Bombs and Dunks

Missions:

Tenshi was shivering when we awoke in the early morning. He groaned out loud when he realised that he had forgotten to turn on his heater before going to sleep the night before. The past several days had been freezing, the young Uchiha was shocked to see the sudden difference between this week and the blazing hot week prior. He had even purchased himself a nifty new air conditioning unit, however, he was yet to use it due to the cold change in weather conditions. Quickly getting out of bed, Tenshi stumbled over to his little heater and turned it on, before getting back under the sheets. Grumbling to himself, Tenshi pulled his thick blanket up to his chin as his teeth chattered. It was the middle of summer, and yet the sun had been hiding from him and the rain clouds had come out to play. It made no sense to him, perhaps the climate was… changing? No that would be silly, something like that surely wasn’t possible.

As he lay in his bed waiting for the heater to come into effect, his body shaking due to the cold, Tenshi thought about the progress he had made over the last several months. He had grown exponentially as a Shinobi in this time. Thinking back to when he had his first sparring session with Jecht, the freshly promoted Genin had been utterly obliterated by the mountain of a man. Although it had been painful, there were many lessons learned in that encounter. The older man had taught Tenshi valuable combat strategies, what to do, what to avoid, how to stay alive. These were skills the Uchiha would value and hone for the rest of his life, and it felt good knowing he had such a competent teacher.

He then reminisced over the valuable connections he had made over the past several months. Aside from Jecht, Tenshi had managed to make a few close friends. The first two being his Team 212 partners, Okisho Uchiha and Himari Hyuuga. He had clicked with the two of them extremely quickly, and was glad to know that they would have his back should the need ever arise. It was imperative to have team mates you could trust, and Tenshi felt extremely safe with them around. He was still unsure about their squad leader, Onabi Hyuuga, the extremely young Chuunin was quite a mystery to Tenshi. He was yet to have a conversation with the young boy, although he hoped this would change soon.

He then thought about the last connection he had made, and it was quite the peculiar one. Arutemisu, was a younger Genin with an extraordinary talent that Tenshi had never witnessed in someone of such a young age. The boy was as moody as he was talented, however, and their relationship had gotten off to quite the rocky start. It was quite ironic that the Tenshi had been the one to pass him in the Genin exams, Aru had attempted to be a little edge lord in that encounter. Tenshi chuckled at the memory of this. The two of them had began to warm though, going on several missions together and even having a “friendly” sparring session. The outcome of said sparring session was not important however.

Tenshi was quite satisfied with how his time as a Shinobi thus far had panned out. He was growing stronger, he was taking on missions, and he was making genuine connections with the people around him. All seemed to be going quite well for the young Uchiha, even though he had encountered some roadblocks along the way. Accidentally breaking the law of the Leaf and leaving the village on an unauthorised mission was not a great look. But he knew that every one of his actions had been done for the best of intentions. He planned on becoming Hokage one day after all, and sometimes the Hokage had to crack a few eggs to make an omelette.

Another thing that Tenshi had noted was his improvement with his Sharingan. From what started out as frustration and rage for not being able to activate the most basic One Tomoe form, had grown into complete mastery of his special eyes. He had managed to unlock the mysterious Mangekyo Sharingan, something he had never heard about before doing so. He was yet to meet anybody else who had unlocked the same eyes, making him wonder whether he was the only person in Konoha to do so. He had decided to reach out to the Hokage for his wisdom and guidance on the matter. If anybody was able to assist him, Hokage Aokidanza would be the one to do so. This brought another concern to Tenshi’s mind, one that brought him doubt about doing so.

Tenshi began to think about the uneasy feeling he had brewing within him about the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha clan. Something did not sit well with Tenshi, something that made him feel as if his clan was not truly as important as he thought it was. Unfortunately, he had nothing to go off here more than a hunch, but it was enough to worry him about revealing his special eyes to any person outside of the clan, regardless of how important they were. A problem for the future, for now though, Tenshi had another problem, getting out of bed.

