Naruto and Sasuke were in beds within the beige sleeping quarters of the tower. Both ate earlier in the mess hall, but they nearly threw up afterward. One was recovering from major organ damage and the other was so exhausted it was to be expected. At the very least, they could eat and avoid the first cause of death in the unwell: insufficient nutrition.

Anko sat on an empty bed next to the stirring bandaged boy. "Hello, sleepy head."

"Were you watching me?"

"Watching out for you." She stood up and stepped to his side. "Orochimaru obviously has some interest in you, and I know him: he likes to toy with others, especially people he's interested in." She raised an eyebrow at his questioning look. "He was my sensei."

"Oh." He focused on her fishnet clad chest, the parts of it not obscured by her coat. "Interesting."

"Aren't you a spirited little bastard?" Giggling, she parted it to let him see them in full.

Naruto shot up, eyes widening. "...Am I dreaming? Because I really don't want to wake up if I am."

Anko, cheeks reddening, took his hands by the wrists and guided them to her breasts. "You're awake." She grinned at his awed look. "I thought you earned something a little more than just a 'proud of you' from Old Man Hokage. Don't be shy; I've seen you staring since my entrance."

He squeezed. Then he pulled on one and pushed the other, drawing a murmur. Setting back to neutral, he hefted and lowered them to get a feel for their weight. His partially wrapped fingers closed around the nubs before rubbing them.

"Easy," she whispered. Taking a deep breath, she sighed. "You're getting me fired up now."

That only stirred him more. He squeezed one down toward the point and the other normally with his thumb pressing down on it. The yearning in her eyes made him start trembling at the possibility for more.

"Naruto," Kakashi called out from the entrance, a stunned and red-faced Sakura by his side.

He did not stop even as she froze in embarrassment. "...Yeah?"

"Can I borrow Anko for a moment?" His eye narrowed at the woman. "It's important."

"...We're in the middle of something."

"Now. Naruto." His tone did not leave room for refutation.

Anko, seeing that he was too enamored, broke it off. "Sorry, kid. I have to go." She left him groping the air, still feeling her in his mind.

The adults left the room and walked through the halls.

Far away enough, Kakashi turned and pressured his colleague into the wall. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"YES!" Naruto's victorious cry echoed through the entire tower. It distracted them from the immediate matter for a moment.

"...I wasn't." Using one hand to itch the back of her head, she held one between them. "But he is a ninja and an adult by the laws of our village."

"Anko, for the love of all that is decent, do not fuck my dead mentor's only child." He didn't understand then, but he understood now. Seeing his adorable punk student with a woman well above his senior awakened his latent parenting instincts.

She frowned. "Oh, I see: I'm no good for him, am I?" She blinked. "That came out wrong."

"Just…" Kakashi backed off and shook his head. "He's not ready for that kind of relationship. I know you'd get along with him, but he doesn't need romance: he needs guidance."

"I understand." She chuckled. "Holy shit, I've never seen you anywhere near this emotional before. He really is important to you, huh?"

His eye looked down. "I held him when he was just a baby. Starting to realize it was a mistake to let him go so soon."

"Aww, I'll take good care of him for you."

"Don't push it."

She was concerned about the child, and she was interested in his similar personality. While she did overstep her boundaries, it was not done with any ill intent. Kakashi understood that, but he was still rightfully wary. It was too easy for men and women to gain feelings for each other. He wasn't sure either could be trusted to maneuver around them. If Rin and Obito didn't die, he was certain whatever mess of a love triangle they had going on would implode their team eventually, though he'd been fine with that if they lived.

Since Tenzo and political business oh so rudely interrupted their personal moment, Sarutobi was trying to spend time with Naruto while the test still went underway. They were playing shogi, more accurately failing at teaching/learning shogi. It was a complex game with rules, and one of them loathed rules.

"King this. Pawn that." Naruto lay flat on his stomach, waving his bandaged legs in the air. "Can't you just show me a jutsu or something?"

"That wouldn't be fair to the other contestants, now would it?"

He rolled his eyes. "Did they have to fight some weird creepy snake guy above jonin?"

"Naruto." Sarutobi was grateful they were alone in his room. "Be careful who you spill your secrets to."

"If only he knew what you are keeping from him."

"I guess keeping who my parents were from me is one of those for you, huh?"

"...Your mother asked me to take care of you."

Naruto stared at the old man. "My mother?" He tried to pick himself up too fast, dropping back against the ground. "I had a mom?!" He frowned. "What about my dad?"

