Bab 56: The Sand Trio (2)

"What kind of rock is square with two holes!" Naruto turned around and pointed his fingers at the disguise. "I can see through that!"

Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi went out of their disguise and assembled before Naruto.

"See! He is worthy to be my rival!" Konohamaru commented and gave Naruto a thumbs-up. "Good for discovering our disguise, Bro!"

"Oh, it's you guys." Naruto noticed that they all had goggles on their forehead. "Why are you wearing that?"

"Oh, this." Konohamaru touched the goggle and said, "We're copying the old you, Bro!"

Naruto folded his arms on his chest. "I'm really busy right now. I still got to train."

Konohamaru frowned. "But you promised that you play ninja with us!"

Naruto was about to refute him when he noticed that Sakura was behind him. Right now, she had a very threatening look. He remembered what Okami said to him a while ago, reminding him to avoid any kids and not to annoy Sakura today or he would be sent flying with a well-landed punch. "Uh, kids. You better leave right now. It's not a good time to play."

Konohamaru noticed that Naruto kept on looking at Sakura acting as if he was afraid of her. "Why?! Are you scared because of that huge ugly forehead girl?"

Naruto's lips twitched, not expecting that Okami would be correct when he said to avoid the kids today. Indeed, Konohamaru would bring him trouble by saying the forbidden words. He immediately turned around and ran as fast as he could. "Run!"

Konohamaru and the rest saw how angry Sakura was and started escaping as well. Konohamaru was very busy checking on Sakura's distance from them when he crashed against someone's body. "Ouch!"

A ninja with a painted face and was carrying a cloth-wrapped container on his back looked at Konohamaru and lifted him as he held his collar. "That hurt."

"Stop it, Kankuro," the girl, who wore the forehead protector on her neck, said. When she noticed that he was insistent on what he was about to do, she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, don't blame me if you'll get yelled later."

"Release him, you fatass!" Naruto exclaimed as he dashed towards the ninja to save Konohamaru but something pulled his legs which made him fell.

"Leaf Genins are weak. And here I thought that it would be a challenge. Well, I hate midgets, so take this punch of mine." Kankuro was about to hit Konohamaru when a stone hit his right hand and the kid was able to escape from his clutches. "Ouch!"

Kankuro massaged his right hand and looked up the tree. There he saw a Genin juggling a rock on his right hand. "Another guy that pisses me off."

Konohamaru ran towards Naruto and cried while blaming him as well. "Bro, I trusted you!"

Naruto was feeling down when he failed to protect Konohamaru from the clutches of Kankuro. He was all the more irritated when he heard the collective adoration of Sakura and the kids towards Sasuke. "Hey, I didn't know there was a trap, that's why I fell! Trust me, I can easily defeat this guy."

"No, you're just useless, bro!" Konohamaru went on complaining.

"What are you bastards doing inside the village?!" Sasuke asked as he glared at Kankuro. "Get lost!"

Kankuro sneered and took the cloth-wrapped object off his back. "I hate show-offs like you the most."

Temari saw what he did and asked, "Hey, are you even going to use Karasu?!"

Kankuro snorted. "Don't worry, Temari. I'll just play with this - "

"Kankuro, stop it." A Genin with a gourd on his back was standing upside down while his feet were stuck on the branch of the tree. "You're an embarrassment to the village."

Kankuro's body trembled when he heard the voice. He immediately placed Karasu on his back and stuttered, "Ga...gaara! Listen they...they started it...

"Losing control yourself in a fight, how pathetic," Gaara cut him off before he could continue talking. "Why do you think we came to the Leaf village? Stop it or I'll kill you."

Kankuro unconsciously stepped backward as he raised his hands. "Okay, Gaara...Sorry."

Temari nodded as she hugged herself. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

Gaara shifted his attention to Sasuke and apologized. "Sorry to you guys, they should not have done that." After he said this, he was covered with sands and flickered to where Kankuro and Temari was.

Sasuke saw all of these and was surprised with the sneakiness level of Gaara, which was comparable to Kakashi's.

"Looks like we're a bit early but we didn't come here to play around." Gaara turned around and said, "Let's go."

Meanwhile, Okami was hiding behind the fence and watched all that was happening while eating some sweets. When he noticed that Gaara's team was about to go, he snickered. "I think it's time to make my entrance."

Okami teleported right behind them and said, "Stop!"

Kankuro was shocked when he did not detect Okami's presence. "Shit! Another showoff."

"Looks like the Leaf Village is filled with handsome guys," Temari muttered to herself when she saw Okami.

There was a brief change in Gaara's expression as he faced Okami. "What?"

Okami smiled. "Judging from your head protectors, you are from the Hidden Sand Village. You may be allied with the Leaf Village but it is forbidden for shinobis to enter each other's villages without permission. Isn't it right, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked surprised at first but she recovered in an instant and nodded. "Okami-kun's correct. State your purpose. Depending on it, we may not be able to let you go."

"Talk about clueless, right?" Temari took out her pass for everyone to see. "You're right. We are Genins from the Hidden Sands. We have come to your village to take the Chunin selection exam."