Thankfully, his room was finally beginning to warm up, so he mustered the energy to finally remove himself from the comfort of his bed and sluggishly walk to the bathroom. His humble ensuite was nice and tidy as per usual. His reflection was unflattering in the mirror above his sink, he gave himself a disapproving look before stripping down and making his way into the shower. Tenshi made sure to take his time in there, enjoying the hot water as much as he could justify it, before remembering that he had bills to pay and got out. He made sure to keep his long flowing hair dry, tying it up in a bun and wearing a shower cap. He did not have time to dry it before leaving today. After brushing his teeth, Tenshi made his way back into his room.

Dressing himself in his usual black and red Shinobi attire, Tenshi decided to add a long black coat, to keep himself warm in the freezing conditions outside. Finally, he added his large black boots, completing his outfit. He let his hair down before giving himself a once over in the bathroom mirror once more. With the addition of his coat, Tenshi did not resemble a Shinobi at all, which was important considering one of his missions today. He had been tasked with attending a local bath house at the urgent behest of the owner. Apparently a rival had left the owner a note stating that the bath house had been rigged with multiple paper bombs. Tenshi was to subtly enter the establishment and locate the paper bombs, before diffusing them and bringing in the rival for questioning.

He had already informed a member of the Konoha Police Department of this the prior night, however he had ensured the police officer kept it a secret to avoid the rival making any brash actions. Tenshi had already decided on his cover. He would enter the bath house as an auditor responding to a (fake) complaint, with the aim of ‘evaluating the premises and ensuring that it was fit to continue operations’. He was pretty proud of himself, this seemed like a good cover story. Deciding at the last minute that he could look more professional, Tenshi tied his hair back into a neat ponytail, and replaced his thick boots with a more sophisticated pair of dress shoes. Nodding to himself and grinning, he made his way to the front door, grabbing a slice of toast along the way.

Before he left his humble apartment, Tenshi made sure to wrap his neck and lower face in a black woollen scarf. This was proven to be the right decision, as only moments later he had opened his front door and was hit with a searingly frozen gust of wind. Today was going to be a struggle for the young Uchiha, he only hoped that he was able to get through it. He began to walk towards the bath house, heading to the north of the village. Apparently the bath house was called “The Leafy Baths” and was extremely popular in Konoha. He had heard that the owner was considering starting a chain of establishments throughout all the Shinobi villages. Tenshi suspected that this may have been part of the reason that the rival had performed such drastic actions. Unfortunately for them, their motives were not of concern to the Genin, only the crime itself.

Pushing forward, Tenshi was shocked to feel something out of the ordinary landing on his head. It was snow!? In this time of the year? The world truly was turning on its head. He just hoped and prayed that it was not an ill omen for his future to come. As he continued on his path he heard some yelling further down the road. It sounded like a young man, and he was shouting out in distress. “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! THEY’RE AFTER ME!” Springing into action, Tenshi sprinted towards the voice, ensuring that he kept his face covered due to the undercover nature of his mission. Turning the corner, he spotted a young man, roughly in his early 20s, sitting with his back to a wall. He was covered in blood, most of which seemed to be focused around his right leg, several stab wounds were clear in the area. Standing over him were five masked individuals, each of the was considerably tall and Tenshi could tell that they had quite the athletic builds.

“What’s going on here!?” The Uchiha yelled out, causing the masked men and their victim to turn and stare at him in shock. The bleeding man looked like he may just cry at the sight of Tenshi, a pained grin spread across his face. “Oh thank goodness, they are about to kill me, please I need your help!” Tenshi noted that three of the assailants were armed with sharp kitchen knives, activating his three Tomoe Sharingan, he then took note of their pathetic “chakra networks”. These men were not Shinobi, and the moment his Sharingan was activated, they knew that they were outmatched. “Shit he’s a Shinobi, quick run!” One of the masked men yelled out and all five of them decided that this was the right call. Splitting into multiple directions, each of them ran off as fast as they could.