"They loved you very much."

"Cut the bullshit, old man!" He grit his teeth. "Why won't you tell me who they are? If you really cared about me, you'd tell me."

"Naruto," Sarutobi called out.

He shook his head. "Quit jerking me around. I can't stand this: you're still flip-flopping between grandpa and dictator. Am I a pawn or someone you actually care about, 'king?' Did the Yellow Dipshit take me from my parents? Is that why you can't tell me?"

There was so much he wanted to tell him, but he really didn't know if he could. "This isn't easy for me either. I care for you, but I must care for the village as well." He closed his eyes. "And to care for the village means treating you as a weapon."

"So you love them more than me," Naruto accused, voice breaking. He balled his hands into fists. "All of those people that look at me like I'm a piece of garbage when I'm the reason they're alive in the first place."

"It's not so simple." He knew for sure telling him the truth would destroy him now and the village. "There are responsibilities I have to the village and responsibilities I have towards you. Both are important, but I must choose one over the other from time to time."

"When is it ever going to be me?"

"It's been you whenever you've misbehaved!"

Naruto flung the shogi board to the side. "So it's only me when it matters to other people, huh!?" He stood up, tears streaming down from his eyes. "Am I just some burden to you?! Some defective weapon?!" Laughing, he shook his head. "...I feel so alone when I'm with you, and I feel so much pain when I'm happy because I don't know if it's even real." His lips quivered. "It hurts so much that I hate it."

Sarutobi stood up and embraced him. "I'm so sorry, Naruto." He let his own tears fall. "I fear things will never change between us. If you can believe one thing I say, please believe that I love you."

"I want to, but I don't know if I can."

That was honest truth between them. It was a conversation in the making for quite some time. For better or for worse, they had it. Sarutobi could never be his father, and he could never be his son. Such was the circumstances of their lives.

The hallways of the tower were unnervingly empty. It'd be fine if they weren't so cramped. Despite being surrounded by a deadly burning forest, the crisp whiteness of it was somehow more unsettling. No one was supposed to be there long.

"What do we have here?" Temari asked, leaning on a nearby wall. She glared at the bandaged boy in orange and blue walking to the mess hall. "If it isn't the jerk who touched my body without permission."

Naruto nodded. "I meant what I said: you have a nice ass but meh tits."

She moved to unfurl her fan but sand coiling around her arms stopped her. "G-Gaara?!"

"Shut up." The red-haired boy appeared a few feet in front of him. "Even now, you can't beat him, so stop embarrassing yourself." He willed the sand to let her go and it did. "Leave us."

"Sure!" She ran back to her team's quarters.

"Do you want to fight here?" Naruto asked. "Because Old Man Hokage would definitely interfere and kick both of our asses: they don't call him the God of Shinobi for nothing."

His eyes were fixed on his. "I felt something the other day. When I did, for a moment, a voice inside me that only screamed for violence faltered."

"Voice?" Naruto laughed, recognizing the only thing that could make the beast inside him stir at the boy. "I knew I wasn't the only one. Is yours an asshole too?"

"It wants me to kill you more than anyone else here, but I want to kill you for myself."

"Not in a thousand years, you one-tailed runt. Kill him first."

He rolled his eyes. "Now mine wants me to kill you. Why don't we just leave each other be instead of giving them what they want?"

"I want to kill you," Gaara answered matter-of-factly.

"Fuck you too." Naruto walked past him without care and towards the mess hall. "Just know, when I'm beating the absolute shit out of you, I wanted to be left alone."

The two were more alike than either knew.

Team 7 was eating their meals in their quarters. The Sand Team were hostile, Kabuto's team was reclusive, the newly arrived Sound Team couldn't look more nefarious if they tried, and Naruto absolutely did not want to be anywhere near his first year classmates, who also passed. It helped that more than half of them needed rest.

"Can we not talk about it?" Naruto asked.

Sakura shook her head. "How can we not?"

"I understand you're uncomfortable talking about it, but we still need to talk about it," Sasuke said, sitting on his bed. "You're a jinchuriki."

"Old Man Hokage said we're forbidden to speak about that."

He shot him a look. "Since when have you cared about what the Hokage told you to do?"

"Well, I don't want to talk about it." Naruto stuck his chopsticks into his bowl of rice and reluctantly ate something other than ramen. "I want things to be normal between us. No walking around eggshells with me."

"It would be walking around eggshells if we didn't talk about it."

