Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Version 2: My Life as Haruno Sakura ❯ Because of You ( Chapter 5 )

It had been one day and a half since the encounter with the Sound ninja. During this time period, Team 7 had mainly been in hiding. Resting by day and traveling by night was their routine. As it turns out, their calculations had been wrong and the team had gotten lost several times. Fortunately, they hadn't run into any other enemies during their recuperation. Day four of the second part of the chuunin exam was about to begin.

The head tiger came sliding to a stop. The two tigers behind it also stopped. The surrounding area was quiet. The head tiger looked left to right. Everything was dark, but with cat eyes, night vision wasn't a problem. Judging from the deep blue sky, the sun would rise in about an hour. The kunoichi slid off of the beast's body and looked towards her teammates. "We'll rest for ten minutes, and then head straight for the tower. No more breaks." The two shinobi nodded, and then they, too, slid off their respective tigers.

Mayu stroked the tiger's head, causing the giant feline to purr. The other two came over, nudging at the kunoichi. They obviously wanted the same treatment. Naruto watched all this in astonishment. Although they had been traveling with the tigers, he was still confused as to why the fierce tigers were acting like docile kittens in the presence of his teammate. "Ne, Sakura-chan..." Mayu looked over to her blond teammate at the sound of his voice. Sasuke kept quiet as he sat down with his back against a tree.

"Something wrong, Naruto?" Mayu asked.

"No, no... It's just... how are you controlling those tigers?" Naruto sat down with his legs folded; he frowned. "It doesn't seem right, that's all." Mayu was quiet for a few moments.

"I don't know... It's always been like this," she murmured. "Never to this extent, but... cats have always liked me as much as I've liked them. But those were just house cats. I didn't think it'd be the same with wild cats like these."

"So you don't know how you're controlling them?" Sasuke spoke as he lifted his head.

"I'm not controlling them, bird brain. Their will is their own." Mayu looked up. "I guess they decided to help us. I wonder if they can understand. They are intelligent creatures. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew what we were saying." Sasuke snorted. "Anyway, I'll going to go up and see if I can spot the tower from our position." Naruto nodded his head. "Sasuke, you can take the bandage from your shoulder. After a while, you should be able to move it like usual."

"Right."

"Be back in a sec...!" The kunoichi jumped up, leaving her two teammates behind with three tigers. Naruto gulped as one of the tigers licked his lips. The tiger was staring right at him! The blond unconsciously moved closer to the Uchiha. Sasuke, unlike Naruto, didn't seem to care about the presence of the giant felines. He was even taking off his shirt, showing his flesh to the carnivorous creatures! ... Not much meat to begin with, but it was the thought that counted!

"Oi...! Sasuke!" Naruto muttered. The Uchiha took out a kunai before turning his head to the blond. "This has been on my mind for awhile now..."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke began to cut through the bandage on his shoulder. Mayu had tied it so tight that this was the only way to get it off. He grumbled when he accidently pierced his skin. Luckily, there wasn't blood.

"It's Sakura-chan... She's different from before," Naruto stated.

"Itai...!" Sasuke had cut himself again. This time, there was blood. Luckily, only a thin line… The Uchiha turned to Naruto. "What did you say?" He was surprised that the blond picked up on it.

"I'm sure you've noticed it, too. Sakura-chan has been different since we became ninja." Naruto looked as if he was thinking back. "She doesn't hit me as much as she used to back when we were in the Academy; she fights with you and calls you names. I mean, I knew that she liked you a lot back then... And not that Sakura-chan wasn't already strong-" Sasuke snorted. "-But she seemed to get stronger overnight or something. I think Sakura-chan actually views the two of us as her equals! She's never looked at me with... respect before she became a ninja."

"Maybe she just got her priorities straight," Sasuke suggested. "And anyway, do you have a problem with the way she acts now?" He finally got the bandages off; he was about to drop it, but thought better. Enemies could track them with it, after all. Naruto shook his head rapidly. "Then you shouldn't question her behavior."