Although he considered pursuing them, Tenshi had a more important job to deal with. The man was bleeding out, and quickly, if he did not get to a hospital or medical facility, it was like that he would die. Without wasting a moment, Tenshi placed his palm to the floor and yelled out. “SUMMONING JUTSU”. A large puff of smoke shot into the air, and from it, the fearsome ancient red dragon, Rellgar, arose. The dragon’s dark red scales glistened as snow began to fall onto him. This clearly puzzled the dragon, who tilted his large head to one size and began to speak, his deep voice rumbling in the air. “Snow? At this time of the yea-“ Tenshi interrupted him. “I am sorry Rell, but that will have to wait. We have an emergency here. I need your help. Please get this man to the nearest hospital as soon as you can. He likely will not survive if we do not hurry. I have a mission to get to, and I am not fast enough to take him anyway!” Tenshi deactivated his Sharingan as he spoke to the dragon.

Although he was clearly annoyed at the interruption, Rellgar nodded quickly before grabbing the man gently. With one large flap of his wings, Rellgar took off into the air at full speed. In mere seconds, he had changed direction and flew towards the local Konoha hospital. Satisfied knowing that his friend would take care of the man, Tenshi pushed forwards toward the Leafy Baths. The interruption had delayed his progress, so he did not have much time to waste. Picking up his pace, it took another 10 minutes of travel until he finally made it to the large bath house. Large was an understatement, this building was by far the biggest bath house he had ever seen. The realisation that he would need to scour the entire establishment to find all of the paper bombs made Tenshi groan audibly, today was simply not going his way.

He reactivated his Sharingan quickly, using this opportunity to scan around and see his surroundings. At first, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, but then, thanks to his visual prowess, he noticed some movement in the corner of his eyes. Choosing to stay calm and still, Tenshi pretended to fiddle with his coat, noting that the figure was slowly getting closer, but clearly attempting to stay out of sight. They did not seem dangerous, but the person was clearly suspicious, and Tenshi dared to guess that they were somehow related to the paper bomb incident. Deactivating his Sharingan before anybody could spot it, he sighed dramatically and walked towards the front door. The venue was closed, which did not surprise him, although the sign at the front said it was due to a scheduled audit by the Department of Occupational Health and Safety. Tenshi chuckled silently, the owner had clearly agreed to play along with the Uchiha’s little ploy.

Ringing the bell next to the front door, he only had to wait for a few seconds before a stout and portly man, likely in his early 50s, quickly opened the door for him. “Umm yes? H-hello? Can I help you sir?” He was clearly in severe distress. He was sweating like a wild hog, Tenshi assumed that it was due to the precarious situation his establishment was currently in. Keeping a straight face, he responded curtly to the man. “My name is Hamada, a representative for the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, and I am the supervisor assigned to the establishment named: The Leafy Baths. Please confirm the name of this establishment, your name and your position here.” If he did not have to avoid acting suspiciously, Tenshi would have hollered out loud over how good his performance was.

“Oh! Um yes of course. My apologies sir, I must have forgotten the time. This is indeed THE Leafy Baths. The best and most luxurious bath house you will find anywhere on the continent, if I do say so myself! My name is Gregory Lark, but you may call me Greg for short. I am the owner and manager of the Leafy Baths, I am indeed the boss here!” Greg’s sad attempts at being funny were met by Tenshi’s unmoving stone face. He eventually raised an eyebrow and sighed at the shorter man. “Please keep the chit chat to a minimum, Mr Lark, I am here on very important business, so I would appreciate it if you just spoke about things that are relevant to the matter. May we go inside and begin the inspection? It is quite cold out here.”

Greg quickly moved aside to allow Tenshi to enter the Leafy Baths. He hastily shut the door and locked it, before turning around and attempting to speak to the young Uchiha. He was met with Tenshi raising a hand, silencing him before he could utter a word. Shaking his head, Tenshi signalled that they would need to go further in before speaking. He had a sneaking suspicion that the person who was tailing him earlier was still attempting to listen in. This was supported by the fact that a shadow was moving under the door frame, clearly attempting to hear what they were saying. Normally, Tenshi would not have hesitated to cut through his stalker, however, in this instance he simply had to wait. If it was simply someone who worked for the rival, they would be tipped off that Tenshi was working on the case, and likely ignite all of the paper bombs, killing both Greg and himself.

