The Launch of Team 7

It turned out Sasuke had planned all of this.

Sasuke knew that with their current abilities, they had no chance of beating Kakashi. Instead of relying on brute force to solve the problem like Naruto, that knucklehead, he figured they might as well use their brains and simply trick their way into touching a bell.

And so this scene had come to pass. Josuke, who'd been hiding in the shadows and playing the Old Six, could only cover his face and snicker. Another iconic anime moment had been born.

Sasuke smiled. It looked like he was going to win.

Sasuke secretly rejoiced—only to be grabbed by Kakashi and shoved headfirst into the ground.

Sasuke had his moment in the spotlight in that iconic anime scene. Josuke had nearly died laughing.

That marked Team 7's defeat in their match against Kakashi. Kakashi tied Naruto to a tree stump, woke Sakura, and pulled Sasuke to his feet.

Josuke also quietly slipped out of the woods.

Kakashi looked at Josuke and smiled faintly.

"Come out, did you?"

Josuke scratched his head and said sheepishly,

"You didn't chase me, Sensei. Otherwise, you would've caught me ages ago."

Then he casually sat down on a stump, picked up a bento, and started eating. As a Naruto fan, he knew what was coming next, so Josuke simply watched Kakashi show off in silence.

Watching the three of them eat their bentos, Kakashi said slowly,

"Do you know why I tied Naruto up?"

The three shook their heads. Kakashi continued,

"Because while we were fighting over the bells just now, he snuck off and ate one of the bentos. So I tied him up."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto with disdain when they heard that. Josuke alone stayed focused on his food.

Kakashi then abruptly changed the subject.

"Since you didn't complete the bell-grabbing challenge this morning, you'll have to continue this afternoon. Finish your bentos and take a short rest, then we'll go again."

The members of Team 7, Josuke included, looked utterly resigned.

Naruto, still tied to the stump, couldn't take it anymore and started complaining.

"This isn't fair! I'm so hungry..."

He began whining, gazing imploringly at Kakashi. But Kakashi pretended not to notice and picked up his Icha Icha Paradise to read.

"Damn it..."

Naruto lowered his head and looked at his rumbling, empty stomach.

Josuke knew it was time for him to play his part as the helpful side character. He stood up, took his bento, and walked over to Naruto.

"I had some rice balls this morning, so I'm not that hungry. You can have this chicken leg."

Kakashi watched Josuke, deeply surprised. It was as if he saw someone from his past in the boy...

Sakura couldn't sit still, either. When she heard what Kakashi said, she'd already wanted to give Naruto something to eat, but she'd kept hesitating.

Josuke's actions had given her the push she needed, so she handed over her bento too. Sasuke, who'd been busily eating, had naturally seen what was happening. He didn't say anything, but he still offered up his lunch.

"Hurry up and eat. We still have to continue afterward."

Seeing this, Kakashi let his genuine feelings show. He came over to the four of them and smiled.

"Bingo! Congratulations, you passed the test! Well done!"

"Huh?"

The three of them stared at him in shock, so Kakashi explained,

"The real purpose of today's test was to bring out your ability to work as a team. As ninjas, when you're on the battlefield and face a powerful enemy, you have to rely on a teammate you can trust with your back.

"You did work together at first, but you weren't really cooperating so much as fighting separately. That disappointed me. But what you just did made me very happy.

"You showed that you care about your teammates, so you've passed. I look forward to working with you."

It took the three of them a while to process Kakashi's words.

But then Kakashi added,

"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum. Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

Tied up as he was, Naruto took those words to heart and never forgot them.

And so, Team 7 was officially formed and set into motion!

(I can't be bothered writing about fighting Zabuza and Haku here, so I'll jump straight to after the Land of Waves arc. I don't want to write the Land of Waves arc either, since so many people have already done that. Let's just skip it ε=(´ο｀*)))

The Land of Waves arc had really been an eye-opening experience for Josuke. If Haku and Zabuza hadn't been on the opposite side from the start, maybe they really could have become friends... Josuke couldn't say for sure.

He put those thoughts aside. All in all, he'd gained a lot from the trip. With his Sharingan, he'd copied Kakashi's Chidori. (There's some debate here: did Sasuke learn Chidori or Lightning Cutter?)

He'd also finally learned the Shadow Clone Technique. He'd tried it a while back and managed to make seven or eight copies of himself at once, which was already pretty impressive.

This mission had been an A-rank mission, too. It looked like he'd be getting a good bit of money for it.

After returning to the village, Josuke collapsed into bed and went straight to sleep. The past few days had been exhausting, and he hadn't gotten a proper night's rest. Even though he knew he wouldn't die in the Land of Waves, he was still afraid of causing some kind of Butterfly Effect.

Looking back, his caution hadn't been unreasonable.

The Konoha Crush Plan was coming up soon. Once the Third Hokage died, Josuke would probably have to flee the village. He still hadn't decided whether to go with Orochimaru or Jiraiya.

But one thing was certain: he was going to become a Rogue Ninja. Even Jesus himself couldn't stop him.

Heh heh... Cutting a slash through his Forehead Protector was every Naruto fan's dream, wasn't it? After all, it was proof of one's strength.

Still, Josuke hadn't been idle these past few days. Something had happened in the meantime, and it had left him with bonds in Konoha that he couldn't bring himself to abandon.

That day...

Josuke was walking down the street, buying some ninja tools.

A little girl spotted him from afar and immediately ran over.

"Josuke!"

Josuke was happy to hear her voice, though he didn't show it much.

"Ino, what a coincidence. What are you doing out here?"

Ino's cheeks turned pink. Of course, she wasn't about to reveal her little secret.

"I was just wandering around, and then I saw you, Josuke!"

With that, Ino boldly took Josuke by the arm and clung to him. Josuke blushed and quickly pulled his arm free, laughing awkwardly.

Sometimes he really wondered: what made that Sai guy so special? Damn it, he was just one of Danzo's little brats. Shouldn't he have been content to stay with Root?

Honestly. Still, Josuke only thought it; he didn't do anything about it. He didn't want to mess up the original story and cause some kind of Butterfly Effect.