From there, the plot followed the original story, for the most part.
However, the conversation between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi on the rooftop took a slightly different turn.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake. Everything else is a secret. Now it's your turn."
Kakashi's introduction was short and to the point.
"That's not an introduction at all!" Sakura grumbled under her breath.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke began, his voice calm and cool. "The person I like is my brother, Itachi Uchiha. My dream is to become an amazing ninja, just like my brother Itachi. The food I like is whatever my brother cooks. The things I like are the things my brother likes. As for people I hate... I don't have any for now."
Sasuke's introduction was a bit long, but to put it simply, everything he cared about was related to his brother.
Ugh... This kid's a total bro-con, isn't he? Kakashi thought to himself.
"Me next, me next!" Naruto shot his hand up, radiating energy like a small sun. "My name is Naruto Dreyar! My dream is to surpass Grandpa Hokage and become the strongest, greatest Hokage in the history of the Leaf Village! The things I like are the 'Fairy Tail' my grandpa always talks about, and Konoha, the village where I grew up! The food I hate is my grandpa's cooking, and the food I love is the stuff Big Brother Itachi makes! The people I hate are anyone who threatens the village's safety! That's it!"
Just as Sasuke's entire introduction revolved around his brother, Naruto's was all about his grandfather.
And this one's a grandpa-con?! Kakashi mused. I feel like Sensei's kid has been seriously warped... Of course, being raised by Lord Makarov himself is still way better than the Third's original plan of just letting him fend for himself.
"Alright, the girl's next," Kakashi thought, turning his gaze to Sakura Haruno, who had been silent the whole time.
Am I dreaming?! Sakura was lost in her own world. How did someone as ordinary as me get put on the same team as Sasuke and Naruto? One is the brother of the genius Itachi Uchiha, and the other is the grandson of the Hokage! What am I supposed to do if they both fall for me?!
She was already drowning in imaginary troubles.
"Hey, girl. It's your turn to introduce yourself," Kakashi sighed, breaking her out of her daydream.
"Oh! My name is Sakura Haruno! The things I like are a secret, my favorite food is a secret, and the person I like... well, I can't decide yet."
Sakura's eyes darted back and forth between Sasuke and Naruto. Faced with two handsome boys, the young girl's heart was clearly wavering.
Sigh... Give me a break, Kakashi thought, feeling exhausted already. I'm really not cut out for handling kids.
"Alright," he said aloud. "Tomorrow morning at five, meet me at the training grounds."
After speaking, Kakashi glanced briefly towards a nearby building before his form vanished in a swirl of leaves.
"What the?!"
"That guy..."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were left with looks of utter confusion.
The next day. 5:00 AM.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were already assembled at the training grounds.
They waited, and waited, until it was nearly noon before Kakashi finally sauntered over.
"You're so late!" the three of them yelled in unison.
"Hm?" Kakashi glanced at a nearby thicket of trees before replying nonchalantly. "My apologies. I was delayed helping the elderly Lord Hokage up the stairs."
He then pulled out two small bells. "Alright, no time to waste. Your mission for today is to take these bells from me before noon. Simple, right?"
"He's a Jonin. We attack together!" Sasuke said without a moment's hesitation, turning to Naruto and Sakura.
"Sakura, you stay back and act as our spotter. Watch out for Sensei's Body Flicker Technique," Naruto instructed, knowing she was the weakest link. "Sasuke, you know the drill. Same old routine, just like when we spar with Big Brother Itachi."
"Got it." Sakura immediately backed away, her eyes glued to the battlefield.
"Understood." Sasuke, who had grown up with Naruto, simply gave a knowing smile.
This is a bit tricky, Kakashi thought, a bead of sweat forming on his brow. He hadn't expected them to immediately launch into perfect teamwork.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto opened with his signature move, creating countless clones that swarmed Kakashi, obscuring his vision.
Hiss... Kakashi took a sharp breath. Lord Fifth taught Naruto such a troublesome jutsu?!
Thwack! Pow! Thud!
Of course, with Kakashi's skill, Naruto's clones were no match. He took them down with ease, one punch per clone.
"Gotcha!"
Just as Kakashi was cleaning up the last of the clones, Sasuke burst out from the ground beneath him, his hand snatching for the bells at Kakashi's waist.
"You think I'd let you?!" Kakashi threw a punch down at Sasuke, only for him to dissolve into a puff of white smoke.
"A clone?" Kakashi muttered, immediately crouching down.
Just as he did, another Sasuke appeared, wrapping his arms around him from behind. But Kakashi twisted away, dodging the grab.
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, seeing his attempt fail.
"Take this!" Naruto came in with a slide tackle, rushing at Kakashi's side.