Deliberately speaking out loud, Tenshi began motioning for Greg to lead the way. “The interior seems decent enough, however, you could do with dusting the shelves a little bit more. You do not want your customers getting allergic reactions or anything of the like. Now please, show me the baths so I may inspect them next.” Tenshi reactivated his Three Tomoe Sharingan as they moved, using them to scan the rooms for the paper bombs. As he did so, he whispered into Greg’s ear. “Just play along for the rest of my time here, someone was tailing me outside, so we need to do this quickly to avoid arousing any suspicions. I do not plan on dying in a bath house today.” Greg nodded quickly and began blabbing on out loud, clearly trying to appear eager to please his fake auditor.

Over the next 30 minutes, Tenshi and Greg walked around the entire bath house establishment. Stopping every time Tenshi spotted a paper bomb with his Sharingan. Each time, he would run his chakra through the bomb, deactivating it and then tearing them up just in case. Greg would continue to blab about loudly, keeping up their cover as Tenshi played the silent type. Every now and then, he would hear a noise outside the establishment, behind whatever was was nearest to them. Whoever was tailing them was putting a lot of effort into keeping up, but they were clearly not very good at remaining hidden. Even Greg began to notice the sounds, but he did well in hiding this, continuing to speak casually whenever it happened.

Finally, Tenshi was satisfied that they had searched every possible location for the bombs. He was reassured by Greg, who gave him a very obvious wink and thumbs up, the man definitely did not have a career in acting ahead of him, but he was definitely a kind and charming man. “Very well Mr Lark, I am satisfied that we have gone through everything we need to for me to complete your establishment’s evaluation. You will be hearing from me by the end of the week.” Greg nodded solemnly, “Err thanks Mr Hamada. Before you go, surely you can give me an idea of how well I did, as good buddies of course?” Tenshi smirked, both men were now clearly enjoying the act a little bit too much. “Mr Lark, if I were you, I would expect the necessity of finding a new career path. This establishment is unlikely to continue after I am done with it.” At that moment a shocked gasp came from behind the front door, the stalker was clearly not expecting to hear that.

Springing into action, Tenshi dashed at the thin door, jumping forwards with a flying front kick. The door came clean off as he crashed through it, feeling his foot connect with someone’s head on the other side as he did so. Hearing a yelp, Tenshi knew that his strike had struck true and managed to land on his feet in time. Looking down, he noticed a balding man, like in his 30s, dazed and groaning on the ground. “Well it appears that our stalker has been found out Greg. Does this man look familiar to you?” Panting as he rushed over, Greg took one look at the man before spitting on the ground next to him. “That right there is my evil rival, Reggie Marks. He is the one that planted those paper bombs in my bath house. Clearly he needs to work on his sneaking skills, even I heard him slinking about!”

Tenshi had to get in the middle of Greg and the downed Reggie, ensuring that the owner of the Leafy Baths did not kick his rival who was still dazed on the ground. “That is enough Greg, please contact the Konoha Police Force. There is an officer who is waiting for our signal before coming to arrest this man.” Grumbling, Greg nodded and went to do as he was told. Tenshi turned around and pulled out some rope, using it to tie Reggie’s hands behind his back and against a post, ensuring that he would not be able to escape before the police arrived. As he did so, he heard the flapping of very large wings. Turning around, he was surprised to see Rellgar returning to him in the air.

The dragon seemed quite unhappy, Tenshi figured out why when he saw a rolled up scroll in one of the ancient dragon’s claws. Before he could say anything, Rellgar beat him to it. “Tenshi, I am not a damned carrier pigeon, where do these stupid humans get off asking me to deliver messages to you? The only reason I did it was because the men practically cried and begged me to like babies. Can you believe that? Grown men begging a dragon to deliver a message. How embarrassing. Anyway, take the stupid message and be done with it, I have things to do, getting out of this cold for example.” Dropping the scroll into Tenshi’s hands the dragon simply turned and disappeared in a large puff of smoke. Tenshi would have to buy Rellgar something nice to make up for this one.

