Chapter 20 – The Blue Hokage
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do not belong to me
The moment they were dismissed, Team 7 darted down a side street, before taking to the rooftops.
"So, what colours are we after?" Sakura asked, eagerly pulling out her paper from her pouch.
Sasuke smirked.
"I have dark green, which suggests there's also a light green. Why else would they specify 'dark'?"
Sakura nodded.
"Right, Sasuke-kun! I've got silver, so there could be a white or grey out there too." she shrugged. "Naruto?"
"Huh?" Naruto started, before grinning sheepishly. "Er, brown. Sorry."
"Bearing in mind there's three extra colours, plus we don't know Shino and Neji's, I think we should scout the Village first." Sakura hummed, tapping her chin.
"Not to mention at least one ribbon's with a jounin! Don't suppose we'll be lucky and it'll be someone else's ribbon?" Naruto asked hopefully.
Sakura shrugged.
"It could be one of the extras, too. So, what's our play? Go for the extras, or not?"
Sasuke frowned.
"The fact that they've given us two hours suggests they want a skirmish. And, then, there's the whole 'don't get your own colour and no points' thing."
Naruto grinned.
"I say we go get every ribbon we can." he shrugged. "We stop them getting points. You heard Risa."
"Well, if we're going that route, I reckon we can ignore pink, as Team 5'll most likely be going after that one, given Hiroki's reaction." Sakura hummed.
Sasuke nodded.
"Right. And, Naruto, hold off on clones for now, this is a long game. Focus on recovering chakra, locate ribbons, then start collecting them in around the hour mark. That should give us time."
"Got it." Naruto nodded, before heading off towards the market.
Sakura grinned.
"I'll start at the Gates, Sasuke-kun."
And so, the game of Cat and Mouse began.
As residents of a ninja village, the citizens of Konoha were used to encountering the various shinobi antics. Of course, it helped that a good percentage of the population were either ninja themselves, or retired ninja. But, every so often, something happened where you couldn't help but stop and stare. Such as the Great Flood (caused by a young shinobi losing control of a water jutsu. The village streets hadn't been so clean in living memory), or that time Jiraiya-sama accidentally summoned a gigantic toad in the market.
This time, however, it was the sight of a blue Hokage waltzing down the street. The fact that his entourage was also blue only added to the spectacle.
"Uzumaki's done it now." an old woman shook her head.
"How did that happen?" the fruit-seller muttered, almost dropping a customer's bag.
Further down the street, an old man stared, before glancing suspiciously back at the izakaya he'd just come out of.
Hiruzen chuckled, pulling his hat down further to hide his amusement.
"Remind me to have a word with Naruto-kun." he hummed.
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Wolf nodded sharply.
"I don't think I've had so much fun in years!" Hiruzen continued, before heading for the Academy. "Let's see what Kono-chan thinks of Naruto-kun's make-over, hmm? And then, we'll need to head over to training ground two. I'm sure Asuma'll want to see this, too." he nodded happily.
The accompanying ANBU sweat-dropped.
"Not sure I want the Academy brats seeing this, it'll only give them ideas." Rat muttered.
"That's the plan, my friends. Just imagine the possibilities. After all, most of Naruto-kun's pranks could become traps. I wouldn't be surprised if he became our next trap master, provided he's given the right guidance." Hiruzen mused happily, ignoring the looks of horror from his ANBU guard.
Said potential trap master was currently perched on a roof, overlooking the market. He'd already spotted three ribbons. Pink was currently having a lively discussion with a fruit vendor, the possibly-civilian woman gesturing wildly.
Red had been spotted on route, heading off to the northern training grounds along with Black and friends. As per orders, no shadow was sent to tag along.
Naruto sighed. Of course the only ribbon at the market was the one they didn't need! Maybe, he should have followed Red and Black, just to confirm their location?
Decision made, he headed off back towards the training grounds. Hopefully, the others had had better luck.