Sakura was walking home slowly, her mind still on the scene she has seen a minute ago. Apparently, even the Publisher doesn't know the identity of Nakamura Tenzoi, or his (if he even is a 'he') contact info, which means a mere academy graduate with no social connections has no way of getting in contact with the man.

"But if I can figure out the hidden messages..." Sakura murmured under her breath. "The publisher will publish them, then, as promised, Nakamura Tenzoi will need to sign the publishing contract. He will then be required to offer his personal info and I might then be able to sneak into the company and take a look at his contact info and..."

She began giggling uncontrollably. "Bad girl, bad girl Sakura!" She scolded herself. "Control yourself! Before I can do that last step, I'll need to figure out the hidden messages first!"

With a determined grin, Sakura bolted toward her house.

Three hours later in the Uchiha compound, a breathless Naruto lay on the ground, sweat pooling around him.

"This is...hell..." Naruto uttered in between heavy intakes of breaths.

"'Ten years of practice for one minute on the stage.'"

"Then what about you!?" He said to Sasuke who was typing what seemed like a story on the computer.

"I already know how to play the guitar, bass, and piano."

"No way!"

"Unlike you, I make sure to master something in every loop." Naruto looked doubtful. "During that loop where we were enrolled in Sobu High School, I befriended Hiratsuka-sensei, who taught me bass, and Hayato, who taught me guitar (1). And in the loop where I was childhood friend with Kosei, he taught me how to play the piano (2)."

"B-But that doesn't mean you can slack off!"

"I've already left the easy instruments to you. Percussion is easy enough, since you play it at Game Centers all the time so you should know how it works."

Couldn't find anything to rebut, Naruto pouted dejectedly.

"The results better be worth it."

"Trust me. It will."

Sakura was the first one to arrive at the assigned meeting spot. She promptly sat down on the grass and took out two poems: Daughter of Evil and Servant of Evil. Placing them on her lap, Sakura began analyzing them carefully.

Ten minutes later.

Sakura gritted her teeth.

"I will not give up!"

And so the gruesome search with a rumbling stomach began.

Three hours later, Sasuke and a grumbling Naruto arrived. They both raised an eyebrow when they heard consistent rumbling sound coming from a certain pink-haired genin's protesting stomach.

Naruto offered her an apple out of pity.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, eat this."

Perhaps she was too engrossed in her search and has forgotten about Kakashi's advice, Sakura took it with a quick word of gratitude and went back to her search.

"Aren't you going to eat it?" Naruto asked after five minutes of silence. Sasuke had already began napping below a tree nearby. "I'm not gonna poison you, you know? Unlike a certain old hag."

Silently, Sakura began eating. Even when she's done, she still didn't keep her eyes off of the poems.

"You know...you should rest your eyes every thirty minutes. It's bad for your eyesight to keep staring at the same spot for a long time nonstop. Try to stare more at the greens. It's good for your eyes. Because your colour vision is a result of cone cells. People with normal vision have three cone cell types: red, green, and blue. Since of the 6 to 7 million you have, 45% are green, your eyes will work less to perceive green than do other colors. In fact, dark green is one of the most relaxing-"

"Naruto..." Sakura growled darkly, her eyes narrowing. "Shut the hell up."

Apparently, everything Naruto had just said had gone through one of her ears, and out the other.

"Sorry," Naruto smiled sheepishly. "I tend to can't stop when I'm on a roll, you know? Not the literal on-a-roll...I mean, how do you be literally on a roll? I'm talking about the figure of speech on-a-roll. Do you-"

"NARUTO!" A fist smashed onto the ground, creating a small dent. Naruto murmured a quiet 'oops.' "Didn't I tell you to shut the hell up!? I need to concentrate!"

"Do you need any help?" Naruto glanced at the poems. "Eh? Nakamura Tenzoi? What-"

"As if an idiot like you know who he is." Sakura immediately blocked the poems from his view. "I doubt you even know what poems are."

"You think too little of me, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pouted. "I do know what poems are. I'm not the idiot you think I am."

"Oh, really?" Sakura smirked, and thrusted two poems into his hands. "Fine. If you can find out the hidden messages in these two poems, I will stop calling you an idiot."

"Hidden messages?" Naruto frowned as he stared at the poems. We didn't plan such things. So where do these hidden messages come from? "What hidden messages? There're none."