He groaned. "What do you want me to say? It's not something I have any control over." He grumbled. "Ever since Wave, I've needed to keep down my anger or else it'd come out. I have to admit that's really helped me, but it's tiring when I'm used to feeling angry."

"What you did to that wall back in the academy." Sasuke sunk his chopsticks into his bowl. "That was its power, right?"

"I lost it when I heard that prick Neji, yeah."

Sakura hummed. "What happened between you two?"

"That's my business, like this entire topic."

"We're a team: what affects you affects us all," Sasuke said. "Besides, Orochimaru came after us because you're a jinchuriki."

"He fed me to a snake. I'm pretty sure he was just fucking with us and planned to fuck with the other teams. I just got his interest because I could keep down the Nine-Tails after he weakened the seal."

"But what happened between you and Neji?" Sakura asked again.

"I just hate that stupid asshole and everything he believes in," Naruto answered.

"And that's?"

He ate a few chopsticks full of rice. "Wait until he opens his mouth. The moment you hear him go on a monologue, you'll understand. Hell, you'll probably hate him too."

"What about Rock Lee and the woman?" Sasuke asked.

"Bushy Brows is annoying, but I can respect his drive, and I can barely remember the chick."

Sakura squinted at him. "If she had big boobs, I'm sure you'd remember her." She grimaced as he nodded in agreement. "I still can't believe…" Her face grew red. "That woman let you do that."

"Do what?" Sasuke looked to Naruto, who was now kneading the air. "What happened?"

"Sasuke." Sakura whined. "That crazy proctor lady let him touch her boobs." She wanted to cry. "She's going to take Naruto away!"

"...What?"

Naruto almost drooled. "They were so soft! The mesh was in the way, but I could feel enough." He trembled. "I might actually have a chance with her, guys!"

"She is at least a decade older than you."

"And I killed a freaking tiger after getting all fucked up; I deserve something!"

"He's growing up!" Sakura shook her head. "Just yesterday, it was like he jumped through that window!"

"It was the one time!"

Sasuke frowned. "You still did it."

Grumbling, Naruto returned to his meal.

Their recent troubles only bonded them more. It was unlikely they'd split so easily at the news of a secret most people already knew. What could split them had to be themselves. Despite only really being together for almost two months, they were practically family.

For the last two days, the tower was relatively peaceful in comparison to the first three. Most teams started taking their meals to their quarters because there was little point in staying in the mess hall. The Hokage visited Naruto and vice versa several times. Kakashi, Anko, and Tenzo remained close to Team 7 but out of sight, watching for any movement by Orochimaru. Still, time was up and half of the Forest of Death was burned down.

Kakashi body flickered into their quarters. "The second test is over. Lord Hokage would like to address everyone who passed at the arena." He body flickered out.

"About damn time," Naruto said, rolling off his bed on to the floor in haste.

Sasuke inched himself off his and pushed himself up with his crutches. "Let's see if we encounter more giant snakes in the next test."

"Don't jinx it," Sakura said. She, being relatively unharmed and the least fatigued, lead the other two to their destination.

Due to their injured, they were the last to arrive. Two arms with hands making a hand seal were on the farthest end of the room. Jonin sensei and chunin proctors stood around the Hokage, who stood in the center of the slightly elevated stage. The 7 remaining genin teams were crowded in front of them.

Kiba was the first to turn back to see them, having smelled them. "There they are." He grimaced. "Fucked up, like I thought."

"Naruto?" Hinata joined him and nearly fainted at the sight of him covered in bandages. "W-What happened to you?"

"Considering he smells like tiger blood and snake, I'm guessing he got put through the ringer."

Naruto scoffed. "Please, both of those were an afterthought." He glanced at the uneasy girl. "What's up with you?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Troublesome."

"Sasuke," Ino cried, almost literally. "Your asshole teammate made an army of himself and my asshole teammates made me transform into him, but that's nothing compared to the pain of seeing you like this!"

Kiba shook his head. "You were talking all that good shit, but your team came out the worst."

"I'd tell you why, but the Hokage forbade us from speaking of it," Sasuke said.

Sakura shrugged. "No big deal. We made it here anyway; sooner than you guys too."

The two other rookie teams stared at them in shock.

Might Guy, the team leader of Rock Lee's group, laughed. "Your team's acting all tough despite being wounded, Kakashi, but my team's almost unscathed. Youth time is sweet and sometimes sour, my rival!"

"Huh?" Kakashi turned to him. "You say something?"

Naruto held his sides as the man's temperament changed. "Oh man, that was great!" His own mood soured when his eyes met the jonin's other male student.