"Ne, Sasuke... What do you think about Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. For a moment, the Uchiha didn't answer. Naruto almost thought he didn't hear his question. He had been whispering, after all.

"She's much more tolerable now," Sasuke answered.

"Tolerable...?"

"That's right."

Naruto sighed heavily. "That didn't answer anything," he thought, looking away from the Uchiha. "Well, I think Sakura-chan's awesome!" He showed his teeth in a foxy grin. "She was always smart... but now... I think she's my equal, too."

"So what...? You like her more now?" Sasuke asked. The blond did not answer, causing the Uchiha to raise an eyebrow. "You do know that that won't do, right? Your feelings for her might get in the way." For some reason, it annoyed Sasuke that Naruto still liked Sakura.

Naruto opened his mouth as if he were about to say or yell something. His words died before they could be voiced, however, because his teammate dropped down at that exact moment. "The tower is not far from here, lucky us, huh?" The kunoichi pointed northwest. "In that direction." She turned to her teammates. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Naruto exclaimed, turning his head; Sasuke did the same.

Mayu stared at the two for a full minute. "Okay..." She looked away. "About another five minutes, you guys." Grunts of confirmation reached her ears. "And put your shirt on, bird brain."

"What if I don't want to?" Sasuke smirked; he didn't look up.

"If you don't, I'll make Naruto kiss you, thus fulfilling the twisted dreams of millions of yaoi fans." Mayu's threat was met with blank expressions. The kunoichi smiled lightly, and then went over to her teammates. She sat in front of them. "Naruto, Sasuke...!" She snapped them out of it.

"Okay, you have a very weird mind," Sasuke muttered, glaring. Mayu just laughed and waved off his remark.

"Naruto, Sasuke...!" She repeated. "We're all friends, right?" The two boys appeared to be dumbfounded. "Right?!"

"Yes, yes!" Naruto's hands came up just in case.

"Whatever..." The Uchiha frowned.

Even though the two gave those types of answers, they each knew that Team 7 was friends. It was just never voiced before. "In that case, no matter what happens next, we'll always be friends, okay?" Mayu grinned. She held her hand out. "Whether we pass this or not, friends for life?" Naruto grinned as well.

"Hell yeah!" He placed his hand over Mayu's. The two stared at the Uchiha expectedly. He gave an exasperated sigh.

"Do I have to do this?" Rapidly nodding heads were his answer. He sighed again before placing his hand over Naruto's. "Fine..."

"Yosh...!" Mayu cheered, springing her hand up, causing Naruto and Sasuke's to do the same. "Okay! Let's go get 'em!" She stood up and dusted her clothes off. Naruto jumped up, clearly excited.

"More than equals... We're all friends." Naruto couldn't help but to smile as he thought this.

Sasuke stood up and put on his shirt. "And she calls me the weird one..." he thought. A small smirk appeared on his features. His dark eyes watched the girl climb on the back of a tiger. Mayu was none the wiser of the Uchiha's gaze, but Naruto sure was. "She's tolerable, all right... Not to mention she has the potential to become a great leader." Sasuke shook his head, and then moved to get on his own tiger. "Though, I pity the fools who will have to listen to her demands."

Naruto hopped onto his tiger and frowned. His blue eyes looked back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura. "I wonder why Sasuke keeps looking at Sakura-chan with those eyes..." The blond had never seen his fellow shinobi with those types of eyes. It wasn't anger, hatred, fear, sadness, or respect. It was something Naruto had yet to see in anyone's eyes. He continued to ponder Sasuke's weird looks until Mayu spoke.

"Like I said before, we'll head straight for the tower, no stopping." She turned her head to her teammates. "Stay close, stay quiet, and stay alert. The sun will be up less than forty-five minutes, I'm guessing. When that happens, spread out, but not too far."

"So when do we reach the tower, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. Mayu opened her mouth to respond, but Sasuke beat her to the punch.

