"This. Is. Bullshit."
As some may know, there are five stages of grief most humans are capable of experiencing. The first one is known as 'denial', where individuals go into a state of shock, unlike the same kind of shock associated with trauma or surprise. This state of shock makes one feel numb and hopeless. Some may say that this first stage is one of the more difficult stages to overcome.
The second stage is 'anger', which is actually a necessary stage to go through in order to recover through the grief cycle. Some people may try to repress the anger they feel as opposed to embracing it, which can lead to suppression of their healing process. Others may fully surrender to their emotions, where people tend to thrash things around or curse anything and anyone out within a ten-foot radius of them.
The third stage known as 'bargaining'. This stage is when people are the most apologetic and desperate. Conversations with a God or a similar entity usually ensues within this stage. This stage can involve many different kinds of desperate deals or bargains being made sporadically, such as 'I will do better as a person if this situation can be reversed' or 'I vow to not eat so much ramen if this huge snake doesn't end up turning me into a pile of feces'.
Fourth, comes a stage known as "depression" immediately after the previous stage. This stage can make things feel even more hopeless than it did in the denial stage, feeling as though the feeling will last forever. Nevertheless, the depression stage is critical to recovery, despite how it can be the lengthiest stage among the five.
Lastly comes what is known as 'acceptance'. It is just as the name implies; accepting the reality of the situation. This is the stage that may shift around the negative emotions tied to whatever unfortunate event the individual may be facing. It is not necessarily being okay with the situation, but rather embracing that what is happening is something that we cannot change. Most people learn to appreciate the good experiences they may have had up until then, before accepting that fate will do what it always does.
This being said, Naruto Uzumaki was currently at the 'anger' stage of the grief cycle.
"Of course I would be the ONLY freakin' ninja to go and pee in the first five minutes of being here, only to get eaten alive by a huge FREAKING SNAKE!" Naruto hollered, thrashing around wildly as he was surrounded by the slimy walls of the inside of a snake's intestines. He had attempted to use his kunai, hoping to cut the snake up from the inside, however, the snake's insides made it physically impossible to move and do any type of proper damage to it.
"I'm supposed to be the Hokage, dammit!" Naruto growled, hating the smells and feelings associated with being eaten alive. It was comparable to the feeling of being stuck inside an overfilled sewer pipe, "Hey Mr. Snake! You listening to me?! You're really screwing up my attempts to be great, y'know that?!"
He hated how he couldn't even see anything. That's what really made the experience truly terrifying. All he could feel was slime and guts squishing him tightly, feeling absolutely dreadful when the organs would push him further down into the depths of the unreasonably large reptile.
Before Naruto could ramble on more about how the situation he was in was an inconvenience to him, he started hearing more muffled exclamations... some that did not belong to him.
"Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!" He heard from a feminine voice squeaking, growing closer toward him. If Naruto didn't know any better... he'd notice that the voice was a familiar one.
Then, unexpectedly, something as hard as a skull collided with his own head.
"Ow!" Both Naruto and the feminine voice grunted simultaneously. There was a brief pause between the two individuals until one of them spoke up.
"Hello? Who's there?" Asked the owner of the voice with a cautious tone. Naruto identified the owner of the voice.
"...Yugito?"
"...Naruto?"
There was another brief silence among the two.
"Well, what a surprise running into you here..." Yugito greeted awkwardly, unable to see him or move.
"Yeah... how did you end up here?" He asked.
"Same way you did, I'm assuming." She replied, "Is this what I should be expecting from someone who claims to be one of the best shinobi in this village?"
Naruto grunted at her sarcastic tone, "Hey! You ended up getting eaten by this snake too, ya know!"
"Yeah, but you ended up here first." Said Yugito with a grin that Naruto couldn't see.
"So?!"
"Anyway," She said with a roll of her eyes, "Do you have any plans that involve us getting out of here before we end up getting disolved by this snake's stomach acids?"
"Er... I was working on it before you came along." He answered.
"Ah." Yugito hummed, "So I was right. You do just have a big mouth."
Naruto grit his teeth.
"This is the future Hokage you're talking to, ya know that?!" He shouted, "Show some respect!"
"Respect is earned, Naruto. And so far, all I'm seeing is a lot of talk with nothing to back it up."
"Oh yeah?!" Naruto grunted, bringing his hands together to form a very familiar hand seal, "I'll show you why I'm one of the best in this village! Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
From the outside, the oversized snake that just ate two genin for lunch seemingly started to inflate from the inside. It's stomach quickly started to expand more and more until... the snake popped like a balloon.