Before he had time to look at the scroll, he was alerted by the sound of footsteps coming up behind him. A serious voice called out, “Now that right there was something I do not think I have ever witnessed before. Was that a DRAGON? Here in Konoha? You must be Tenshi Uchiha, I have heard a lot about you and your exploits over the last few months.” Tenshi turned to see a tall police officer walking towards him, Greg tailing behind with a large grin on his face. “I am Officer Hendricks, pleased to meet you. Greg here has informed me that you have all the remains of the paper bombs on you, as well as the suspect tied up over there. If you do not mind, I would like to take him in for questioning and charged please.”

Officer Hendricks was definitely straight to the point, but Tenshi appreciated that, he could not be bothered wasting time with pleasantries. He had a long day ahead of him after all. Nodding, the young Uchiha pulled out the bundle filled with torn up paper bombs and handed them to the police officer. He then walked with Hendricks to where Reggie sat in defeat. His head was facing down, clearly ashamed of what had happened to him, but Tenshi felt no sympathy for the criminal. He got what was coming to him and would have to face the consequences of his own actions. Taking both the paper bombs and Reggie into custody, Officer Hendricks nodded to Greg and Tenshi, before walking away to continue with his job.

Greg turned to Tenshi and gave him a pat on the shoulder, “I have to say, that there was some mighty fine acting and investigating Mr Shinobi. Did I hear Hendricks right? Are you Tenshi Uchiha? I have heard of you, especially recently. A Man of the People according to everyone around here. Quite the fancy title for someone so young to have, especially in a village as large as Konoha. Please to meet you Tenshi.” The two of them shook hands and laughed about the situation, before Greg walked back inside his large, and now much safer, establishment.


The snow had stopped falling by now, however the cold wind had not subsided just yet. Finding some shade and cover from the wind nearby, Tenshi finally unfurled the scroll. It was a hastily written letter with some fairly terrible handwriting:


So it was a planned attack after all, and the tall assailants all made sense now. Tenshi was tempted to ignore the request, as he already had another mission planned for today, but he was also extremely intrigued about the whole situation. At this point, he had a feeling that this could turn out to be quite the interesting mission, assuming it was even considered that. And besides, he had never hung out with a famous basketball player before, let alone the FREAKING NORTH KONOHA STONEFACES! Tenshi was a fan of the team, following them since he was a young boy. He even owned a team cap, signed by Mitchell Jordan himself, the Stonefaces longest serving veteran and living basketball legend. Judging from the initials on the letter, Jordan had been the one to write to him as well. Tenshi almost squealed with excitement at the thought of meeting his idol.

Deciding not to waste any more time, Tenshi began moving towards Konoha Stadium at pace. It was near the centre of the village, fitting considering its two main teams were on opposite ends of the village. The North vs South matches were always extremely intense, often erupting into physical altercations in the past. They had gotten so intense, however, that the Konoha Basketball Association had begun cracking down on violence in the sport. Giving lifetime bans to anyone who broke the new rules. Tenshi had to admit that this had brought a bit of a damper onto the competition, but understood the importance of keeping the athletes safe. After roughly 30 minutes of walking, Tenshi finally approached Konoha Stadium, ready to meet some famous people. When he arrived, the young Genin’s jaw almost dropped. Waiting out the front, was no less than Mitchell Jordan himself, the basketball megastar was there waiting for Tenshi.

It was a surreal feeling as Tenshi approached the huge man, having to look up higher and higher as he got closer. Jordan was built like a true athlete, with a physique that would make Jecht jealous. He was as cool and collected as he always appeared to be in actual games, straight faced and composed at all times. Tenshi had nothing but respect for the larger man, there was a saying that went something along the lines of “never meet your idols”, well Tenshi was about to meet his idol, and he had no regrets about it. A kind smile crept across Jordan’s face as he saw Tenshi, he had somehow known what the Genin looked like. He stood up and began walking towards the Uchiha, arms stretched out.

“Ahhh. You must be Tenshi! Don’t be alarmed lad, you stick out like a sore thumb in this area. I also have a very keen eye for spotting Shinobi, so I kind of just assumed it was you. Sorry for the spelling of your name in that note, that… errr… dragon friend of yours was not too friendly. He seemed quite annoyed with our presence to be totally honest with you, I rushed over to the hospital when I found out that Jebron had been attacked. Thank you again for your hard work, you saved my friend’s life and I am in your debt.”

