The confidence that Ace and Kaza had evaporated about three steps into the forest as they noticed a symbol drawn on a tree. Both knew this was going to take every moment of the five hours if they were to succeed. Ace raised his hands, looking over at Sakura and then to Kaza. "Brother, check for any tracks and figure out where they are going and what direction they came from. Sakura, stay alert. We are walking into a kind of minefield here, and that is the challenge."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow as she saw the worry on the faces of her teammates. They had seemed so unworried a moment before.
Kaza began scanning the area, looking for tracks and clues. "Of course, they are crisscrossing and almost impossible to read. He knows us way too well, doesn't he?"
"Of course he does. That's why this is going to be no fun," Ace said, noticing a potential trap ahead. "Sakura, we need to rely on your smarts. This test seems unique. Aoba-sensei probably got our dad in on this. Ryota Togusa, my adopted father and Kaza's old man, is a genius with traps and ambushes. It made sneaking out of the house nearly impossible."
Sakura's cheeks flushed with a mix of determination and nervousness. She looked at the two, confused. Ryota was one of the teachers at the academy, teaching the grade below theirs. She examined the mark closely. "I think that's a fake," she said. "The signs on it are wrong from what I remember reading in a book." She pressed her finger to her chin, her green eyes scanning the area. "There's a trap right there," she pointed out, indicating a small item nearby.
"Good eye, Sakura," Ace said, surprised by Sakura's insight. He motioned Kaza forward. Kaza moved carefully towards the trap, slowly figuring out how to deactivate it without triggering anything else. He found the string connected to it and carefully undid everything, letting out a sigh of relief. "Okay, that's one down and many more to go."
"If you can track him, I bet we can figure out where the destination is. I think he set traps moving backward towards the target. They don't want to make this an impossible test, so I bet the traps are clues leading us in the right direction while testing our ability to deal with traps," Sakura reasoned, looking at her teammates. She felt a growing confidence. Working with Ace and Kaza was different from being around Sasuke and Naruto, and honestly, she was kind of having fun.
"Kaza, you got this, right? This should be a walk in the park. Think about all those animals you've tracked down in the forest. You got this, brother," Ace declared. Kaza nodded, his normally shy demeanor replaced with focused determination. The usually introverted boy was now fully engaged, ready to help his brother and their new teammate.
"I see several overlapping traps, but I think marking them to avoid would be faster than removing them one by one. Sakura, could you help me with this? It'll be slow, but I could use an extra pair of eyes," Kaza said, showing his serious side. Ace knew well how formidable Kaza could be in this mode. Despite his quiet nature, Kaza became a focused and aggressive fighter when needed, often surprising even Ace with his transformation.
"I'm on it, Kaza," Sakura said, feeling a mix of confidence and pressure. She knew she had to step up and meet the brothers' expectations. Their trust in her made her feel more capable.
Sakura moved with Kaza, both carefully navigating the forest and calling out traps to each other. They marked the traps to avoid them, noting a few fake traps meant to mislead them. The challenge became a puzzle, a maze to solve as they followed the tracks through the dense woods.
"Good work, you two. Isn't this fun? Not the kind of thing we did in the academy," Ace called out, his belief in his brother absolute and his confidence in Sakura growing. She was proving herself far more capable than he had initially thought.
The group reached a clearing where Kaza stopped. The clearing was wide and open, and on the other side sat the box. It was clearly visible, but the expanse of the clearing was perfect for a confrontation. Kaza sighed as he looked out. "So, three versus one against Dad."
"Of course. What better way to end this than a test of our abilities against the best ninja we know—our old man," Ace said with a grin, looking forward to the challenge.
"What do you need me to do?" Sakura asked, looking between the brothers.
"Sakura, Ace and I will engage Dad. That might give you an opening to get the target," Kaza reasoned, pressing his fingers to his temples in thought. "We can hold him in battle while you get to the target. If we can hold him long enough, you might even get back. Just remember the marked traps. Only one of us needs to get back to the destination. We'll follow behind once you've secured the target. This won't be easy."
"Right, sounds good. Kaza, it's time to see if we're ready to fight Ryota. Remember, we got this. Watch out for any tricks he might try during the battle," Ace added, looking at Kaza with determination.
As if he could hear them, Ryota Togusa walked out from behind a tree, wearing his traditional Konoha jōnin garb. His long black hair, with a hint of gray, was pulled back, giving him an air of striking elegance and confidence. His brown eyes fixed on Ace, Sakura, and Kaza, as if he knew exactly where they were and had been waiting for their challenge. He stood with his arms crossed, leaning back with a proud smile on his lips.
"Let's go," Ace called out as he and Kaza burst from the treeline towards their father. Ace quickly performed a series of hand seals. "Fire Release: Fire Geyser!" he shouted, sending a wave of advancing fire at Ryota while the brothers moved to engage.