Blood, guts, and other miscellaneous organs and tissues began raining onto the forest floor.
Yugito, Naruto, and the hundreds of shadow clones all landed on the ground, right in a pile of the snake's guts, covered in slime, blood, and mucus.
"...This is probably the grossest experience of my entire life." Said Yugito flatly, tossing big lumps of pink and red snake tissue from off of her torso.
Naruto's clones dissapated and the real Naruto pumped his fist in the air, "Ha! Take that! I'll be damned if my career as a shinobi ends at the hands of a giant snake!"
The kunoichi from Kumogakure shook herself off one last time before looking over towards Naruto, "Well, it's good to see that you're not ALL talk."
Naruto looked at the girl and blushed. Even covered in snake guts, she was still pretty. Despite this, Naruto attempted to remain as cool and aloof as possible, even if he did it in a way that made it obvious that he wasn't.
"Yeah, well... it's like I said, I'm one of the best!" he boasted. Yugito gave another eye roll and started to approach Naruto. She stood directly in front of him, and Naruto noticed that they were the exact same height.
"You talk too much." She stated before shoving him down to the ground hard. Not only was Naruto unprepared for Yugito to do this, he noticed how strong she was; she put him on his ass with ease.
"H-Hey, what are you...?" Naruto started to ask before Yugito shoved him again, this time putting him on his back, and squated on top of him. She drew a kunai, pointing it directly at his throat.
"We're enemies, Naruto." Yugito said, lacking the friendly aura that she held before they entered Training Grounds Fourty-Four. Now, her tone was cold and firm, showcasing that her task in these exams overrode any type of compassion she had for Naruto, "Hand over your scroll. I can just kill you now and take it, but that's only something I'll do if you leave me no choice."
The orange jumpsuit wearing genin frowned. He was shocked at how fast he went from thinking she was harmless, to thinking of her as a threat.
"I don't have the scroll." Answered Naruto with a grimace.
"I don't believe you." Yugito told him, pointing the blade closer to his throat, "Hand it over, Naruto. I'm not afraid to kill you."
"I said I don't have it!" Growled Naruto, growing frustrated, "I swear!"
Yugito shook her head, "Even if you don't have it, you're still an enemy. I should probably—"
The other blonde Jinchuuriki was interrupted when her instincts kicked in, as she avoided an attack from one of Naruto's shadow clones from behind. She dodged the clone's tackle and dispelled it with her kunai, all in one swift motion.
Yugito huffed and assumed her previous position, this time pressing the blade of her kunai right across Naruto's jugular, "I should kill you for that alone." She told him darkly, "However, you did get me out of the snake situation, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to let you live, only if you take me to your squad and convince them to give me whatever scroll you have."
"What makes you think that my squad will just hand over our scroll?!" Naruto demanded.
"Because they're going to have one of two options; either your squad hands over the scroll and you guys can go in peace, or I kill you and your team gets eliminated from the exams. Even if your squad doesn't give a rat's ass about you personally, you'd make a great bargaining chip considering how your life means the difference between passing or failing this part of the exams for your entire team."
Naruto snarled, however, before he got himself into deeper trouble with his mouth, an idea came to him. Yugito clearly planned on bargaining Naruto's life for the scroll if he were to actually lead her to his team. But from what Naruto could tell, Yugito was separated from the rest of her squad as well. So instead of fighting against her request and making things more difficult for him, why not get the drop on her and take her scroll after he brings her to Sakura and Sasuke? And even if she didn't actually have the scroll in her possession, they could flip her plan on her, have her take them to her squad, and use her life as a bargaining chip. It was a solid plan, in Naruto's mind. However, despite Yugito claiming to not being afraid to kill him, Naruto knew that he couldn't find it in himself to do the same against her. Naruto was not a killer, and he intended on only using such methods as an absolute last resort.
"Fine." Naruto scoffed, feigning defeat, "What makes you think that we have the correct scroll that you need, anyway?"
"It doesn't matter what scroll you actually have. If you have the right one, then obviously my objective will be complete. However, even if you have the same one I have, we can use the extra scroll as a bargaining chip for other teams, as well as simply eliminating other teams from the running." Yugito then yanked Naruto up to his feet by his shirt, "Now walk. Take me to your team."
Naruto grunted as she walked behind him, still holding the kunai to his throat, "I don't even know where my squad is! If you haven't noticed, I've been inside a giant snake for a majority of the time I've been here!"
"Find them." Yugito commanded, "Or else I'll just kill you and do my squad the favor of eliminating some of the competition for the next part of the exams. It's not my ideal situation, but I'll do it if you force me to."