Naruto had a blank look on his face while he approached Okami. "Hey! What's a Chunin Selection exam?"

Temari shook her head and went on explaining what the Chunin selection exam was and the reason why the allied villages opted for this to happen.

Naruto grinned and asked, "Hey, Okami! You think I should enter this Chunin exam thing?!"

Okami gave him a thumbs-up. "You will and you should."

As they were having their conversations, Sasuke teleported beside Okami and called Gaara's attention. "Hey, you! What's your name?"

Temari looked flustered and blushed. "You want to know my name? It's - "

"Not you. The boy with the gourd."

Gaara was silent for a few seconds before he replied, "Gaara of the Desert. What about you?"

"It's Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto was agitated when he realized that he was being ignored. He intruded their staring contest and asked, "Hey! What about me, huh?!"

Gaara shook his head. "Not interested." He was about to go when he remembered something and looked at Okami. "What about you? I'm interested in your name as well."

Okami was delighted and nervous when he realized that he caught Gaara's attention. After all, he still needed to contact the monster that was inside him - Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast. "It's Okami Okaya of the Ketchum Clan. Welcome to the Leaf Village."

Gaara nodded and signaled his teammates with his head. The trio disappeared at once.

===========================

Meanwhile, three Genins were standing up the branches as they observed what was happening below. The spiky-haired ninja shifted his attention to the one whose face was covered with linen wraps and asked, "So, what do you think?"

"Well, nothing serious. But that black-haired Leaf and the Sand with the gourd, let's keep our eyes on them. And also - "

The mummy-looking ninja stopped talking when he noticed that the Brown-skinned Leaf was looking at their direction. He was all the more flabbergasted when he saw the kid's reaction. "He's smiling?!"

===========================

Okami saw the three Genins hidden behind the branches. "Looks like the Genins from the Hidden Sound Village is here. So, it is time..."

Sakura was the only one to hear what Okami said because the two were busy with their ruminations. She approached him and asked, "There are more ninja visitors, Okami-kun?"

Okami nodded. "Well, it's not that surprising if there's a Chunin selection exam that is going to happen here, right? Anyway, strengthen your will, Sakura-chan. Please know that you have the best chakra control out of your team. So do not underestimate yourself because you also have the potential to become a great ninja. Though you can become greater if you have chosen to become a Pokemon Trainer."

Sakura was taken off-guard when she heard Okami. "Thank you, Okami-kun. I've been feeling down but thank you for boosting my confidence."

Okami shook his head. "I'm not just boosting your confidence, Sakura-chan. I am telling you the truth. Remember what I've said to you and strive hard. If you want other's recognition, then you better accept who you are and improve. Show them that you are a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf."

Sakura smiled and gave a deep sigh. "Thank you, once again."

Okami gave her a thumbs-up. "Well, I'm off."

"Goodbye, Okami-kun."

Okami shifted his attention to Naruto and said, "Naruto, don't keep sulking and start training. I'm sure you will show these Genins from the other village that you are a great ninja, right?!"

Naruto laughed. "Of course. I'm the future Hokage so that is a given!"

"Sasuke-kun, make sure that you practice fusing the Teleport Jutsu to the way you fight. Don't overdo it to avoid overconsumption of chakra."

Sasuke snorted. "I know that."

"Okay, bye."

Okami teleported and reappeared outside the Pokemon Center. He then unsummoned all his pokemon and let them play while he went back inside as he thought of his plans for the upcoming events.

An hour later, he heard human voices from outside the shop. He used the Palkia's Authority and saw Toki, Tomiro, and Baki carrying some food trays. He opened the door and let them in.

"You're all just in time for dinner," Okami said as he grabbed sushi from the tray and stuff it inside his mouth. "Delicious as ever."

Tomi laughed. "But of course. Our sushi's the best in the village."

"Let me set the table first so we can eat." Baki went to the vacant table and placed the foods. He looked at Okami and asked, "You're having any other visitors?"

Okami shook his head. "Just us. The Ketchum clan."

Tomiro and Baki looked at each other before smiling.

"That's good." Tomiro excused himself and walked towards the fridge and took out some water.

When everything was ready, they sat down and began eating.

Okami noticed that someone was missing and stared at Baki. "Where's Anita-chan? I didn't see her ever since I've returned."

Baki had a hint of pride on his face. "She's doing study work inside the Pokemon Intelligence Division. I forgot to tell you that she became a Genin two months ago."

Okami's eyes almost popped when he found out the reason why Anita was always missing. "Tell me all about it."

Baki drank a cup of water before starting his explanation. "After you left five months ago, I realized that we are too weak to protect ourselves, and so I encouraged Toki and Anita to become stronger and showed them the books I received from you back then. Out of the two of them, Anita was the one who showed great talent in Jutsu. I knew that she has an eidetic memory but I never realized that she has great chakra control as well. Shikaku-san noticed her practicing one day while he was shopping for Pokeballs and recommended that Anita should be sent to the Academy. She easily impressed Iruka-san and always had a perfect score in every written exam. As for the Henge test, she did it successfully on her first attempt."