"Fifteen minutes after the sun rises, I think," he said; Mayu glowered at him.

"I wish I had a rock right now."

"Why?"

"So I can knock the taste outta Sasuke's mouth!"

The Uchiha glared.

"Don't interrupt me then." Mayu shrugged. "Let's move!"

And with that, the three tigers with genin saddled on their backs, raced forward.
****************************

The three members of Team 7 panted heavily. They had fallen from the backs of the tigers and were now on the floor on their hands and knees. They had reached the tower, but had yet to go beyond the red painted doors. The sun was shining. The heat from its rays did little to make the team feel any better. One of the tigers whimpered behind them.

"Kuso...! This body is totally drained!" Mayu murmured, glaring at the cemented ground. "Stupid... freaks... damn... them...!"

"Did... you really... have to... tie them up... like... that... in the... nude?" Sasuke panted heavily.

"And write... 'We suck more than a whore with no gag reflex' on their bodies...? In... permanent mark–marker?" Naruto asked. The blond finally collapsed.

"They... shouldn't have... hurt Tony..." The girl crumbled, but still found the strength to turn on her back.

"The tiger?"

"Yup."

Sasuke struggled to stand. The team's last fight before they reached the tower took a lot out of them. Their run-in with the strange Rain ninja almost completely wasted their chakra. And if it weren't for the tigers, the three wouldn't have gone on. Sasuke pulled the capsule of soldier pills from his pocket. He quickly opened and took one. Popping the bead-like item, he felt his chakra reserves swell. His body stopped shaking. He almost instantly felt better.

Sasuke waited a few more moments before giving his teammates one each. Mayu sat up with a burst of newfound energy. "Whoa...! Now that packs a punch!"

"Yeah! We need some more of those things for the tougher missions we're going to get when we all become chuunin!" Naruto agreed.

"Glad to see you're so confident, Naruto!" Mayu grinned. "Let's go inside now!"

Sasuke nodded, and then proceeded to open the doors. He went inside, along with Naruto. Mayu turned to face the three tigers that had helped them with this long journey. "Now you stay off that front paw until it's healed up, Tony!" She patted the said tiger on the head. The large cat purred in response. "Thank you for assisting us. Please thank your leader as well when you return to him." Three scratchy tongues licked Mayu's face. The kunoichi giggled before stroking their heads fondly. "Go on, now! You big kitties, I'll see you around!"

"Sakura-chan...!" Naruto's voice called.

"Hey...! Get your ass in here!" Sasuke's voice called after. Mayu rolled her eyes. Green eyes watched the three tigers head back into the forest. With a smile, she turned and walked inside, closing the doors behind her.

The room was totally deserted. It looked almost as old as the Fifth Hokage. A pair of overhead balconies to the right and left caught Mayu's eye. She also noticed a large framed banner with a quote on it. As the three moved to the center of the room, Sasuke took the liberty of reading the quote out loud.

"What the heck does that supposed to mean?" Naruto murmured, confused. Mayu shrugged. Sasuke crossed his arms. He stared at the ground, eyebrows knitted together. His head suddenly snapped up as if he had come to an answer.

"The scrolls," he told his teammates. They looked at him with blank expressions. He sighed. "It's telling us to open the scrolls. Now that we have both of the scrolls and have reached the tower, it's now safe to open them." They responded with enlightened 'ahhh's. Sasuke shook his head, and then pulled the Earth scroll from his pouch. "Sakura."

The kunoichi nodded, and then pulled out the Heaven scroll. "A secret answer must be in these." She pulled the scroll open; Sasuke did the same with the Earth scroll. Naruto's blue eyes scanned over both scrolls. He gained nothing from it.

"What's this?" he questioned.

"Hito? Jin?"

Sasuke's eyes widen just as the paper seemed to bulge and release smoke. "This is a summoning inscription!" The Uchiha had recognized. "Throw them over there!" Without a second thought, the two ninja did as they were told. That area of the room was hidden by the smoke from the scrolls.