The male Jinchuuriki huffed and simply began walking. For now, his hands were tied. But soon, the odds would work in his favor.
"Alright, alright!" He grunted, "You were a lot nicer before we entered this forest."
"We weren't enemies before we entered this forest." She responded bluntly, pushing him forward, "Move."
Eventually, Naruto managed to pick up a trail to his team. As Naruto and Yugito jumped on top of a tall tree branch, the male Jinchuuriki spotted his teammates dozens of feet away. Sasuke seemed to be trapped in a corner by another shinobi, one that he was sure looked a lot like the creepy Grass-nin that crept up behind him and Anko prior to entering the gates. Sakura was there as well, practically paralyzed with fear.
Naruto clenched his teeth and turned toward the woman who had a kunai to his back, "My teammates are in trouble! I gotta help them!"
"What makes you think that I should let you?" She asked, spinning her kunai in her hand.
Naruto gritted his teeth and looked back at his team.
Then, for whatever reason, Yugito saw Naruto... grinning.
"You already are."
The female Jinchuuriki followed his gaze, only to see Sasuke tossing his scroll to the opponent, where another Naruto intercepted the scroll.
She snapped her head to the Naruto in front of her, only to witness him poofing into a small cloud.
She grimaced, "Another clone? At what point did he manage to switch himself out with a clone?"
Yugito then looked on at the scene happening below here, deciding not to get involved at this point. She figured it would be the wisest decision, seeing as it wouldn't help her to possibly get pinched between two separate teams.
She witnessed Naruto punching his own teammate in the face, causing the black-haired shinobi to fly back and land on another branch.
"What are you doing, loser?!" Demanded Sasuke, who was recovering from his attack, "You're going to screw everything up!"
"What the hell do you think YOU'RE doing?!" Naruto shot back, glaring at Sasuke, "Is this what I should suspect from someone who claims to be better than me?! Someone who just surrenders like some sort of pussy?!"
Sasuke growled, though still quacking in fear of the enemy, "Damn it, Naruto! Get out of here, you're gonna get us killed! We're no match for her!"
Naruto clenched his fist, his breathing getting heavy with anger, "If you don't cut it out, that lady isn't the only person you're gonna have to worry about!" Naruto threatened, "The Sasuke I know doesn't just give up when backed into a corner! Konoha is NOT home to people that just give up, and anyone who was paying attention in the last part of the exams would know that! Now either you change out of that henge and reveal who you really are, or quit acting like a punk, because I'm gonna kick your ass otherwise until the real Sasuke comes out!"
Naruto's words seemed to have hit home, as Sasuke began to seem conflicted. Yugito continued to watching on from a distance, captivated with the situation.
"Well then, this sure is a surprise." Said the Grass-nin, who's body was still oddly wrapped around a thick tree branch, "Sasuke-kun, it seems you'd better show more backbone, otherwise your teammate may finish you off before I can." She commented with a grin.
"I didn't ask you to agree, ya freaky snake lady!" Naruto responded, snapping his neck at his enemy. He then began to charge at her, closing the distance between them.
"Naruto, don't!" Shouted Sasuke, although it fell on deaf ears. Naruto continued to attack the Grass kunoichi, who managed to use a summoning jutsu just in time. A giant snake, even bigger than the one he and Yugito had both been eaten by, appeared in a giant cloud of smoke, and swatted Naruto high into the air. Naruto's backside slammed directly into the bottom of a higher tree branch, knocking the wind out of him, along with a few spots of blood.
"That idiot is gonna get himself killed..." Thought Yugito, feeling slightly concerned even for her enemy. Then, to her shock, just as he started to plummet into the snake's mouth below him, Naruto turned his body and... punched the snake?
The snake itself was pretty grand in size, and Naruto was the size of an apple by comparison. But Naruto delivered a hard enough blow to where the snake's head got pushed back from it. The boy continued punching the snake, seemingly doing enough damage to keep it at bay. He was growling and grunting with every punch he threw, and it left Yugito to wonder where exactly he got his strength from. After her small tangle with him, she would have thought he was a bit of a wimp.
Her eyes then managed to focus in on his eyes, which was no longer blue, but the exact opposite of the color blue.
"What the hell...?! Where is his strength coming from?!" Yugito wondered incredulously. She almost forgot about the Grass-nin he was actually fighting, who was riding atop of the head of the snake. Naruto's opponent then blasted him away with a fire jutsu that she breathed out of her mouth, enveloping in a blast of flames. Naruto fell down onto the forest floor, stunned, but not burned.