"Impressive!" Kakashi leaped into the air, gracefully avoiding the slide.
"Sasuke!"
At the very moment Kakashi was airborne, Naruto called out, and Sasuke charged at Kakashi once more.
"And... there!" Kakashi twisted his body in mid-air, repositioning himself and slamming a palm onto Sasuke's head.
"Heh heh." The captured Sasuke just grinned.
Hm?! Kakashi knew something was wrong. As expected, that Sasuke also poofed into a cloud of smoke.
"We got it!"
Just as that thought crossed his mind, both the real Sasuke and the real Naruto shot out from the ground, their hands closing around the bells on Kakashi's hips.
Poof!
At that exact moment, Kakashi's body turned into a puff of smoke and vanished. It was a substitution.
"That was close!" Perched on a branch of a nearby tree, Kakashi let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Don't tell me their real bodies have been hiding underground this whole time?! Just what has Itachi been teaching these two?!"
"He's in the trees!"
Just as Kakashi was about to catch his breath, Sakura, who had been watching from a distance, pointed out his location to Naruto and Sasuke.
"What?!" Kakashi had just been about to relax when Sakura exposed him.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
(The Nine-Tails didn't dare interfere with Naruto's chakra. It knew it would get beaten up.)
The moment Sakura called him out, Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a look. As if they had practiced it ten thousand times, they simultaneously unleashed their Fire and Wind jutsu. Right before Kakashi's and Sakura's eyes, they fused the two C-rank jutsu into an attack with the power of a high-level A-rank jutsu.
BOOM!!
In an instant, the forest where Kakashi was hiding, along with hundreds of trees behind him, was engulfed in a raging inferno.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"This isn't a jutsu a Genin should be able to master!"
Forced to use a substitution to escape the combined kill-shot, Kakashi reappeared before the trio. He looked down at his singed sleeve, a result of his carelessness, and tossed the two bells to Sasuke and Naruto.
"Huh?" Naruto and Sasuke looked at the bells in their hands, confused.
"You pass. You both pass," Kakashi said with a shrug. "With your skills, you could probably enter the Chunin Exams right now."
"Alright, Sasuke!"
"We did it, Naruto!"
Naruto and Sasuke clasped hands, celebrating their victory.
They have a really good bond, Kakashi nodded lightly. He then turned to Sakura, his voice turning cold. "As for you, you were just a liability. So you fail."
"I know," Sakura said with a surprisingly calm smile. She had been stunned by Naruto and Sasuke's combination attack and had come to realize her own shortcomings. "Sasuke and Naruto are both too strong. I'm sure they'll be Chunin in no time. I'm still too weak to be on their team."
"Eh?!" Kakashi was taken aback by her frankness. But then again, being on a team with two geniuses like Naruto and Sasuke would be tough for anyone.
"Well then..."
Just as Kakashi was about to say something else, he saw Naruto and Sasuke hand their bells to Sakura.
"We're a three-person squad. We're a team, like a family," Naruto said, his eyes firm. "And you don't abandon family!"
"If any one of us doesn't pass, we'll just take the test again!" Sasuke added, just as determined. "If we keep failing, we'll keep taking it, until all of us pass together. Whether it's the Genin exam, the Chunin exams, or even the Jonin exams in the future."
Missions could be failed and redone, but family could never be abandoned or left behind. Anyone who would abandon their comrades for a mission or an exam was worse than scum.
This was the ninja way Makarov had taught them.
The Spirit of Fairy Tail.
"Naruto... Sasuke..." Tears streamed down Sakura's face, moved by their words. She threw her arms around both of them, crying out, "I love you guys so much!"
"You all pass. Everyone passes," Kakashi said, shaking his head with a smile. "You kids are really something else."
He watched the three of them hugging, a purely platonic Team 7, and a look of deep satisfaction filled his eyes. Father, he thought, is this the kind of Leaf Village you wanted to see? If you had only held on until the era led by Lord Makarov, maybe you wouldn't have had to die back then.
He wouldn't have just survived; he probably would have been hailed as a hero.
"Alright! We all passed!"
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura leaped into the air, cheering in excitement.
"You've been lurking around since yesterday," Kakashi suddenly said, turning his gaze to a nearby thicket. "You've seen enough. It's time to come out, isn't it?"
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Brilliant."
As Kakashi's words fell, Eden emerged from the woods, applauding as he walked towards them.
"It's Brother Eden!" Naruto exclaimed happily.
"You know him?" Sasuke and Sakura asked.
"Brother Eden is a friend of Grandpa Hokage," Naruto said after a moment's thought.
"A friend of the hero, Lord Makarov?!"
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a shocked glance.