Ryota sidestepped the fire and easily blocked his sons' attacks. He deflected Kaza's kunai with his own and caught Ace's fast jab with his other hand. "Boys, let me first tell you I love you and I am proud of you. Secondly, I won't go easy on you. Your job is to hold me back, right? Let the pink-haired girl get out of here without me defeating her. Can you two brothers work together?"
Neither brother replied. They knew their actions would speak louder than words. Ace pulled back and threw several quick jabs while Kaza followed up whenever Ace had to retreat. Their attacks didn't land, but they kept Ryota on his toes, preventing him from going after Sakura, who had slipped by to grab the box.
Ryota could potentially blow back the boys and take down Sakura, but this wasn't about defeating them outright. This was a test to see if they were ready to be genin, not chunin. He wanted to gauge their abilities and improvements.
As Ryota pondered this, he looked up a fraction of a moment too late. Kaza had his fingers fanned out on the sides of his face, ready to unleash his jutsu. "Light Release: Solar Flare!" Kaza called out, creating a blinding light that filled the area just as Sakura slipped by, shielded from the attack.
Ryota closed his eyes but was momentarily blinded. He pulled back into a defensive stance, struggling to see clearly. He expected a follow-up attack from Kaza but realized there was none. Kaza must have signaled his move to Ace in advance. It was an impressive strategy. As Ryota's vision cleared, he saw that Sakura was gone, and the boys had disappeared as well, having used the moment to escape and rejoin her.
Ryota smiled brightly, pride swelling in his chest. Kaza was growing into a fine young man, and Ace was proving his worth as well. He felt a great deal of happiness at being outsmarted by his sons and their teammate.
Ace smiled at Kaza, "That was a great move back there. Nice hand signal during that last attack; otherwise, I would've been thrown off for sure. It's a good thing we spar so much."
"Yeah, I guess so. Let's move, finish this mission, and then have a great dinner," Kaza replied, focused on the success of their challenge. They moved together, catching up with Sakura just as they emerged from the woods and saw Aoba waiting for them.
"Oh, so you managed to pull it off. Good work, you three. That was an impressive bit of teamwork to get past Ryota-sama and make it back," Aoba said, clearly impressed. He knew that Ryota had crafted a tough challenge as a final test for his sons. Judging by how tired they looked, it had been a worthwhile test.
"So, soba it is," Ryota said, stepping out of the forest moments after the group. "I think I'll join too, if that's okay," he added with a smile. "Plus, your mother wants to join the celebration as well. Sakura, your parents, Mebuki and Kizashi, are more than welcome too. They always come around and pray for your success whenever they can."
"Oh, well, I'm sure they're busy right now, but thank you, Ryota-sensei," Sakura said with a smile. It wasn't often that anyone mentioned her parents. "I'm sure they'll be happy to know they're thought of so well."
"Aoba, you got the tables set up, right? I mean, you had four hours to get it done. I told you they'd pass, and they did even better than I thought they would," Ryota announced happily. "They all have a lot of room to grow, but that's the beauty of youth. Their potential is off the charts. They'll surpass me before long, I'm sure of it."
Kaza and Ace blinked, processing Ryota's words, feeling a mix of emotions they couldn't quite put into words. Even Sakura, who didn't know Ryota very well, sensed the pride and love between father and sons. She also felt his confidence in her as their teammate, which made her believe she could become a great shinobi too. It was a moment that filled her with determination and hope for the future.
A bit later, Sakura was at the local soba place, looking at the various bowls of soba each member of her team—and the parents of two members—had. She saw Ryota with his zaru soba, Tia with her mori soba, Ace with his tempura soba, Kaza with his kake soba, Aoba with his nanban soba, and her own tororo soba. Each choice was different, reflecting the unique personalities within the group, yet they could all come together to enjoy a meal or work as a team.
"So let's go over the plan from here on out," Aoba began, looking at the team. "For the next month, you three will take only D-ranked missions, meaning missions limited to the village. You will also continue intense training with either myself or Ryota when he has the chance. Each of you will focus on something different, but we will use the missions to work on your teamwork and the ability to combine your various new skills. If you do a good job, you'll go on your first C-ranked mission one month from now. Understood?"
"Got it! We'll clear this challenge, no problem," Ace said confidently. Kaza nodded with a smile.
Sakura nodded as well, observing Kaza more closely. Now that they were out of battle, he was far more timid and quiet. She could see how he had gone unnoticed in the academy for the most part. She wondered what Ino's reaction to Kaza's other personality would be and if he could ever bridge the gap between his personas.
She then looked at Ace. His confidence was palpable, and he had a charisma she recognized. He could back up his words and was a force to be reckoned with. She mentally compared Ace to Sasuke—they were very different but both had the charm and magnetic personality that attracted others, similar to Naruto in many ways.
As the meal progressed, Sakura felt more comfortable around her team and had a much better understanding of who her teammates were. Now she just had to get stronger and work hard to keep up with them.