"And that's why you're an idiot." Sakura deadpanned, snatching the poems away. "Tenzoi had said it himself, so there must be hidden messages."

"He says what?!" Naruto exclaimed, but Sakura ignored him. Immediately, he turned his suspicious gaze towards the sleeping Sasuke. That bastard...that must've been what he's smirking about...

"Hey! Sasu-"

"Good mor~~ning!"

A cheerful greeting entered their ears, and at that exact moment, a strong blast of wind blew away Sakura's poems and her three hours of work.

"Nooooooo!" An ear-splitting scream erupted from Sakura's mouth. All three present, including the now awake Sasuke, covered their ears in agony. Sobbing with snots trailing down her nose, Sakura turned her death glare towards the just arrived Kakashi.

"What...did...I...say...about...being...LATE!?"

"Calm down, Sakura!" Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who stopped her. Naruto stared with opened mouth. When did Sasuke ever care about Kakashi's well-being? "You should save your anger for later, when we have to fight him." That tricky bastard! I should know better!

"A-Alright. Well, to pass this survival training, you'll have to get these two bells from me," Kakashi gestured to the two bells hanging on his waist.

"That easy?" Sakura said with a taunting grin, "can we start now?"

"You should not underestimate a jonin, Sakura." Kakashi advised. "You can start...now!"

As the last syllable drifted into the air, Sakura sprung herself towards Kakashi, fist ready to pound him to death. With an unseen arrogant grin, Kakashi was ready to teach her a 'lesson,' when an orange blur flew past and shunshin'd her away. At the same time, Sasuke did the same, leaving Kakashi sighing in disbelief and...was that relief?

"And here I thought Naruto would be the hotheaded one. Seems like dating Sasuke has changed you a lot, huh?"

Somewhere in the bush, three genins were huddling together whispering a plan.

"Then, you can punch him until you grow tired of it."

"Sounds splendid." Sakura grinned, "I knew you'd know such a jutsu, Sasuke-kun."

"It's actually Naruto who came up with that," Sasuke lied.

"Really?" Sakura was surprised. "Hm, but he's still an idiot."

"Anyway, wait for our signal."

"Alrighty!"

Back to Kakashi.

It had been ten minutes since the three academy graduates have dashed away. During the entire time, Kakashi had been reading his porn book. It wasn't because he was underestimating the three genins. It's because as an experienced jonin, not to say, a past ANBU captain, he had been through so many battles that his body would automatically block incoming attacks.

Kicks or jutsus, he could dodge them with his eyes closed. Just by feeling the air current, he could have a basic understanding of where the enemy was coming from and what kind of jutsus his opponent was using.

That's why he fell into the three's traps.

Obviously, nobody would expect a mere academy graduate to completely master a jutsu, as in, being able to use it wordlessly and signlessly.

And thus, when Naruto cast a silent, wandless stunning spell at him, it hit him with full force (3). Unconscious, Kakashi fell onto the ground along with his porn book, which Sasuke grabbed and and hid in his pocket.

"Gotcha!" Naruto cried, hands holding two golden bells.

At the same time, Sakura jumped out of the bush and began pounding Kakashi to death.

After a long time, she finally stopped, but only when Kakashi's face was unrecognizable. Yes, his unmasked face.

Kakashi couldn't control his tears when he was finally revived by Naruto, yet again, silently and wandlessly.

"Though terrible... I must praise you on your teamwork." He questioned Naruto, "What was that jutsu you had used?"

"It's the temporary paralysis jutsu with a few extra handseals that can increase its effect, making it paralyze the victim's brain momentarily, thus knocking you unconscious," Naruto lied easily.

Kakashi glanced at him suspiciously, "You created it? But-"

"Kakashi-sensei, do you think I'm protected all the time?" Naruto asked with a kicked puppy face. "When I was chased by mobs," insert a sob and a few fake tears, "sometimes the ANBUs just stand there watching. I have to learn to protect myself."

"Naruto..." Kakashi began guiltily.

"No, sensei. Anything you say is years too late," Naruto smiled forcefully, eyes glistening with tears. "I need to protect myself if I want to survive. That's why I learned this jutsu and 'upgraded' it. That way, even if I can only use it on one person at a time, I can still slow down the mobs a little."