Immediately, every genin not with Gaara, Kabuto, or in the Sound team made space, the animosity between them choking the life from the unprepared. Neither had said anything. Just a look was enough to spark tension between two old foes.

"Congratulations on passing the second test! Lord Hokage will now explain the third test!" Anko announced, breaking their stare off.

Naruto gave a small wave and she gave a wink with a blush.

That did not go unnoticed.

Kakashi shot her a dirty glance with his eye, a gesture Asuma and Guy saw. Orochimaru, in disguise as a Sound jonin, almost licked his lips at the sight of his old student getting along a little too well with him.

Hinata, who noticed just the interaction between the two, twitched. A second after, her Byakugan went off. She balled a hand into a fist and deactivated it. Naruto rarely waved at people like that, and she understood what her gesture complimented by her blush meant. For once in her entire life, she felt anger and hatred towards someone who wasn't herself.

Kiba could smell almost all of it, which made him feel some regret towards being born an Inuzuka.

"Before I explain, I would like to tell you all the reason for this exam," Sarutobi said. He told them how it bound the villages together and acted as an outlet for competition between them. "This is a life-risking battle with your goals and village's prestige on the line."

"I don't care what it is," Gaara said. "Just hurry up and tell us about these life-risking battles."

Naruto pointed his thumb at his fellow jinchuriki. "I'm with Fire-Crotch: enough with the love and peace through violence bullshit. Let's kill each other."

A sickly jonin body flickered before them, kneeling in front of the Hokage. "I apologize, Lord Hokage. May I elaborate as the referee?

"By all means, Hayate," Sarutobi said.

He rose and turned to face them. "Hello, everyone, I am Hayate Gekko." He coughed. "Before the third test, I need you to undergo a preliminary to decide who gets to continue."

"Preliminary?!" Shikamaru scoffed. "You're telling me the Forest of Death wasn't enough?"

"We have too many people left. This year's line-up has been extraordinary." Hayate coughed. "We'll have guests from all over the world for a limited time, so we have to lower the numbers. If you're not feeling well or disheartened, feel free to quit."

"Right now?!" Kiba yelled.

When the man nodded, nearly everyone focused on Naruto and Sasuke.

"I swear, if the old man and his jonin weren't looking at us, I'd stab the ever loving shit out of all of you right now," Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. "Even if I were missing limbs, I could still run through the half of you."

"I'm going to quit," Kabuto announced, breaking attention away from them. "I don't think I'm cut out for this year." He chuckled at Naruto's disdainful look. "You guys are just too much for me." He held back laughter at the gleeful smugness the boy switched into.

Hayate nodded. "Okay, you can leave." He coughed. "Anyone else?" Silence was his answer. "Then let's begin. You will fight one on one against another ninja; since there's now twenty of you, there will be ten matches: the winners move on to the next test. There are no rules. The fight will continue until one of you is knocked out, dead, admitted defeat, or when I decide a winner has been established. No need to add to the body count." Coughing, he turned behind him.

"Open it," Anko said. A panel above the little stage parted to display an electric screen. "That will display the match-ups for each battle."

"Let's see who fights first."

The screen displayed 'Sasuke Uchiha VS Yoroi Akado.'

"Everyone except for those two walk up on to the balcony."

Sakura tried to take his crutches when everyone else started moving but he shook his head. "Huh?"

"This will be over with soon enough," Sasuke said.

"Come on, Sakura. This is Sasuke we're talking about." Naruto laughed. "I don't even know who the other guy is."

Yoroi scowled beneath his mask. "I'm standing right here."

"And I don't give a fuck." He walk over to the nearest wall and walked up and over the railing with his chakra to the amusement and annoyance of some.

Sakura nodded at his confident smirk and joined her other teammate in showing off on their way to the spectator positions.

Kakashi body flickered to their side. "You're really rubbing off on everyone, Naruto." He shot him a glance. "And literally rubbing some you shouldn't."

He scoffed. "You're not my dad."

"Well, I'm the best you've got, and father knows best." He patted him on the head, triggering a blush.

Orochimaru, next to the Sound team, observed with interest. The fight was likely to be over fast: Sasuke was chakra exhausted and his opponent had abilities that only worsened that condition. He wanted to see how Naruto behaved around people he valued. Whatever was his relationship with Neji Hyuga was also of interest with how he reacted. Such palpable hostility should've awakened the Fox's chakra, but Naruto's will was unmistakably strong.

