Chapter 16 – Under Rock and Over Ground

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do not belong to me

Previously on Secret Keeper: Team 7 may have completed the first task of the Genin Trials, but the morning isn't over yet...

"Pathetic," Iwana sneered down at them once the final team had completed the course. "And to think that one of the teams supposedly specialises in tracking! I can certainly see that we have the best genin teams available." he scoffed.

It looked like Iwana wanted to continue reaming them out, but was stopped by the Hokage's cough.

Iwana scowled.

"As stated earlier, only five of you will be awarded points for this exercise. One point each." he grinned sharply. "Those five are Uchiha Sasuke, Harano Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Neji, and Higurashi Tenten. If the rest of you want to collect any points, well, you'll just have to do better on the next task. Which starts now. There are seven items hidden around the Village, and neighbouring area, one set for each of you. You will need to work out what these seven items are, and present them to us at the Hokage Tower. In the interest of, ah, fairness, we will give you clues, but cannot name the required items. Although you will need to find us, to obtain these clues. And, we can only give one clue at a time. Points will be awarded as follows: finish in half an hour, two points. One hour, one point. With a bonus point for finishing on the first attempt. Now, the first clue." Iwana smirked. "I do hope you know your poetry, although, you might all be a bit young for this one..." he trailed off, before disappearing, the others following his lead.

"Huh? What kinda lead is that?!" Naruto yelped, jolting everyone out of their shocked stares.

"Baka," Sasuke muttered, before grabbing the blond's arm and heading off, Sakura bringing up the rear.

"Right, what do we already know?" Sasuke asked as he pulled out his notebook.

Sakura frowned, tapping her chin in thought.

"We each need to find seven items, it's possible that each type are in the same place, but fairly unlikely. Regarding the 'clue', there's bound to be several poems that fit, but the only one I can think of is the wedding one, you know, Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue."

Naruto nodded slowly.

"We can probably rule out 'old', 'new', and 'borrowed', as it'd be too hard to tell if whatever we brought fit into the category." he hummed.

"So we're looking for something blue." Sakura sighed. "There's tons of blue things in the Village, assuming it's not something they're created specially."

Sasuke nodded sharply.

"Standard intel gathering, then. He said one clue a time, so...clones?" he looked over at Naruto, who smirked, hands already forming the seal.

"Wait a moment!" Sakura exclaimed, grinning manically. "They only give one clue per person, right? So, what if you made the clones match our competition?"

Naruto's eyes gleamed.

"Yatta! One army of genin, coming right up!"

Sasuke gave Sakura a matching grin.

"Good idea. So, do we stay here, and wait for the clones to feed back clues, or head for the Village?"

Naruto frowned.

"If we head for the Village, and also try to get clues, we can't stay together – it'll kinda give the game away. Although, it would allow us to collect the items?"

Sakura hummed.

"I vote we head for the Village." she shrugged. "We'll just have to avoid being seen."

"Right. Let's head out!" Sasuke nodded, slipping his notebook back into his weapon's pouch.

By the time they arrived back at the Village Gate, Naruto's clones had found them two more clues, causing them to pause in the surrounding bushes. The clues themselves weren't exactly the most helpful: The seven items shared a common theme; and two items were edible. But, hey, it was a start!

As they approached the Gate, Sakura started smiling.

"Ohayou, Kotetsu-san!" she chirped brightly.

"Ohayou! How's the Trials going?" he grinned.

"Oh, it's going great! We're currently trying to find some items – I don't suppose you'd happen to know anything about them?" she asked, voice practically dripping in honey.

"Ah, now you mention it, I did see Anko heading off towards training ground 8 last night, with a handful of ribbons." Kotetsu shrugged.

"Training ground 8? Thanks, we'll check that out!" Sakura waved, before hurrying off, the boys following along behind.

Training ground 8 was located to the east, just inside the trees. Close enough to the Village to call for aid, but far enough away so the civilians wouldn't get alarmed. The main feature of the clearing was a large, grey rock, with several smaller rocks scattered around. Due to this, the ninja population tended to use the area for target practice.

Upon reaching the clearing, Team 7 split up. There were just too many places available to hide ribbons. In the trees, the bushes, under rocks... At one point, frustrated at their lack of ribbons, Sakura crawled through a gap in the large rock. Only to find twelve purple ribbons spread out on the ground. Her cheer brought the boys running from their interrogation of the surprisingly-thick brushes.

"We got one!" Sakura exclaimed, waving three ribbons happily.

Sasuke smirked, adding the ribbons to his notebook, along with their location.

"Naruto's got another clue, too."

Naruto nodded eagerly.

"Yes, Kaka-sensei said to 'look where it all began.'"

Sakura drooped.

"But, that could mean anything! The Academy, the gates..." she trailed off.

"Nope!" Naruto grinned, before holding up two fingers. "The clone in question was a Sakura-clone, so really, it's one of two places. The Academy room we met Sensei in, and training ground 3."

Sakura brightened instantly.

"So, where to first?"