He stuck out a hand and Tenshi took it, firmly shaking the massive right hand of his idol, two grins shining in the cold and early afternoon. Jordan’s face straightened suddenly and his body stiffened. “Unfortunately this is not the end of the situation, form my understanding, you are a big fan of the North Konoha Stonefaces yes? Perfect, then you must know that today is the grand final for the Fire Country Shinobi Basketball League. Not only is winning the trophy and incredible achievement, but there will be big shot scouts at the game. The whole team is aiming to get selected for the Fire Country National Team, but it is going to be a big ask, especially now with Jebron out for the game. That is where you come in…”

Jordan had an almost apologetic look upon his face as he went on, “I know one of the most basic techniques that a Shinobi must learn to become a Genin is the transformation technique. We have all done it in our generic quests to become Shinobi of the Leaf. The difference is that, from what I have heard through the grapevine, you are shaping up to be quite the skilled Shinobi. I may not personally be the biggest fan of Jebron, if you must know it is because he is just a prick, nothing more to it, but I also understand that his star power is one of the reasons so many scouts attend these games. Mind you, I will not be selling myself short either, some people call me washed up but I have outscored everyone else on this team, err with the exception of Jebron, but he’s simply having a really good season.”

Jordan had begun going on a tangent. As he did so, Tenshi could feel himself no longer being starstruck by the large sports mega star. This was not exactly what he was expecting when he met up with the man. Tenshi knew that his assistance was requested, but he did not realise he would have to stand there and listen to his idol fail at hiding his jealousy of his rival. It was like listening to a spoiled child making excuses why he was not able to do something. It was always somebody else’s fault apparently, it took Tenshi most of his self control to avoid rolling his eyes as Jordan went on. Something felt odd about this whole situation, it was a feeling that Tenshi only got upon meeting and hearing Jordan talk. It appeared that the basketball star was acting quite suspicious, was he potentially hiding something?

Losing his patience, Tenshi politely cleared his throat, causing Jordan to stop speaking in his tracks. “Oh, sorry about that. I get easily worked up about things sometimes. I hope you do not think less of me for it, I’m just pretty passionate about this sport, it is my life after all. Let me cut to the chase then. With Jebron out injured, we need a replacement, but not just any replacement. We need somebody capable of transforming to fit the appearance of Jebron to keep the fans entertained. I can think of nobody more suitable than yourself, an extremely skilled Shinobi. What do you say to that one?” Tenshi’s eyes widened with surprise, did he hear that correctly? THE Mitchell Jordan wanted him to join the North Konoha Stonefaces for a game? This was like a wild fever dream.

“Well I have to say, I am quite taken aback by this. Are you sure someone as untrained as myself would be able to keep up with you? Surely I would cost the team the game and grand final, and by extension, your chances at being scouted successfully?” MJ just laughed out loud at this, patting Tenshi on the shoulder, almost patronizingly, which caused him to raise an eyebrow. “Tenshi my boy, it does not matter how well you play, we will win the game regardless. Our opponents are a bit distracted at the moment. I may have let it slip that they were being investigated by the authorities so they have a lot on their minds. Our team is winning this game no matter what, you have my word on that!”

This was now beyond suspicion, MJ was up to something nefarious, and he wanted to use Tenshi to achieve whatever it was. “Mr Jordan, I have to be totally honest with you. This is starting to sound like you want to use me to achieve your goals, while also placing my integrity at risk. If I get caught doing this, my reputation could be destroyed, you DO understand this, correct?” MJ just laughed again, Tenshi was getting fed up with this nonsense. The larger man seemed entirely unphased by this all, “I swear to you Mr Uchiha, your involvement will not be discovered at all. All you need to do is keep up the appearance and play the part. The team and I will do our parts. There is also a considerable ryo reward for you, if you decide to accept.” MJ pulled out a rather thick pouch which contained a stack of ryo inside, before holding it out for Tenshi to take.