"I swear if this is a giant snake, I'm going to faint!" Mayu muttered. Both Sasuke and Naruto shuddered, remembering that part of the five-day exam.

The smoke finally vanished. Instead of a giant snake, there, in front of the team, was a familiar figure. "Eh...?!" Naruto was stunned. He pointed a finger at the older male, which caused him to smirk.

"It's been a long time, right, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura?"

"Iruka-sensei...! What the heck is going on?!" Naruto shouted, his finger still pointed. The scarred chuunin chuckled lightly.

"Looks like the three of you went through a lot of trouble."

"That's nothing to smile about..." Mayu murmured with a flat look.

"What? Why? Why did you appear through a summoning technique?" Naruto asked.

"At the end of the second exam, it's set up so that we chuunin meet up with the team who has taken the test. I was given the duty-" Mayu snickered. "-to pass you three a message by chance."

"He said duty…!"

Sasuke whacked her over the head and rolled his eyes when she started crying. It was all a ruse, of course. Iruka coughed lightly. "Congratulations on passing the Second phase of the chuunin exam. I would treat you all to ramen at Ichiraku, but..." The chuunin didn't get to finish because Naruto, happy with the promise of ramen, whooped in glee.

"Yeah!!" The genin latched himself onto the man. "Ramen! Ramen! I did well! I'm the best!! I want to eat ramen!" Iruka stumbled back at the added weight of his former student. Sasuke and Mayu stared in disbelief.

"I know he just had a soldier pill, but this is ridiculous," Sasuke muttered, crossing his arms.

"Sounds to me like you're jealous, Sasuke."

The Uchiha glared.

Meanwhile, the chuunin had finally removed Naruto from his person. He sighed. "Geez, you're still restless like before." Iruka smiled, wiping the liquid from his face. He had worked up a sweat trying to pry the blond off him. "Though I will say that I'm quite surprised you three made it here in four days."

"Hey, now...! You underestimate our abilities, Iruka-sensei?" Mayu asked. "We're stronger than we look, ya know. After all, our team's the best! Am I right?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto enthusiastically replied.

"Hn..."

"That's emo language for 'Hell yeah! We number one! We run this!' I've gotten pretty good at deciphering it, Iruka-sensei!" Mayu whispered to the man. Too bad the Uchiha heard it.

The chuunin's smile grew bigger as Sasuke nailed her on the head again. "Well, rest up, you three. One more day and the results will be in." He turned his back to them. "I guess... I guess I didn't have to worry about them after all. They've all grown since the last time I've seen them, which was only a few weeks ago. Even Sakura..." The man couldn't help but notice the bandage around the girl's arm. Iruka began to walk away.

"Oi...! What do we do for food?! I'm hungry!" Mayu called. Iruka turned back around.

"Of course. I will show you where you will be staying until the second exam is over." He frowned. Sakura sure was acting differently from before... "Please follow me."
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“I can’t believe Iruka-sensei gave us more soldier pills instead of food.” Naruto sighed heavily. His back hit the soft. The team was given a room to rest in. They only managed to get a glimpse of which teams made it, and that’s only because some of their doors were opened. They didn’t see any of the Rookie Nine, though. Unfortunately, the room they were given only had one large bed and no pillows.

“You’re telling me.” The kunoichi plopped down next to the blond; her head rested on his stomach. She sighed wearily. “After this, I hope we actually get to eat. Next time, we’re bringing our own food!” Sasuke also lied on the bed; his head rested on Mayu’s stomach.

“Stop complaining already.” He closed his eyes. “Let’s just be grateful that we get to rest easy for a while.”

“Hai, hai…” Mayu breathed deeply, closing her eyes. Pretty soon, the three were sound asleep. Naruto was snoring loudly. Mayu was mumbling in her sleep. And Sasuke made faces. If anyone were to come along, they would comment about their weird sleeping habits, not to mention their positions.