"Anyone who can be friends with the strongest Hokage in history must be an incredibly powerful ninja, right?" Sasuke said, his eyes gleaming with a familiar, eager light. He was obsessed with challenging the strong. He had to surpass his brother, Itachi, so that he could be the one to protect him.
Sasuke: "I'll be the one to protect my brother!"
"Actually, I don't think Brother Eden is a ninja," Naruto replied thoughtfully.
"Not a ninja?!" Sasuke and Sakura were stunned. What did he mean, not a ninja?
How could he not be a ninja? Kakashi thought, glancing at Eden. That space-time ninjutsu of his, appearing and disappearing at will, is top-tier even among the best. Not even my sensei, the 'Yellow Flash,' was much better than this.
"Haha," Eden chuckled at the kids' debate. A bell suddenly appeared in his hand. "Why don't you try taking this bell from me?"
"When did he—?"
Everyone's eyes widened in shock. The bell in Eden's hand was the very same one they had just given to Sakura.
Even Kakashi's brow furrowed. Too fast... so fast my eyes couldn't even follow him. Is this another form of space-time ninjutsu? I've never seen anything like it.
"Just kidding. Here you go," Eden said, tossing the bell back to Sakura.
"And you said he wasn't a ninja?!" Sakura stared at Naruto, bewildered. How could a non-ninja snatch a bell from her hand without even Kakashi-sensei noticing?
"He's not!" Naruto insisted. "Brother Eden is a mage."
"..."
Naruto's explanation left Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi completely speechless. What on earth was a 'mage'?
"Anyway, it was nice to meet you all. Goodbye," Eden said, giving them a wave. He was in a hurry.
"Should we try...?" Sasuke nudged Naruto, waggling his eyebrows as Eden turned his back to them.
"I don't know..." Naruto hesitated, looking to Kakashi for guidance.
"Huh?! Why are you asking me?" Kakashi felt a headache coming on. He wanted no part in the Hokage's family affairs.
"Oh, right," Eden said, suddenly stopping and turning back around. He looked at Naruto and Sasuke with a grin. "Remember, don't use Fire Style in your own forest! Arson is a serious crime."
RUMBLE!
As soon as he finished speaking, Eden waved his hand, and an endless torrent of seawater erupted from thin air, instantly flooding the smoldering forest nearby.
The moment the flames touched Eden's water, they were extinguished.
WHOOSH!
The massive flow of water formed a roaring river. Kakashi stared in awe at the sheer volume of water. "Not even the Second Hokage in his prime could do this," he muttered.
"Wha—?!"
"Is he even human?"
"The forest... disappeared... and became an ocean?"
"As expected of Grandpa Hokage's friend. His power is unreal."
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura's eyes were wide with shock. Eden's casual display of power was beyond anything they understood about ninjas. None of the Jonin they knew could demonstrate such terrifying strength. The only one who could possibly compare to Eden... was the invincible Makarov himself.
"Alright, I'm really leaving this time."
Having made his grand display, Eden found a deserted spot and activated his Super-Dimensional Teleportation Magic.
Vwoom!
With a hum of energy, Eden's figure vanished completely from the world of Naruto.
Earthland.
"That child, Kurnugi, has left again, has he?"
"Interesting," Selene murmured to herself after sensing Eden's departure from the Naruto world.
An Unknown World.
On a street teeming with people.
Vwoom!
With a loud hum, Eden's teleportation magic dropped him right into what appeared to be a public restroom.
"Ah..."
A man who was just about to relieve himself froze, his eyes bulging in shock at Eden's dramatic entrance. He was utterly speechless.
"My apologies," Eden said to the man before calmly walking out of the restroom.
"Huh?!"
When Eden stepped onto the street and saw the bustling crowds and towering skyscrapers, his eyes widened. Is this... the modern world? Where did it send me this time?!
"Ugh."
Looking at all the modern technology, Eden decided on his first priority: food.
Without hesitation, he headed straight for a McDonald's.
McAmen!
"Yes! This is the taste."
"I've waited so long for this."
As Eden was emotionally eating a burger and sipping a Coke, practically on the verge of tears, he saw something drift past him: a teenager with orange hair, wearing a black kimono and carrying a giant cleaver on his back.
Cosplay?! Eden thought instinctively, but something about it felt wrong.
He turned to a nearby salaryman. "Excuse me, what city is this?"
"Hm?" The man blinked, confused. "This is Karakura Town, of course."
"OK."
"Oh, and thanks for the burger."
With the answer he needed, Eden walked away, leaving the salaryman completely bewildered.
"Thank me for what?" the man muttered, not yet realizing that a 10,000-yen note was now missing from his wallet.
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