"Now," Hayate said to the opposing ninja. "Please begin."

Yoroi laughed. "Chakra exhaustion, right?" He stepped forward and raised his hand. "This will b–" The tip of a crutch rising into his chin cut him off.

Sasuke took a step forward, keeping his other leg rooted, and followed up by ramming the tip against his throat.

Yoroi stepped back to muster a breath, but he had no time to prepare for a crutch-assisted drop kick to his face.

Naruto, instead of gaping in shock like most other people, just held on to his sides and laughed. "I tried beating the shit out of him for nearly six years! Did you really think it was going to be that easy?!"

"You!" Yoroi ran forward with his arm outstretched.

Sasuke just tossed the crutch he brutalized him with over, hooking his limb. With assistance of his other crutch, he launched himself over the trapped arm and locked his opponent's neck with his legs. He grabbed the forearm with both hands and, using the crutch handle to assist in hyperextension, snapped it. He let go of the man entirely. Catching himself from falling, the state of his body reminded him of his limitations with an all-encompassing sharp pain. He grit his teeth, stood up without the assistance of his crutches, and stepped back from his opponent.

"I…" Yoroi tried to push himself up with his good hand but his bruised throat, broken limb shock, and chin-blow-induced minor concussion made that a difficulty.

Sasuke rush forward and knocked him back down with a soccer kick to his jaw. "You were saying something?"

"Winner!" Hayate raised an arm in the still standing boy's direction. "Sasuke Uchiha!"

"Like it would end any other way!" Naruto cheered.

Sakura nodded with a smug smirk. "That's our Sasuke for you!"

"He wasn't kidding," Shikamaru muttered. "Facing any of them's going to be so troublesome."

Hinata hummed next to a conflicted Kiba. "That's the level Naruto is close to."

Orochimaru gaped at the outcome and pouted. It really was a missed opportunity. He was too quick to dismiss Sasuke for not being like Itachi, but that wasn't the case. He'd come on far too hard against someone who wasn't pushed as much as his brother was.

Medic ninja spread picked up the fallen Leaf ninja on a stretcher. "Sasuke Uchiha," one said, "let us treat you."

"I'm afraid you already did." He turned to walk towards the balcony his team was on and fell.

Kakashi flickered over, catching him with his back. "Don't worry. This one's too stubborn to let a little thing like chakra exhaustion do him in." He flickered back to the balcony and set him down.

"Come on, Sasuke," Naruto said. "At least be awake to watch my match."

"Mine too!" Sakura chimed in.

He leaned on the balcony wall. "You're like kids." He look to his other male team member. "And you're in even worse condition than I am."

"Please, I can keep going even if my guts were out."

Sakura grimaced. "We know. It's like you have a death wish."

Naruto patted her on the head. "There are fates worse than death, right? Like getting captured by your enemy or stuck in a place where you're going to die without any food or water." He gave an honest smile. "I'd rather die than fail myself again."

"That's awfully selfish of you, when it comes down to it," Kakashi said. He pointed at the screen. "They're announcing the next match."

It displayed 'Zaku Abumi VS Shino Aburame.'

"Have you guys ever actually seen Shino fight?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow at the conspicuous ninja boy making his way to the arena.

"Well...no, actually." Sakura hummed. "I remember being freaked out by him one time in the academy, but I can't really remember why."

"He's from an obscure clan," Sasuke elaborated.

Kakashi nodded. "The Aburame are a reclusive and stoic group. They stick out, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one that's the talkative sort. Great to work with though. Even their children are professional."

"So he has a kekkai genkai, right? Don't most clans?" Naruto asked again.

"...You'll see it soon enough."

Sakura shot their sensei a questioning look. "Why did you pause for a second there?"

"You'll understand when you see it."

And they did.

Zaku had seemingly blasted Shino directly in the face with his arm air-blasters. He wasn't unharmed, but he wasn't fatally wounded either. Bugs were emerging from the tears in his skin.

"I remember now!" Sakura shook. "I thought I saw a bug crawl into him!"

"It likely did after he had it scout around," Kakashi said.

Naruto laughed at his fellow Leaf ninja's disgusted enemy. "What even are kekkai genkai? The Uchiha have swirly eyes, the Hyuga have veiny eyes, the Nara play with shadows, and the Aburame have freaking bugs living in them."

"No one really knows. Some people are born with special abilities and can pass them on. Not even people from the same clan inherit them sometimes. The Wood Style of the First Hokage is an example of one that never got passed on, and one that emerged in a clan with no kekkai genkai to speak of."