X amount of hours later, a knock on the door was heard. It wasn’t answered, so the person took the liberty of coming right on in. Hatake Kakashi slowly opened the door and stepped inside. He was surprised to see his students on the large bed, clinging to each other. Sakura was in the middle of the two boys. The two had one arm wrapped around her abdomen. The other hands were grasped in the girl’s hands. The three seemed to sleep peacefully.

Kakashi’s visible eyes closed into a curve. He smiled lightly under his mask. He went over to a chair and sat. He eyed the nearby sink. “I’ll let them sleep for a few more minutes,” he thought. He turned his attention back to his team. He crossed his arms. They, Team 7, had gone through a lot to get here. That, he could tell from their bruised and dirty bodies.

The jounin stared their entangled legs and wondered when the three had gotten so close, so close that they didn’t mind that they were touching one another willingly. Out of the three, Sasuke’s actions seemed most out of character. Kakashi narrowed his visible eye. “Perhaps now… he feels that he doesn’t have distance himself from others. Naruto and Sakura are great influences on him.” His eye flickered over to the female of the team.

He was not expecting this type of girl on his squad, he admitted. Girls her age were usually only interested in make-up, boys, and staying clean. When Kakashi first saw the young girl, he ha judged her right off the bat, before she had even spoken a word. He assumed that she was a normal girl. He had looked at her body. No, not like a pedophile… He had noticed that there was little to no muscle on the girl’s arms or legs. Because of this observation, he didn’t think twice of her abilities.

Kakashi looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He had assumed she had very little stamina, strength, and the only thing that she had going for her was her intelligence, which was why she was placed on a team with strong genin in the first place. But from the first time she told him about herself, he should have realized that it would be a mistake to underestimate her… and yet he did. Kakashi rubbed his chin in memory of that kick she gave him. He chuckled lightly. “Haruno Sakura… She has the mind of a child, but a heart of a warrior.”

His eyes moved over to the blond. He stared at the snoring genin. Kakashi smiled. “No words really need to be said about Naruto.” He chuckled again. “Sasuke, his skills are above average… Naruto, his fierce determination inspires the rest of the team, unintentional or not… And Sakura-” An image of the grinning girl appeared in his mind. “-She will make a fine kunoichi.”

With a sigh, the jounin stood up and went over to the sink. He turned the cold water on and ran his two pinkies under the flow. After waiting a few moments, he turned the water off. Smiling, Kakashi walked over to the bed. He bent at an angle, and then placed his two pinkies in each boy’s ear. The two shook violently and screamed. The screams caused the team member in the middle to wake up screaming as well. “What?! What?! What?! What?!” She looked around as if looking for an enemy. Naruto and Sasuke snatched their hands from Mayu’s grasp and rubbed furiously at their violated ears.

Laughter broke through the loud noises the three were making. The genin of Team 7 stopped what they were doing and looked at their sensei. Three pairs of eyes blinked in confusion. Why was their jounin teacher here, practically laughing his ass off? Light bulbs suddenly turned on above their heads, Mayu being the last to realize what had happened. “KAKASHI-SENSEI…! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!” Naruto shouted, pointing a finger. Sasuke let out a snarl. What the hell was wrong with their sensei’s head?!

“Gomen, gomen… That was the only way I knew how to wake you up at the same time.” Kakashi waved his hand as if he were a kitten, batting the air.

“I’LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO WAKE UP TO!” Naruto lunged–well, tried to lunge at the jounin. He looked back to see that his other arm was still wrapped around Mayu’s torso. Sasuke also realized this. Mayu looked down at Sakura’s body. She blinked.

“Two arms that belong to my teammates are wrapped around me.” She blinked again.

…

…

“AHHHH! THE HELL IS GOING ON?!”

