The next day, Naruto proudly walked into the regular classroom, much to the confusion of the other students. This was for people being promoted to Hero; everyone knew that the annoying kid in the bright orange clothes had failed. To anyone who asked, he merely claimed that 'special circumstances' were made because 'he was awesome.' Sakura noted that that probably meant he was too annoying for the teachers to keep around, eliciting laughter from the other students, but the boy merely took it in stride as he proceeded to sit down.
Unfortunately, the random seat he had chosen put him immediately next to Sasuke "Amaterasu" Amatsukami, which in turn prompted the anger of the several women who had been debating amongst one another who had the right to do so.
While superhuman good looks were common among the gods' children, especially those who knew Appearance Knacks like Naruto and Sasuke, he had something about him that made the women, mortal and Scion alike, go crazy. It was incredibly frustrating, especially since Naruto had had his eyes set on one of those girls for quite a while, but of course she cared nothing for him, and was actually quite cruel about it. Sakura glared at him with contempt, yet he still couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked.
Deciding to take stock of who else had made it, he saw Shikamaru "Kalfu" Loa, Ino "Freya" Aesir, Choji "Guan Yu" Tian Tang Zhi Fa Yuan, Shino "Morrigan" Tuatha da Danaan, Kiba "Lugh," and that weird girl with the short hair that sometimes stared at him creepily, who was she again? Ah, yeah, Hinata "Zeus" Dodekatheon. That was, of course, on top of Sakura and Sasuke. The others were unrecognizable to him. Kids from other homerooms, maybe?
Though, honestly, it wasn't as if he had gotten to know any of them very well. Even with his limited understanding of the Village's politics, he did note how many Clan children were there among the graduates; something about it miffed him, though he couldn't say why.
Realizing that trying to size up the others was going nowhere, he instead chose to stare at the ceiling and count the various shapes he found from flaws in the plaster there, a skill that had gotten him through many a dull and face-plodding lecture.
It would not be long before Iruka entered the room with a tray covered in the famous headbands of Legends. Setting them down, he then did what every leader of every education institution since the beginning of time felt the need to when his charges were just about finished with said institution; give a long, cliche-filled, never ending speech that was meant to inspire them and put emotions into their hearts. There were serious doubts that the latter had ever been achieved. It certainly wasn't today.
Once that was done with, Iruka informed them that they would be placed into Bands of four; three from the class and one experienced Scion of at least the Upper Demigod ranks, though Minor Gods would be assigned if available. Names were called, expressions of excitement, disappointment, and frustration were called out in return as people learned who they would be with.
It was a long while before they called Naruto's name, creating a simultaneous burst of excitement from him and disappointment from her when Sakura's was called next, only to have the exact same emotions come forward in the exact opposite direction when Sasuke's was subsequently called. Having briefly deluded himself into thinking that he might have convinced Sakura to give him a chance if Sasuke wasn't in the general area, Naruto refused to accept this and demanded of Iruka, "why does someone amazing like me have to be put in the same Band with a loser like Sasuke?"
Iruka was irritated, not least because Band assignments had kept him up late last night (seriously, how did not just so many Clan children, but so many Clan heads or their spouses end up having children with Gods at the same time?). "Naruto, out of everyone who actually passed, you had the worst scores. Sasuke had the best scores. We put you two together to balance each other out, and so that he could help you grow."
Sasuke snorted. "Just don't get in my way, outborn."
Sakura, for once in her life, looked at Sasuke with annoyance, as did Kiba. Many of the others looked rather uncomfortable.
Iruka was angry. "Clan birth means little; all of us are the children of Gods, regardless of our mortal parents, and I would ask you to remember that."
Sasuke, for once in his life looking humbled, responded, "You're right, I am sorry."
He looked back to Naruto. "Just don't get in my way, failure."
--
Once it was established that, no, Naruto could not kill his classmates without severe repercussions, and thus Sasuke's retribution had to be satisfied with a disheartening glare, which the boy in question promptly ignored, the Guides for the newly formed Bands entered the room and greeted their new subordinates. That was, with the exception of Band 7, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.
Once everyone else had filtered themselves out of the room, the three were still left, Iruka informed them that their Guide would be there, eventually, and that they were to wait here until he did. So they waited. And waited. Then waited some more. Eventually, Naruto would leave his seat to walk around the room aimlessly; he had too much energy to just sit like this for so long.
Sakura, at first, glanced at him in disgust, but then as time went on started to agree with his assessment of the situation. She tried relieving her boredom by flirting with Sasuke, but he just ignored her as always. When enough time had passed that even wandering aimlessly bored him beyond sanity, Naruto grabbed an eraser and arranged it on top of the door so that it would fall on their Guide's head when he opened it.
Sakura was torn between insulting him for his immaturity and laughing at a potentially fun prank at the expense of the man who had forced to wait for so long. Sasuke scoffed at the idea that a Minor God, or someone on the verge of becoming one, would fall for something so obvious. There was a reason these people were so feared, after all.
--
Kakashi was late, of course, but they would get used to that. After all, an inordinate number of old ladies had required assistance crossing the street on his way here. Zero, actually, which was an inordinate number; how many communities had zero old ladies? That last detail was one he didn't intend to share when he used the excuse, however. His senses alerted him to a planned trap. 'Let them have their fun,' he thought as he opened the door and let the eraser smack into his head.
--
Sakura found the scene hilarious, as much as she tried to stifle the feeling. Naruto was bursting out laughing. Sasuke was staring in disapproval at their supposed superior. Examining the three, he wasn't overly impressed. A brunette boy who clearly thought he was all that, a pink-haired girl trying to be professional in way that screamed 'false front,' and a boy in a ridiculous outfit on the ground laughing his ass off over a simple eraser. Had Kakashi not been given forewarning of some of their capabilities, he might have written them off immediately.
He decided to give them the same chance to see him; he would be the pathetic, irresponsible excuse for a Guide until it was time to get serious about their training, and he would see if they were deceived by appearances. He had every intent of taking them seriously in spite of initial impressions, and part of their test would be to see if they'd do the same.
"Meet me on the rooftop for our first meeting. Five minutes. Don't you dare be late. A true Hero values punctuality, and always shows up on time." He went to the meeting place himself before he could hear their objections to his hypocrisy.
--
Kurenai "Parvati" looked upon her charges with not a little apprehension. This was the first Band she had been placed in charge of, and the inherent fears of whether or not she was worthy of course showed up in full. Fingering the blue lotus her mother had gifted her, she steeled her nerves as she strived to figure them out.
A well-connected member of the Tuatha da Danaan Clan, yet one who was so distant and cold. Shino partially hid his face behind a jacket, and wore sunglasses on top of that. The crows surrounding them were not behaving normally, and she could tell they were his. For all his intentional mystery, she didn't feel any sense of danger about him; in fact, he looked steady, ready to prove himself.
Then there was Kiba, the exact opposite in many ways. Clanless by birth, taken in by the Tuatha da Danaan by right of his divine parentage (she had heard they were more generous about that than many Clans) and entrusted with one of the Hound of Lugh's pups. While he didn't seem ungrateful for such treatment, he still seemed aggressive, like he had a chip on his shoulder. The boy had the aura of a dog that hadn't truly been tamed.
Outside of them was Hinata, born to the mortal wife of the head of the Dodekatheon Clan, and thus, as far as the Clans were concerned, his heir. The fact that her father was a God instead of said Clan head only made her more legitimate, in a way those outside of the Village rarely understood. That it was Zeus himself who fathered her cemented this even further.
With all of that name and power behind her, she should be the epitome of pride and grandeur, quite possibly arrogance. Kurenai could only see the exact opposite. She didn't look up to Kurenai, instead choosing to stare at her hands as they made the same gesture over and over again. A nervous tic. That much was something Kurenai could recognize.
She needed to get to know them, earn their respect, and figure out whether they were really worthy of becoming Heroes all in the same week, and the first two in the first conversation. It was so frustrating that she only had the last one planned out.
"So, tell me about yourselves." She got very little out of them. Shino liked birds and disliked those who looked down on others. Kiba liked dogs and hated cats and homework. Hinata was too embarrassed to answer any of the questions.
Finally, she informed them that their Graduation was not actually set in stone. They had a final test to perform, that they would take before the end of the week. The only thing about it they got to know beforehand was that they should learn as much they could about one another.
Smiling as they struggled to speak to each other, she subtly pulled on the Strings of Fate. The Magic Purview was often overlooked, partially because it was rare but also because it was entirely about messing with Fate; among those who spent a lot of time thinking about it, a third came to the conclusion that Fate should be trusted as is, another third came to the conclusion that Fate was a cruel bastard to be evaded and feared at all costs, and the remaining third acknowledged it and tried to manipulate it to their advantage.
Only those in the third camp would dare to mess with Magic Spells (what Scions called spells, at least, not what Karmic Dragons, Tremere Vampires, or Hexslingin' Cowboys called spells). Here, it was to her advantage, as that meant her students would get tested dealing with something they had no real experience with. While they didn't know it, their destinies would be tangled up in a way that resulted in them switching bodies, and she would expect them to go about their whole day and even a faked mission under those conditions. Real Heroes should be able to deal with it, she thought, and the Great God-on-Earth had agreed the last time she brought it up.
--
Asuma "Vayu" Sarutobi wasn't particularly pleased with his mortal caretaker's (hardly a mortal, but a better term for the other parental figure in a God's Child situation hadn't been created in defiance of all reason) choice of students. All of them Clan brats, and none of them looking particularly impressive. The Loa kid couldn't be bothered to sit up, the Aesir girl couldn't stop checking her hair, and the Tian Tang Zhi Fa Yuan hardly had the body one would expect of a Hero, but that last one could be worked on. He wasn't sure what he'd do with the remaining two. Well, test them, like you're supposed to.
The only test he could come up with was a stupid test of character that anyone with the slightest wisdom would see through right away, but he had in fact had many in the past fail it. "Okay, listen up. Your Graduation hasn't been set in stone yet. I still have to see if you're really cut out to be Heroes."
He led them to a chamber he set up a while ago. Each had a separate room, where they couldn't see or hear one another, though he could see and hear all of them without issue.
"Okay, each of you is being held prisoner by an enemy. You can choose to give up information or refuse. If you give up information and the other two refuse-" Kurenai had helped him Magic it up so that they would hear a reward they truly wanted. "But someone goes back to the Academy. If two of you give up information and one refuses, then one goes back to the academy. If all three of you give up information, then you fail and return to the Academy."
He purposefully played it off as if he had forgotten the last part before reminding himself, "oh, yeah, if all three of you refuse, then there's no special reward, you just continue as graduates. Just to be clear, no, you don't get to know what the others chose before making your decision."
The Loa kid sat, thought, and seemed to immediately come to the conclusion to refuse. The other two seemed tempted by the offer, but, after some consideration, came to the conclusion that a test simulating being captured by an enemy would be set up so that refusing to give up information would be the right answer. In the end, all three of them refused. It shocked Asuma how few students realized that.
--
The kids had shown up on time and not tried to play Kakashi's hypocrisy against him, to their credit. Kakashi "Loki" Aesir wasn't sure whether to be proud or disappointed. "So, tell me about yourselves. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, goals." Everything about his tone and posture indicated apathy towards his own request. "Let's start with you, the boy in orange."
"I like ramen, I dislike the amount of time it takes to cook ramen, my hobbies are sampling different types of ramen, and my dreams and goals are the same; I'm going to be the Great Kunitsokami!"
Sasuke snorted.
"Well, it's good to have ambitions. What about you, pink-haired girl?"
"Well, I like, the person I like-" she glanced to Sasuke without saying anything. "What I dislike is Naruto." The boy glanced at her as if slapped.
She struggled to come up with any dreams or goals; Kakashi wondered if she was too embarrassed to admit that her goals were to get married and have children, like a lot of women in his experience. He wondered when the Gods were going to abandon this delusion that their daughters and sons had the same desires to be Heroes. Of course, he kept such thoughts to himself; that was not something someone said out loud around female Scions.
Finally, he gave her a reprieve from trying to falsify a heroic demand from life and asked Sasuke for his contribution. "I don't really like anything. I dislike a lot of things. My goal is to…eliminate a specific someone and restore the Amatsukami Clan's former position." 'Well, here we have a healthy and stable individual with a bright future,' Kakashi thought.
He briefly considered pointing out that Naruto was adopted by one of the Gods the Amatsukami Clan held its pact with, and that he could make an excellent first start as a new member, but then decided that that would only anger them both. Then he thought that might be an even better reason to do so, but ultimately settled on maintaining peace. "Well, then, if there's nothing else-"
"What about you?" Sakura asked.
"What about me?" He responded.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed with Sakura. "You had us say all of this stuff about ourselves, what about you?"
Kakashi sighed. "Very well. I like some things. I dislike other things. As to my dreams and goals, well, I don't really feel like telling you about that." They seemed to be shocked by his audacity, a fact he relished. "Now, for your final test-"
"What? But we already graduated!"
"Oh, that was just a preliminary. Your real test begins tomorrow. If you fail, well, then it's back to the Academy. 6 AM tomorrow, Training Ground Seven, don't be a second late. Oh, and by the way, considering how intense the thing is likely to be, I wouldn't recommend eating breakfast unless you have Stamina Knacks." He really hoped they would heed his advice and not be late; he intended to be there at 10 AM sharp, and would hate to get there before them.
--
Naruto had made the horrifically embarrassing mistake of collecting a pair of chopsticks rather than his Birthright. Having to backtrack when he realized this, along with the fact that he felt the need to offer up several prayers and maybe spruce up the shrine to Izanami to make sure she wasn't mad about this, meant that he didn't get there until 6:30. Sakura and Sasuke's angry glares (of course, both of them had gotten there right on time), were only mitigated by Kakashi's absence. Where was he?
It was a serious question, and though none thought to defy their Instructor's will by leaving or eating breakfast, it seriously became such a pain as hours passed with no sign of him. It was at 10 AM, when Naruto's growling stomach had him thinking about that missed breakfast and how much he craved it, that Kakashi strolled up. "Sorry I'm late, a Prophecy that something dangerous might strike at some individual's two hands before 10 AM was told to me, and as an individual with two hands I couldn't think of anyone else that could apply to." They didn't even bother to comment, just glare.
"Alright," he said nervously, before dropping the act altogether and taking a deadly serious tone. "You have two hours to take one of these bells." He held up two bells. "They'll be on my person; take one, and you're to do as you wish for the rest of the day. Fail to get one, and you get sent back to the Academy."
Sakura and Sasuke immediately noticed that there were only two bells and three students, which prompted them to look at one another with comprehension. Or what he tricked them into comprehending, anyways. Naruto looked confused. "If there are three of us here, why are there only two bells?"
"Hmm, good question. I guess one of you is guaranteed to fail." Even though two of them had already figured it out, all three glanced to one another again; he could see it in their eyes, they were sizing up the competition. Another year, another group of failures. "By the way, I know it's not your instinct, but I would recommend coming at me with everything you have. Act as if you seriously wanted to kill me if you want to have a chance."
--
Iruka stopped by the Great God-on-Earth's office on his way home. Hoping to catch the man when he wasn't busy, and by some miracle doing so, he stopped in for a brief chat. "Sir, I'm concerned about Naruto. How do you think he'll do with the test?"
Sarutobi took a hit of his pipe before responding. "He's with Kakashi." Pulling out a piece of paperwork, he handed it to Iruka.
"Check for yourself how difficult it will be."
Looking it over, Iruka realized that he now held Kakashi's pass/fail record for past Bands. It was reading over them that made his face blanche; he didn't even have to look at the results, as all of the team names were those that he had taught again after losing their graduation rights, in the year they were assigned to Kakashi. Every. Single. One. "Has this man ever passed a Band?"
Sarutobi leaned back before responding. "I used to suspect that he was deliberately avoiding being tied up to a group of kids, but checking it out he actually revived my old test, and the standards he uses make sense, even if they're a little obtuse to newly graduated Heroes."
Iruka tried to remember how he had been assigned; he had to ask, "was this a deliberate decision to sabotage the Mikaboshi?"
Sarutobi chuckled. "Someone certainly thought so, but I suspect that the boy will surprise you."
--
Naruto had given off the superficial appearance of an idiot when Kakashi first met him. The boy had, thus far, not surprised him. While Sakura and Sasuke both went into the nearby woods to plan an attack, the boy charged straight forward. Kakashi didn't even put effort into dodging the kids' punches; they were more than telegraphed enough that he could let Dexterity Knacks take care of it. It was boredom rather than danger that led Kakashi to eventually channel his Ichor in other ways. "Chaos Purview: Paralyzing Confusion."
Naruto suddenly had no idea which way was up and which was down. Everything in his vision swam and worked directly against his understanding of the world. So, of course, he simply stood there in a daze. Kakashi walked behind the boy, glared at him ferociously, then smacked him on the butt so hard that Naruto fell to the ground in pain.
Getting up, the boy was frustrated and humiliated, so much so that he started screaming at his Instructor. After Kakashi let him vent for a little bit, he also did nothing when the boy channeled his Ichor. "Darkness Purview: Shadow Bodies." This was the first thing that mildly surprised him; if Naruto could use Demigod-level boons, then maybe there was hope for him.
Any concept of that was, of course, immediately shattered when they all ran to him at once, with no strategy or thought to what they could accomplish with the right moves. With more than enough time to think it over, he briefly considered using his own Darkness techniques, preferably a lower ranking one for maximum humiliation, but then realized that the child had little enough control over these things that they were effectively their own individuals, and he wanted to have fun testing out something.
"Chaos Purview: Instant Riot." The words that his Ichor gave him to say only demonstrated how unfit this Band was. "One of you thinks Sasuke is cooler." Now, the power of Riot had a supernatural influence to deliberately ensure that it got the result that made its name, so the boy couldn't be condemned for stupidity here, but he could be condemned for easily reacting to supernatural influences and for not controlling his Shadow Bodies well enough that they were extensions of his mind and body. When all the black masses started brawling at random, one of them shouting that Sasuke's coolness was a lie, he casually walked around the scene and punched the real Naruto (knowing Night Eyes, figuring out which of the black masses was the actual Scion was child's play) in the back of the head.
--
Sakura, watching from nearby trees, rolled her eyes when Naruto launched a futile and predictable attack, groaned in second-hand humiliation when he was knocked down through butt attack, stared in shock when he turned pitch black and summoned several other silhouettes of himself, only to slam her forehead against the ground when their Instructor got them fighting amongst one another by simply convincing him that one of Naruto's own monster shadow summon things preferred Sasuke. She didn't know about the Riot power, so her Bandmate looked particularly foolish. That he was promptly tied up and strung upside-down didn't help matters.
When she realized that her Instructor was no longer occupied with Naruto, she looked down to the ground to start sketching out options. "Uh, I can't figure out anything about him. How am I going to get one of those bells? This sucks."
"I know right, it's terrible," Kakashi informed her from directly behind. "This Band's Instructor is a bastard; it's completely unfair." He had struck with the blunt end of a knife as he said it, but her arm had reached up to block him and even pushed it back to give an insignificant cut on his arm just below the wrist.
Seeing that she was more surprised by this than he was, Kakashi assumed a Wits Knack was in play; those, more than most Knacks, tended to stay in play and activate on their own. She also, to her credit, immediately seized the initiative. "Health Purview: Infect Wound." The tiny cut on his upper arm expanded into a deep one, genuinely hurting enough to mildly incapacitate someone who wasn't already trained to deal with such pain. This was above what they taught in the Academy; he was incredibly proud to see at least two of these kids learning more advanced techniques on their own. It was unfortunate, then, that it wasn't enough and he proceeded to knock her out.
--
One of the advantages of having both the Sun and Tsukumo-Gami Purviews was that Sasuke didn't have to keep line of sight with his opponents. The spirit in the tree behind him had already agreed to let him know if Kakashi tried to sneak up on him, while his Penetrating Glare let him see straight through the small boulder he hid himself behind. Thus, he could tell that his companions were even more worthless than feared.
Naruto, even after pulling off a power Sasuke didn't recognize and looked strong in its own right, was still out-manipulated enough that Kakashi resolved the fight casually. Sakura had only managed a trifling wound, using a technique that wasn't meant as a finisher or to be used by itself, and thus fully deserved her fate. It seemed like he was the only one to get a bell today. Good. He didn't need those imbeciles either way.
Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Kakashi turned his way, Sasuke pulled out a lighter, asked its spirit politely for an easy time getting its flame out, and then waited. It was, as he expected, no time at all before his tree spirit warned him about the man behind him. "Sun Purview: Heavenly Flare," he shouted, charging up the energy for four seconds (a very dangerous four seconds, considering his opponent) before releasing a burst of light that should have blinded anyone in the immediate vicinity. Flicking the lighter open, glad to see that the spirit seemed to listen to him considering its immediate actions, he shouted "Fire Purview: Bolster Flame" in what should have been Kakashi's general direction.
--
It was good to see the kid had taken his advice about trying to kill him seriously. Not that Kakashi could see anything right now, but his other senses were fine-tuned enough to sense the flames rushing to where he used to be. "Darkness Purview: Shadow Constructs," he spoke, shaping his own shadow into a net. Luckily, he could do this in his sleep.
The boy had apparently seen his mistake, and flicked his lighter open to release another one when Kakashi tossed the net his way. Fire was, unfortunately, one of the things that could actually hurt Shadow Constructs, so it might have been destroyed had the boy been a little bit faster. As it was, he was currently thrashing about with a useless flame giving off its heat above him. Guiding them toward him, with his probably Fire Immunity (at least, Kakashi doubted even these kids would be stupid enough to study the Fire Purview without mastering its weakest, yet most important ability) would have gotten him out of the situation, but the kid apparently couldn't as he struggled against the shadowy Ichor-infused ropes.
Kakashi brought out the bells and rang them above his head in response. "You showed foresight. You made a plan. Too bad it wasn't good enough. Had you understood its fatal flaw, you might have actually gotten one of these." With that, he left to the monument and waited for their time limit to run out.
--
Naruto had found himself in a number of unpleasant situations throughout the years. Being tied to a stump was among the worse on the list, especially when he was so hungry.
"You know something? I have failed a lot of students throughout the years. Many struggled with this test; they should, as a test to see if you're ready to be a Hero of the Village shouldn't be easy, but I genuinely don't know if I've ever seen anyone do as poorly as you." Sakura, at least, had the decency to bow her head in shame, while Sasuke just glared at the others as if this were their fault. Oh, my foolish student, there is so much for you to learn, and so little evidence that you have the wisdom to do so.
Naruto…well, Naruto shouted at him. "This whole thing was completely unfair. How were we supposed to compete with you?"
Kakashi looked at him in reprimand. "How, indeed? Here. I'll give you a hint. Why do you think we put you in Bands rather than send you off to fight for your own glory?"
Sakura looked like she had an answer, but was too embarrassed to give it. Sasuke was hard to read. Naruto made his stance obvious. "How are we supposed to know why you upper-ranks do what you do? We're not mind-readers!" He paused for a second. "Wait, can we read minds?"
This tangent seemed to have thoroughly distracted him, which actually caused Kakashi to slap his hand against his face. "Teamwork!" He blurted out. "It's about fostering teamwork! There are many dangers out there too dangerous for even a Minor God to face alone, and even against lesser threats it's always better to know that someone has your back."
Now, his expression didn't bother to cover up any anger. "Naruto, you rushed in yourself, without any regard to how the others might help you. Sakura, you saw Naruto facing me, he gave you several openings, as inadvertent as they might have been, but you did nothing. Your Bandmate was struggling, and you didn't even try to lift a finger. How should he trust you to act differently against an assassin, or a Titanspawn he can't handle?" Watching her expression get even more downcast, he turned his attention on Sasuke. "Sasuke, you actually had a plan, not a bad one, but did it even occur to you that once I was blinded, I could still memorize where you were and act accordingly? I know that you know that's within my capabilities, or at least could have been. However, if someone came in silently while I was focused on you, me blinded and unaware, maybe you'd actually have one of these." He shook the bells in their faces.
"But there are only two!" Sasuke objected. "Helping each other would have meant condemning one of us back to the Academy!"
"I said that to make the objective difficult. To test your loyalty to one another when other factors speak to the opposite, but now I know you would gladly betray your Band to benefit yourselves. Such people are worthless as Heroes." Naruto and Sakura were both fighting back tears at this point. Be nice, Kakashi, give them one more chance.
"You know what, I'm feeling generous today. Now that you've had the obvious spelled out to you, I'll give you another try this afternoon." He pulled out a bag. "Here's lunch. It's got some supernatural flavor added to restore your injuries and fatigue, as well as some of your Ichor. You should effectively be back at full condition when the next phase begins." He then glared at Naruto, the most injured and exhausted of the bunch, though Sasuke had probably used up more Ichor. "Due to his terrible performance, Naruto gets nothing." The boy's gasp of terror was punctuated by a growl in his stomach. "If anyone feeds or heals Naruto in any way, all three of you fail. Now, I have some errands to take care of; I'll be back in an hour."
--
Over the next ten minutes, Naruto's pride was losing out to his desire to visibly express his misery. Sakura and Sasuke both had the decency to look embarrassed by the fact that they were eating and healing while he wasn't, but that was all. At least, at first. Eventually, Sasuke looked at the pitiful boy with a thoughtful look. "Sun Purview: Penetrating Flare," he said, staring around. "Kakashi's not here. Eat."
Sakura and Naruto both stared at him in shock. "But the rules…"
"As I said, Kakashi's not here. If our plan is to work together, then we all need to be at our best." He looked to Sakura. "Can you heal him? I know the food is supposed to, but…".
Sakura glanced around nervously, but eventually inched up to the boy tied to the post. "Health Purview: Heal Wounds." In spite of the ability's name, it only reduced the severity of wounds, but Naruto was grateful to feel the bruises reduce in size.
--
Kakashi had been having fun teleporting between the shadows and avoiding Sasuke's glance, but now he had to control himself. Did what I said actually get through to them? Okay, I need to be good about this. Come in all threatening. Make it a show.
"YOU!" He shouted, leaping from his hiding place and deliberately getting in their personal space with the angriest glare he could muster. "What did I tell you about feeding or healing him? Did you think the rules were a mere game? You disobeyed a direct order, and for what? Why did you disobey?" His tone did not brook an evasive answer.
"To help a friend," both Sasuke and Sakura blurted out.
In response, Kakashi made a show of getting angrier and angrier. "That's your reason? That's why you disobeyed me? If that's so, then…you pass."
The shift in tone was jarring enough that it took several seconds for them to process it. "Wha-" he didn't know who said it, nor did he care. "Those who disobey orders are scum. Those who abandon the ones they were entrusted to fight with, however, are worse than scum."
He pointed to a nearby monument. "That stone holds the names of those who died before ascension, but did so fighting for the Village. Some of my closest friends are listed there. It's an easy enough thing to pass by, and I don't blame you youngsters for doing so, but never forget what you're actually doing when you put on that headband and go out on the Great God-on-Earth's orders. You aren't just slaying monsters and rescuing princesses; you're putting your lives on the line, the lives of the men who fight beside you on the line, and the mortals you must protect for your mission probably already have their lives in your hands. A Hero, one whose worthy of both versions of that word, never forgets that."
His spiel done, he looked upon the adorable little ones that were about to be released into a world that was going to eat them alive. "Welcome to service, Band 7."
--
Terms
Tuatha da Danaan: Major Gods of "Irish" origin, here used to refer to the clan they hold a pact with
Loa: Major Gods of "Voodoo" origin, here used to refer to Clan
Aesir: Major Gods of "Norse" origin, here used to refer to Clan
Tian Tiang Zhi Fa Yuan: Major Gods of "Chinese" origin, here used to refer to Clan
Dodekatheon: Major Gods of "Greek" origin, here used to refer to Clan
Outborn: derogatory term for those with mortal parents outside of the Clans, especially for children of foreigners
Upper Demigod: rank above Demigod in the Village, also unofficial term for those seemingly close to becoming Minor Gods
Techniques used or referenced
Dexterity Knack: Untouchable Opponent-if an attack could be dodged easily by the user, then the Knack will allow them to do without expending energy or thought into the matter
Chaos Purview: Paralyzing Confusion-screws up the targets perception of more or less everything. Up is down, left is right, etc. Those that cannot mentally adjust normally find themselves immobilized for a short time
Chaos Purview: Instant Riot-after using it on a group of people, if the user says something emotionally resonant with all of them, then they will burst into an all-out brawl or unorganized mass of violence. Basically, they will riot.
Wits Knack: Rabbit Reflexes-increases one's ability to make subconscious responses to situations where their conscious mind isn't there yet
Health Purview: Infect Wound-makes a currently existing injury on the targets body worse
Sun Purview: Penetrating Glare-user can see through solid objects
Tsukumo-Gami Purview: Awaken Spirit-user can talk to the spirits that supposedly inhabit everything, though only one object's at a time per use (one can speak with multiple at a time, one just has to reuse the ability with all needed Ichor expenditure again)
Tsukumo-Gami Purview: Watchful Spirit-user can compel a spirit to look out for something happening within its line of sight for the Scion (one can do this with the first ability, but they would have to persuade a being with free will. With this ability, they just have to not piss it off)
Tsukumo-Gami Purview: Helpful Spirit-user can use the spirit within an object to enhance the object in question's mundane abilities. They can make a weapon stronger, or, say, a lighter more reliable.
Sun Purview: Heavenly Flare-after concentrating for a bit, the user can create a burst of light that has the same effect on all viewers's eyes as staring directly at the sun for a good while. Victims are normally temporarily blinded and in pain for a while.
Fire Purview: Bolster Flame-increases the size of an existing flame, and/or temporarily take away a fire's need for fuel to sustain itself. Very useful for camping in Winter
Fire Purview: Fire Immunity-the user makes him/herself immune to fire
Magic Purview: Fate and Switch-twists the Strands of Fate of multiple 'connected' people together so that they temporarily switch bodies.
Darkness Purview: Shadow Constructs-warps nearby shadows into solid objects. Will slowly vanish when exposed to direct light.