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I never know-"

"And because sometimes even ninjas of my own village attack me, I have to master this jutsu completely so I can use it wordlessly against them when they let down their guards...and escape if I'm lucky."

As Naruto began telling his sorrowful life, Sakura watched from aside in surprise and pity. Turning to Sasuke, she asked, "is all this true?"

"Yes."

"But why?" She cried, "why would they attack him? Is it because of his pranks?"

"You're not ready to know, Sakura. He'll tell you when he's ready. For now, just pay more attention to the villagers if you happens to walk along with him."

"Okay..."

Back to Naruto and Kakashi.

"Even Ibiki hates me. He'd rather believe a spy than believe me. It's all because I jailed the kyuubi," Naruto was still telling his sob story.

"Then he's an idiot," Kakashi tried to comfort the boy. "Don't worry Naruto, I won't let him place the blame on you. Mizuki's a spy and I'll make sure he gets the punishment he deserves. You'd already been through enough; you don't need more suffering and suspicions."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto murmured in between sobs. When Kakashi turned away, Naruto grinned wickedly. But when Kakashi glanced back at him, he immediately put his kicked puppy face back on.

"Good work, everyone." Kakashi addressed to the whole team. "You passed. I believe you have already figured out the meaning of this test. Can anyone tell me?"

"It's teamwork," Sakura said. Sasuke and Naruto have told her the answer when they were planning.

"Correct."

Kakashi then gestured to the memorial stone behind him and began his speech.

Having heard the speech over hundreds of time, the two loopers tuned out his voice and began conversing using morse code as they tapped their fingers on the other's hand.

Seeing the scene, Kakashi sighed.

Ah, teenage love...

SO YOU DID ALL THAT JUST FOR FUN!?

Back to the two loopers, they were having a small disagreement.

OF COURSE.

DID YOU FORGET WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME WHEN MY IDENTITY WAS LEAKED?

BUT THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO MAKE A LOOP ENTERTAINING.

BUT IF IT GOES BAD, I WILL RESTART THE LOOP.

SURE.

"Tomorrow will begin your first mission as a genin of Konoha." They turned their attention back to their sensei. Even though Kakashi may be impudent as an adult, he's still their sensei; no matter how strong they were, they were still his student, at the moment. Thus, they should still show a grain of respect toward the man.

"Meaning our days as laborers are finally starting," Naruto grumbled.

"Oh?"

"I've seen multiple times how a genin team would leave the hokage tower all cheerful and excited and return with claw marks or paints all over their face. And almost every ninja, no matter their rank, would twitch when a certain ugly-looking cat walks past them. You only need a bit of imagination to deduce the answer."

"Great observation, Naruto," Kakashi praised. "Indeed, D-ranked missions are often a little tiresome, but they are necessary to build up teamwork. When I believe your teamwork is decent and your strength has reached the required level, I will start taking higher ranked missions."

"That totally ruined my expectations for my first mission as a Konoha ninja," Sakura groaned.

"But that also means the sooner we prove that our teamwork is great and improve our strength, the sooner we can take higher ranked and more challenging missions."

"That's right!" Sakura agreed. She was actually excited about getting stronger. Because... "That reminds me. Sensei, is there a jutsu that allows the user to send messages using some sort of silver wolf-like creature?"

Naruto immediately glanced at Sasuke while the latter sighed. Of course she had seen his patronus if she knew about the hidden messages.

"I have never heard of any jutsu like that," Kakashi's tone leaked with curiosity. "Where did you see it from?"

"A person named Nakamura Tenzoi had used it. He's a poet who wrote Daughter of Evil and Servant of Evil."

Perhaps to mess with Kakashi, Naruto admittedly said, "I know him!" As everyone's gaze dropped on him, Naruto grinned. "He's that weirdo whose pen name is an anagram of my first name and the Fourth Hokage's last name!"

!

!?

Kakashi stilled.

Sakura gaped.

And Sasuke frowned, unable to believe Naruto would make such a suicidal move.

A finger quickly tapped the back of his hand.

SINCE YOU ARE ALREADY WRECKING HAVOC IN THIS LOOP, WHY NOT DO IT ALL THE WAY?

"Namikaze...Naruto?" Kakashi muttered as his brain quickly rearranged the letters of 'Nakamura Tenzoi' and formed 'Namikaze Naruto' precisely, with no alphabet remaining. "Wha- how-?!"