Both males went flying from the bed and onto their bottoms. That’s when the three genin started yelling, shouting, and screaming at each other, blaming each other for their predicament. “So much chaos… I wonder how it happened.” Kakashi shrugged, and then cleared his throat to get their attention. “In five minutes, you three are scheduled to meet in that room Iruka showed you earlier.” He made some hand signs. “Don’t be late.” He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The room grew quiet. Mayu began rubbing her bandaged arm. “Sorry about that, you guys.” She finally spoke up. “You know how I get when I jump to conclusion.”

“Yeah, we do.” They both responded in unison, causing the girl to frown. They didn’t have to say it that quickly.

“Um… yeah, sorry about hitting you,” Mayu murmured.

Sasuke realized that his teammate had yet to stop rubbing her arm. He stood up. “Is it bothering you?” Mayu instantly stopped her movements. She laughed nervously, waving off his concern.

“Nah, nah…! It’s fine!” Sasuke didn’t look convinced. “Anyway, let’s head to that place now.” Mayu stretched, and then got up from the bed. She neglected to see her teammates’ stares as she put on her sandals. Naruto, too, had noticed her friction.

“Ne, Sakura-chan… is there something wrong with your arm?” he asked. He pointed at the wrapped up arm. “You keep messing with it like it’s irritating you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Naruto. It’s just a scratch… I’ll–I’ll put something on it afterwards.” Mayu went over to the door. “Put your shoes on and come on, already!” With that order, the kunoichi trotted out of the room. Naruto’s blue eyes went from the door to his teammate.

“Sasuke…” he began.

“I’ll tell you about it at a later time. Right now, we’ve got less than three minutes. Hurry and get ready.” Naruto nodded his head.
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Mayu yawned loudly as she listened to the Hokage go on and on about the true purpose of the exam. Because of her obviously rude action, she received several glares, one being from her sensei. In all honesty, the kunoichi didn’t care for the glares. “They shouldn’t talk to tired genin if they actually want them to listen.” Green eyes scanned those around her.

Naruto stood in front of her; Sasuke was behind her. The rookie nine, Lee’s team, and the team from the Sand had made it, plus a couple other teams, including the three from the Sound. Mayu frowned as she eyed the one-arm mummified shinobi. She felt bad, even though it wasn’t her that did it. She still had ordered it of those tigers. Mayu looked down at the floor. Dosu had begged her to stop; he had even cried. And yet… “And yet I still let it happen.” The shinobi from the Sound village still had both of his sleeves, but it was still noticeable that one of his arms was gone. Mayu briefly wondered how the guy was going to fight.

Out of the seventy-eight participants, only twenty-one had made it this far. They, including several jounin, the Hokage, and Iruka, were all in a large room. A giant statue of the ram sign towered over all. Mayu moved eyes over the sensei of the teams. Green eyes stopped on the one from the Sound village. “He looks eerily familiar…” Mayu produced a flat look. The known stranger seemed to smirk… at her! The girl quickly averted her gaze and grabbed her arm. It had suddenly starting hurting again.

A man, out of nowhere, appeared before the genin. He was bowing down to the Hokage. His sudden appearance caused Mayu to start paying attention again. “I apologize, Hokage-sama…” the man began. “But as referee, please allow me to take it from here.” The elder man was silent for a few moments.

“By all means…” The old man nodded his head.

The man rose from his crouched position, and then turned to the seven teams. “Hello, my name is Hayate.” Mayu grimaced. He looked even sicker than she remembered. The man coughed. “Before the third test, there’s… something I’d like you to do…” He coughed again, this time more violently. A sweat drop slid down a few genin heads. Hayate sighed wearily before continuing. “Um… It’s a preliminary for the third test to decide who gets to participate in the main event.”

“Preliminary…?! What do you mean?!” Shikamaru actually sounded upset, but then again, of course he would. This exam was taking away precious cloud-watching time, not to mention it was so damn troublesome for his tastes.

