gong thrown in his face. Hiruzen rubbed his temples irritably.
Naruto sulked heavily as he trudged down the staircase dragging the going behind him. "Jeez, one more chance is all I'm asking, just ONE chance...it's not like it'll kill them or anything..." he grumbled as he walked up to the Kyuubi statue. "Yo Rocky, wake up! You gotta go fetch Tenten!"
When Naruto got no response he moved to front and rung the gong again. "Come on boy! Go on! Go get her!" he urged and whistled as if it were a dog but still not even a twitch.
Naruto grabbed his gong and began scrambling up to the Kyuubi, growling at it until he reached the ear. "Hello? HEL-LOOOOO...?" he yelled directly into the Kyuubi's ear, smacking it with the gong. "HEL-WHOOPS!" went the little when he swung his gong a little to hard and accidentally broke the ear. Naruto gasped as grabbed the ear and held it in place. "Oh...shitz-ne..."
Suddenly, there was a loud cracking and the whole statue came crumbling down. Naruto coughed as he blew away the dust. He gasped when he found himself among the broken remains of the statue the the stone Kyuubi head lay in front of him. Naruto gulped as he poked the fox's head. "Um...moshi-mosh?...Oi, Kyuubi-sama...? Moshi-mosh?" called Naruto softly before bitng his lip and began jogging on the spot while wringing his hands nervously. "Ohcrap-Ohcrap-Ohcrap-OhCRAP! They are SO gonna kill me-ttebayo!"
"Great Stone Kyuubi! Have you awakened?" Naruto heard Hiruzen call from the shrine.
The bushes not to far from the shrine rustled as the stone Kyuubi's head popped up with Naruto holding up in front of his own head and fanned his tails out. "Uh-um...YES! I-I-I JUST woke up! I am the Great Stone Kyuubi! OHAYO!" replied Naruto deepening his voice and waving at the 1st Ancestor, who apparently did not notice the stone Kyuubi's 'small body'. "I shall go forth and fetch Tenten! D-did I mention I was the Great Stone Kyuubi?"
"Go now! The fate of the Sarutobi Family rests in your claws!"
"Don't even worry about it! I will NOT lose faith!" replied Naruto when he suddenly stumbled and rolled down the hill backwards with the statue head. THUD! SPLAT!Went the statue head as it landed hard on top of Naruto with his paws and tails sticking out and wriggling. "It-t-tai...I can't feel my tails..."were his muffled groans as the Naruto slowly pushed the fox head off him.
The little Kyuubi wrung one of his tails worriedly. "Aww crap, how am I gonna get out of this one now? I'm so SCREWED! And all because Little Miss BUN-HEAD decided to take a little DRAG-SHOW on the ROAD!" he yelled in frustration beating the Kyuubi head with his paws repeatedly.
Suddenly Naruto heard a chirping and looked up to see Konohamaru on the Kyuubi head. "Why don't you go get her yourself?" (R.F: Starting from now you shall all get a translation on what Kankuro and Konohamaru are saying!)
"Go get her?" exclaimed Naruto, jumping to his feet as if the bug was crazy."After this big overgrown rocky Kyuubi mess I need to think of a way to get back in the temple!" he yelled in frustration when an idea struck him. "Wait that's it! If I can make Tenten a war hero and bring honor to the family those old geezers would practically PAY me to get back to work! That's the MASTER-PLAN! Oh I AM A GENIUS-DATTEBAYO!" cheered the fox running off past Konohamaru.
"Hey! But that was my idea!"protested Konohamaru hopping after the fox. "I'm coming too!"
"Oh no you're not!" argued Naruto pushing Konohamaru back. "Besides what can you do?"
"I'm a Lucky Cricket!"
Naruto screeched to a halt and looked at the bug skeptically. "You're Lucky? Yeah RIGHT!" he scoffed before running out the gate with the cricket still hopping after him. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"
"Actually, yeah you do," replied Konohamaru as they turned a corner.
Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance as he growled and chased the cricket angrily who kept turning around to mock him.
Meanwhile, high up in a rocky terrain in the mountains. Pein and the Akatsuki came riding through on some mean looking horses when they suddenly pulled to a stop. Pein signalled for Kisame, Itachi and Deidara to move ahead. The three dismounted and crept quietly into the fog with Kisame brandishing his sword and Itachi loading a long bow with an arrow. It wasn't long before a small scuffle was heard and two ninjas, Sora and Karashi (the monk from the Shippuden series and the dude from the Curry of Life arc respectively) were tossed in front of Pein who dismounted his horse. Sora tried to reach for his tekagi when Kisame held his sword by his neck, causing him to think otherwise.
"We found Konoha scouts, un!" said Deidara.
The two scouts shifted in fear as Pein stepped up to them and threw open his hood, revealing his face. "P-p-pein..." stammered Karashi, swallowing hard.
At that moment, Sasuke flew down and perched on Pein's shoulder as he knelt down in front of them. "Nice work gentlemen, you found the Akatsuki," he said mockingly, prompting the rest of the Akatsuki crew to snicker.
Sora, being the bolder one frowned. "The Lady Hokage will stop you!" he said, trying to put on a brave front.
"Stop me?" exclaimed Pein pretending to look surprised as Sasuke flew away. "She practically invited me!" he said smiling sinisterly as he suddenly grabbed Sora by the throat and lifted him high off the ground, causing the boy to start gasping for breath. "By building the Great Wall, Tsunade is challenging my strength! And I'm going to play her game..." said Pein as a black sharpened rod emerged from his sleeve and pointed it at Sora who was turning blue in the face.
"GO!" ordered Pein, throwing Sora suddenly to the ground as Karashi quickly scrambled after him. "Tell your Lady Hokage to send her strongest army! I'm ready for her!" he said as he watched the two run off. Pein scratched his chin a bit before he looked over to Itachi. "How many men does it take to deliver a message?"
Itachi made no emotion as he lifted his bow and arrow. "One," he replied simply, aiming at one of the two scouts.