"I don't know, that's why I found him interesting. Maybe he's also a Fourth Hokage fan and a ramen fan, just like me!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"No wonder," Sakura seemed convinced of Naruto's reasoning.

But Kakashi wasn't.

Quickly standing up, he addressed to the team, "Meet here tomorrow at seven for your first mission. A good night sleep and breakfast is advised," and shunshin'd away.

"What's with him?" Naruto wondered, feigning a confused expression.

"Dunno, maybe he got to use the loo," Sakura said indifferently.

"Now that you've mentioned it..." Naruto twitched his nose. "Did someone just fart?"

Sasuke glared at him.

Sarutobi stared at the man in front of him with total seriousness.

"Are you sure this is not a joke?"

"No," Kakashi responded with equal seriousness. "I've checked many times. That man's name really is the anagram of 'Namikaze Naruto'. This is no joke."

"Nakamura Tenzoi..."

"Hokage-sama, do you think maybe Naruto he...?"

"No, that's impossible," Sarutobi immediately dismissed Kakashi's guess. "Naruto yearned attention and acknowledgement. If it's him, he would use his real name to post poems, especially since these poems seemed to be pretty popular. That way, he can gain the attention he wants and, at the same time, show people his poetic and educational side.

"And not to mention, if Naruto had found out his hereditary, he would either tell everyone or come straight to me for answers. He wouldn't be able to keep it to himself and live like normal."

"But then why did that man choose such a name?"

"Maybe like Naruto had said, he admires Minato and likes ramen."

"That doesn't explain why he would switch the letters around to form a new name."

"If he actually used that name," Sarutobi explained, "other Minato admirers would despise him for claiming relations to their idol. And because 'Naruto' is the village's infamous jinchuuriki's name, using that in the public wouldn't rouse a good reaction."

"Hokage-sama..."

"Kakashi, we shouldn't start a huge investigation in one civilian simply because of a name-"

"He's not a civilian."

"Oh?"

Kakashi told him what Sakura had said.

"I had never heard of that jutsu before," Sarutobi looked intrigued.

Kakashi was surprised. Even 'The Professor' doesn't know-?

"Which means he had created a jutsu that allows ninjas to communicate with each other's!?" Kakashi was shocked.

"And from your description, it seemed that this jutsu is far more efficient than using messengers birds or summons." Sarutobi chuckled. "What an interesting man..."

"But if he's a ninja of Konoha, how come we'd never heard about him? Someone like him wouldn't be able to remain hidden."

"Maybe this is our chance to seek him out." Sarutobi called his ANBUs to him. "Keep an eye on the news. If there is anything worth mentioning about this man, report to me immediately."

"Yes sir!"

"And Naruto?" Kakashi questioned after the ANBUs were gone. "Is it true that Ibiki had believed a spy over him?"

"Yes. He seemed to be a bit delusional, but it's nothing to worry about. He's doing a good job making Mizuki's life hell."

"Good for him," Kakashi smirked.

In front of a certain flower shop, two girls stood.

"Therefore, I need your help," Sakura concluded.

"I'd love to help, but I'm not good at these kind of things." Ino shrugged with a helpless expression. "You should ask Shikamaru. He loves puzzles."

"That lazy ass?" Sakura eyed Ino doubtfully. After all, Shikamaru had always been the second last in the class, just one rank above Naruto. The person who sleeps everyday was smart?

"Yes. You'll be surprised if you happens to see him actually putting his mind into use." Ino chuckled. "Anyway, notify me when he figures out these hidden messages, alright? After all, I'm also interested in Nakamura Tenzoi's identity."

'When', not 'if', because Ino's confident that Shikamaru could figure it out.

"No problem!"

(1) Bass and guitar: From the anime Oregairu. Hiratsuka-sensei and Hayato have performed in the Cultural Festival with said instruments.

(2) Piano: From the anime You Lie in April. Kosei is a piano prodigy.

(3) Stunning spell: It's a charm from Harry Potter that renders a victim unconscious and halts moving objects; the incantation is Stupefy.

AN: Naruto may appear too smart at the eyesight part, but please remember, that he had read every book in every library he had encountered in every loop, so this Naruto is extremely knowledgeable.