The Grass Kunoichi seemed to be done with Naruto for now, and commanded her snake to attack the paralyzed Uchiha. However, just as the snake was about to strike it's target, Naruto intercepted the attack by literally blocking the path of the snake with his backside, holding two kunai that was buried into the snake's flesh.
Naruto, though huffing and bleeding from a few spots on his face, looked at Sasuke with a grin, "What's the matter, Sasuke...? You're not scared, are ya?"
Yugito noted his features from afar, and thought Naruto looked... eerily demonic. As if he were possessed.
"That chakra he's emitting... it feels... familiar somehow..." she thought to herself, feeling an unfamiliar wave of nostalgia. All of her attention was given to Naruto and the situation he was in, a lot more curious about him than she was prior to entering the forest.
The strange kunoichi riding the snake's head then grabbed Naruto by the waist with her tongue, holding him in the air in front of her, before performing the Five-Pronged Seal onto his stomach. Yugito had seen the area on his stomach and saw a seal very similar to the one on her own stomach.
She rubbed the area subconsciously, "That's a lot like the seal I have that's containing Nibi... is he a Jinchuuriki, too...?!"
Part of her wanted to intervene for whatever reason. The other part knew it would be wise to stay out of it. On one hand, Naruto did save her from being eaten alive, even though she was sure she could have gotten out of the snake herself eventually. He didn't give off a bad vibe to her, either. He was loud and a goofball, but didn't seem dangerous or precarious in any way. Besides, if he actually was a fellow Jinchuuriki, should she feel compelled to help him out? Is there some sort of unspoken bond between Jinchuuriki that should make them want to support each other?
However, on the other hand, getting involved with shinobi that were from two seperate villages didn't seem wise at all. Technically, she owed him nothing, and he was far from her responsibility. The primary reason she entered the exams was to become a Chuunin and someday attain the title of the first female Raikage. Getting involved with the mess below her just may hinder that.
Yugito seemed to have zoned out for a few minutes, as she missed how the Grass-nin tossed the unconscious Jinchuuriki aside as he was hanging by his jacket on a tree log held up by a kunai that Yugito assumed one of his teammates threw to save him from falling down a hundred feet down to the ground below. The other kid seemed to have gotten some courage and used some impressive shinobi techniques to fight off their attacker. However, it seemed to be futile, and the Grass-nin's neck extended over to Sasuke to bit him in the collarbone, causing the Uchiha to cry out in agony.
And just like that, after saying a few quick remarks to Sasuke and Sakura, the Grass-nin departed from the battle. Yugito was curious as to why the Grass-nin didn't kill them. They were all clearly outmatched, yet they survived, and even still had their scroll.
The ponytailed woman thought to herself as to what she thought her next move should be. All that was left of Naruto's squad was the pink-haired kunoichi who was too terrified to assist her comrades. She seemed weak, from what Yugito thought, and knew that she probably wouldn't give her too much trouble in a fight. Sasuke, who seemed to be pretty skilled himself, passed out from the pain of whatever that kunoichi did to his collar area. Yugito was even sure that all she had to do was threaten Sakura enough and she'd get what she wanted without much retaliation.
Basically, the scroll was practically Yugito's for the taking.
However, she hesitated to jump at the opportunity that presented itself in front of her. For some reason, a part of her was tugging at her, telling her that going through with her plan would be disgraceful. But how could that be the case? It was her mission's objective, after all, and in the world of shinobi, completing your objective was what mattered most. So why was her intuition telling her that the plan was wrong? It didn't make sense.
Yugito watched as the female member on Naruto's team began to cry upon realizing that she was all alone, defenseless. Shinobi are supposed to separate their emotional ties and any sort of sympathy toward the enemy while on duty, yet Yugito couldn't help but feel bad. Naruto and his team seemed like decent people. She couldn't find it in herself to take from those who were already in a desperate situation, even if it was the most ideal situation for her to strike. The scroll could be hers in less than a minute, but could she live with herself for taking candy from a baby? Was that what she should be expected to do as a kunoichi?
Cursing her virtuous moral compass, she came to a decision and hopped off of the tree branch she was spectating from, landing directly in front of Sakura.
Sakura, through her tears, looked at Yugito with a combination of fear, hopelessness, and a false sense of bravery.
"Stay back!" Sakura said, arming herself with a kunai, "Don't come any closer!"
Yugito looked at the other woman and sighed. She internally grumbled something to Kami about expecting to receive good karma for her next move.
"Hey," Said Yugito carefully, raising her hands in a yielding gesture, "I'm not here to cause trouble. I want to help."