“You can even take the payment up front, the rest of the team and I have complete faith in your abilities, it is up to you whether or not you think you can do it, and whether your honourable conscience will allow you to. So, what do you say?” After taking a few moments to weigh up his options, Tenshi finally sighed and took the pouch of ryo. It was quite unlike him, but his inner fan simply could not resist the offer to play alongside his idols in his favourite sporting team. The offer was just far too good to say no. “Very well, I will do it. But do not expect me to get too involved in the match. My focus will be on maintaining my technique while you all do the rest. Is that agreed?”

MJ beamed from ear to ear, extremely pleased with the young Genin’s answer, before giving him the thumbs up. “That is all we could ask of you, I promise you that this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to achieve. I am glad you have agreed to do so, you will not regret this.” Looking at the large clock on the stadium, MJ turned back to Tenshi. “Well it looks like it is time to prepare for the match, come with me to the changing rooms. I will introduce you to the rest of the team as we get ready to go out and tear the house down!” Putting a long arm around Tenshi’s shoulder, MJ led the young Uchiha into the stadium.

Walking through the hallways of the Konoha stadium was a very surreal feeling for Tenshi. He had always dreamed of being a part of the North Konoha Stonefaces, and tonight, he got to finally achieve that. Regardless of the reasons behind it all, he knew that he was going to be having the time of his life doing this. He looked at the many trophies and awards that ran along the walls in shiny glass cabinets. Many of them were far older than the young Genin himself, while there were also many from more previous years, as his team had dominated the competition. Finally, the two of them arrived at the team’s changing room, where MJ spent the next several minutes introducing Tenshi to his favourite players. All of them were extremely positive and supportive, reassuring him that he was going to be doing a fantastic job, and to rely on them as much as he needed.

They then began to go through their game plans, Tenshi was beginning to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of tactics the players had to remember. They had been practicing these in training for many years, whereas he was simply an outsider here to help. Regardless, he knew he was going to put his best foot forward to ensure that they all realised they had made the correct decision in trusting him, he would not let his childhood team down on the most important day of the year for them. One of the players would occasionally give him a supportive pat on the back throughout the preparation period that continued on after this. He was glad to know that they were good people that truly seemed to have placed their trust in him. He was ready, he knew it. Putting his hands together to form the relevant seal, he slowly breathed in and gathered his chakra.


The entire team walked out onto the stadium pitch to the sounds of thunderous applause and cheers from the thousands of fans in attendance. Fans of the South Konoha Leafers were booing equally as loud, attempting to get into the heads of the players on the court. Tenshi would have found this effective, had the other men around him not looked calm as cucumbers. The Uchiha was now taking the appearance of the massive Jebron Lames, something that filled him confidence and swagger. He even began to wave out to the crowd and feed off their energy, feeling invigorated and ready to take on whatever the Leafers threw at him.

The Leafers squad ended up coming out after, the cheers coming from their fan section were overwhelmed by the immense amount of booing and jeering coming from the Stoneface fans. This did not seem to bother them either, but something else did. Each of the rival players were shocked when they saw Tenshi, in the appearance of Jebron, standing in front of them, arms crossed and a smug look on his face. It was clear that they had thought they were successful in taking out the star of the team. Their plan had backfired, and now these underhanded fools were in for a rude awakening.

The game went by far easier than Tenshi had expected. MJ had been right, the Stonefacers absolutely dominated the distracted Leafers. The final score ended up being a resounding 138 – 36, an embarrassment for the losing team. The Stoneface fans were going positively feral with celebrations as the Leafer fans quickly left the stadium in silence, dejected. Tenshi was on top of the world with the rest of the team, who raised him above their shoulders after the buzzer ended. Only one thing put a damper on his mood. The furious look on MJ’s face at Tenshi, and by extension Jebron, being raised above him in the aftermath. He had wanted this to be about him, however, his plan had also backfired.

Tenshi assumed that this would not be the last he heard about this.

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TWC: 6,444

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Claiming 12,000 Ryo
Claiming 60 AP

Claiming the following with max stats:
Using 3,750 WC to claim Kamui Left Eye (Slotless) (2,694 WC left)
Using 750 WC to upgrade Summoning Art: Rashomon from B to A (1,944 WC left)
Using 1,125 WC to claim Shadow Clone (819 WC left)
Using 750 WC to upgrade Sharingan Genjutsu from B to A

Approved