“To put it bluntly-” he coughed again. “-there’s too many of you. The first and second exams have been too easy this year. According to the rules, we must have a preliminary-” another cough. “-to reduce the people remaining. As Hokage-sama said before, there are very important clients attending the main event. The fights could take too long for their liking.” Awkward pause. “So… yeah… anyone who is not feeling up to the challenge, please come forward since we’re having the preliminary right now.”

“What?! Right now?!” It was actually Kiba who shouted it. Eyelids lowered over green eyes.

“Kabuto quits, doesn’t he…?” Mayu thought, glancing at the purple-clad ninja. “Of course, he’s no longer need to be in this exam.” As if on cue, the glasses-wearing spy raised his hand and asked if he could quit. “Only someone with an ulterior motive would come this far just to quit,” Mayu murmured loud enough so that her teammates could here. “Like I said before, don’t trust not a word he says.” Naruto glanced back at his female teammate. She was now glaring at the departing male. The blond turned his head back. He would have to ask later on. Come to think of it, Sakura seemed to also do that. Not just with Kabuto… There was also Lee, and that Gaara kid, Naruto realized. She had practically glomped Lee and totally ignored everyone when that Sand ninja was around. Naruto knew his teammate jumped to conclusions a lot, but this was just ridiculous. He’d definitely have to ask Sasuke about it later. For some reason, he knew that the Uchiha knew something about their female companion.

Hayate coughed. “Is there anyone else that wants to leave?” No one responded. “This is your last chan-” A cry of pain interrupted him.

“Ugh…!” Mayu grunted as she squeezed her bandaged arm. She fell to her knees. “Shit…”

“Sakura-chan! What’s wrong?!” Naruto knelt down to her level.

“Mayu… it’s that mark, isn’t it?” Sasuke whispered. He had also dropped down to her level.

“I’m–argh–I’m fine!” The girl clutched her arm as if it were a lifeline. Sasuke frowned, watching his teammate sweat. By now, almost everyone (who cared, at least) had their eyes on them.

“You… you should quit.” Mayu’s head snapped up at Sasuke’s request. “I mean it. You should quit. This thing on your arm is causing you too much pain. In the middle of a battle, you could get even more hurt.”

“Sasuke, I won’t let myself quit! How dare you even suggest that I should! In order for me to get stronger, I must fight people with a wide range of abilities. And… you already know that I have to get stronger.” Sasuke’s frown turned into a glare. “You should understand how I feel… I’m not quitting over this and you can protest all you want to.” The kunoichi stood up, still clutching her arm. “I also…want to fight you. How you forgotten that?”

Sasuke and Naruto slowly stood as well. “What’s going on? Are you going to leave?” Hayate directed his question over to Team 7.

“Oh, nothing…!” Sakura’s voice squeaked. “Just minor cramps!” She laughed nervously. Dark eyes noticed the way her body trembled.

Hayate coughed.

“When did young girls get so cheeky?” he thought. “Very well, we will now move on. This preliminary will consist of one-on-one fights. As if this were real confrontations, you will fight like your life is on the line. Since we now have twenty people left, there will be ten matches. The winners of those matches will advance to the third test.” More coughing came from the man. “There’s basically no rules for this. The fight will continue until one gets killed or knocked out. If you don’t want to get killed, admit your defeat. If some of you are too stubborn to admit that, I will jump in and stop things. We really don’t want–cough, cough, cough–more dead bodies.” He stared at the faces of the remaining twenty. “The two that will fight each other will be decided by-” A cover was lifted up, revealing a giant flat screen. “-this electric scoreboard. Yes, it’s sudden, but the first match up will be announced right now.”

Random names flashed across the giant screen. Everyone stared, but it was Mayu who stared at it with a flat expression. “Just… When in the heck are we?” she thought. “Kishimoto-sama really didn’t make that clear…” The names had stopped flashing. The first match up of the preliminary rounds was exposed.

Inner Mayu: WHAT THE FU-

“No… way…” Mayu mumbled with wide eyes.
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Next time: Battle Royale!

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