"That guy in the cat mask used it in the forest though."

Kakashi grimaced underneath his mask. "He's a special case."

"...Wait, you know him?" He narrowed his eyes. "Did you know he was following me?" Silence was his answer, so he socked him in the stomach.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried, getting between them. She parted her lips but stopped at the hurt she saw in his eyes.

Sasuke rose and put a hand on his shoulder. "The Hokage likely forbade him from speaking about it." He turned to his shocked sensei. "Right?"

"It wasn't my call," Kakashi answered. "Sorry, Naruto."

"Oh just stop with the sorry, concerned dad bullshit; you're no different than the old man." He focused back on the fight below, ignoring the distracted eyes focusing on their own personal drama.

Orochimaru resisted the urge to lick his lips at the fiasco. It reminded him of his problems with Sarutobi. While not quite to the extent the schism between them was, it was something he could work with. His eyes drifted to his former student, who was making a concerned face at Team 7. There was a chance everything would fall into place without his interference.

Shino's bugs surrounded the Sound ninja after he took the blow. Seeing two enemies flanking him, Zaku held out his arms to blast them away. It shocked almost everyone when his arms exploded off him, the bugs crawling out of his detached palms. Shino sauntered over and just pushed him down before walking away.

Hayate raised an arm in the air while the medic ninja showed up. "Winner! Shino Aburame!"

"Holy shit!" Naruto jumped on to the railing and held his body over the edge. "That was fucking hardcore, man! What have you been hiding this for!?"

The young man adjusted his shades, still walking back to his team. "For the right moment."

"Congratulations, Shino," Hinata said. "Even Naruto acknowledged you."

"Great job, man." Kiba moved to pat his teammate on the shoulder and stopped when he remembered he was a literal bug person.

Shino murmured. "I expect the same from you both."

"Acknowledgment from Naruto?"

"A skilled, brutal, and stylish performance, but I suppose that is synonymous with Naruto's acknowledgment."

Kurenai's unusual, naturally red eyes were fixed on the bandaged boy. She saw the drama play out during the fight. Kakashi told the rest of them and even bragged about how well he was doing. No doubt, his team's skills were excellent, but their relationship seemed strained in that moment.

"On to the next match," Hayate said.

The screen displayed 'Misumi Tsurugi VS Kankuro.'

Misumi, the last of Kabuto's team, made his way down. "I'll show you how different I am than the other two!"

"You've gotta be kidding me." Kankuro scoffed as he did the same. "If your teammates are a bunch of weaklings, it's obvious you are too!"

"Hooded weirdos, you're both fucking pathetic! Finish this so we can get to my match!" Naruto yelled.

"Asshole, you groped my sister!"

Nearly all eyes turned to the usual troublemaker.

"I regret nothing!" He grinned at Temari's reddening face. "That bitch needed a spanking!"

Hinata, also red-faced, twitched and activated her Byakugan. "N-Naruto…"

Kurenai put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, honey. Some men just aren't good for women and don't know how to be." She raised a worried eyebrow at her increased agitation. "Uh?"

"Just fight already, you idiots!" Hinata yelled, to everyone's surprise.

Naruto nearly jumped into the arena. "Fuck yeah!"

Kurenai shook her head as her female student froze in awe at his acknowledgment, forgetting his transgressions. She had a feeling it would turn out to be that kind of relationship. Unrequited and unaware love was a troublesome thing.

"So," Sakura whispered, kneeling and tilting her red face over Sasuke's shoulder, "Hinata might have a thing for Naruto."

He blinked. "...I don't understand."

"Me either."

The boy in orange turned. "What are you guys whispering about?" He made a smug face. "I know it's about me. Who else could it be?"

"Attention whore," Sakura rightfully accused.

"I can't help being awesome!"

Kakashi shook his head as the match began below.

There were still eight more to go.

AN: Lot of things going on. Shipping-wise, I'm likely just as lost as you are right now. Didn't start this with anything specific in mind, which is why I didn't have pairing tags. Lot of people rib on no one taking the place of Naruto's father in canon, but that's outright an impossibility due to the conflict of interest I'm trying to highlight. A lot of Naruto's relationship issues I based on the Dark Naruto appearance, which was one of the best character moments I have ever seen in fiction.

I hope you enjoyed the Sasuke fight. Haven't gotten to write out a full, original beatdown when I really think about it. Not an even fight, but Sasuke, in canon, was arguably in an even worse state yet bodied the hell out of Yoroi.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM.