I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, I'm just a fan I enjoyed the anime but I love the fanfics even more, they made me fall for the whole franchise.
Chapter 48
Team 8 made their way to the tower in a leisurely if not a little tense atmosphere. Kiba and Akamuru could smell snakes all over their teammate Sakura Haruno, but unlike Shino and himself who had only a little of the scent on their person, Sakura had it all over her body.
Akamaru whimpered unable to stand the smell on his teammate who he always thought smelled nice. Although Sakura still behaved like herself there was one fundamental aspect that still had Kiba feeling Suspicious of something. He remembered waking up in the middle of the night and finding himself in a cave with Sakura and Shino.
Shino regaled to him that he engaged the giant snake that attacked him and did his best to simply stay one step ahead of it while he had his insects slowly eat away at its chakra until it eventually went off in a puff of smoke. Shino had no clue as to what Kiba's situation with Sakura was in dealing with the Kusa genin that attacked their group.
Sakura's story went something like this, when Kiba was knocked unconscious she took her fight with the Kusa genin away from him to keep the Inuzuka safe. The fight had taken them into a collision course with the team from Suna and it had become a three-way battle. Sakura managed to find an opening to escape by using a genjutsu.
'I don't want to say I don't have faith in her abilities but Sakura…….' Kiba looked at his pink-haired teammate's form from behind, she had confidence in herself now as she held the earth scroll she stole from the Kusa nin in the distraction of her escape.
"You should put that scroll away before some team comes and swipes it from your hand," Kiba told the Haruno girl who held the earth scroll in her right hand in broad daylight like a call for a challenge.
"Don't be such a worrywart Kiba, if anybody tries something we can just take their scroll instead." Sakura said offhandedly. Shino was surprised by the words to come out of the civilian-born genin's mouth, it was reckless which made it so unlike Sakura who was always attentive and tried to always do things the safest way.
"Just put the damn scroll away." Kiba growled out not liking Sakura's words, these were the Chunin exams he had incentives to pass this round he didn't want to take stupid chances and tango with karma with fate playing the music.
"What is your problem Kiba? If you want the scroll so bad take it." Sakura came around and shoved the scroll into the Inuzuka's hands making him wrinkle his nose at the stench it carried. Sakura turned around and walked away there was no denying it Sakura Haruno was very eager about something.
"It's only the second day, maybe we arrived before team 7." Sakura said excitedly thinking about the shock Sasuke might get at finding out she made it before him. Sakura seemed to not notice she had teammates called Kiba and Shino but although they were the ones physically with her she was mentally not with them.
'Sasuke is gonna be so surprised when I show him what I can do.' The pink-haired girl's infatuation with the Uchiha seems to always leave her mentally incapable of making coherent thoughts. Sakura was playing with forces unknown, her idea that she would somehow outsmart Orochimaru of the Sanin and get away with the act was like trying to kill all the cockroaches in the world when one already kept returning like a virus after every kill attempt.
"Sakura-San can I have a moment to regale my thoughts to you?" Sakura blinked looking to her side jumping in shock at seeing Shino there next to her. After months with the Aburama heir training, going on missions, and relying on each other as teammates. Sakura still seemed unable to consider how her ability to forget his existence could be hurting the Aburama who didn't show any outward emotions.
"Uhm okay, yes sure." Sakura said after a moment, with Shino nodding and looking at Kiba. The Inuzuka rolled his eyes but took some earplugs from his jacket pocket and placed them in his ears. Shino continued looking at the Inuzuka making him growl in irritation before taking another pair of earplugs and placing them in Akamaru's ears. Shino turned to Sakura and began.
"Sakura-San, I understand we are all in these exams with our own motivations and mentalities. I wish to make my clan and family proud. We recently found out why Kiba wants to get far in these exams but before that, he already had goals set out to win the whole thing and make a name for himself. Although your motivations are obvious I would like to hear them from you if you do not mind regaling that information to me, I promise it won't ever be shared from my mouth." Shino's long-winded heart-to-heart was something Sakura didn't expect when she agreed to talk she thought he would question her story.
Sakura and Orochimaru had come to a deal after he rescued her from Gara's sand faster than she could follow, by the time she had opened her eyes she was already miles away from the sand siblings with Orochimaru standing there in front of her with his hands behind his back and a very wide smile plastered on his pale face.
They came to a deal in which Orochimaru would take Sakura's blood for study purposes which he already acquired without her knowledge. In exchange, he gave her the earth scroll he had and laughed away her question about the whereabouts of his teammates. Orochimaru of course left promising to find her and have a proper chat.
"I'm here to….." Sakura blushed about to tell Shino why she was there and her words got caught in her tongue unable to come out. Sakura just realized her mentality in the exams was very similar to her teammate Kiba, it was a hollow reason she realized, could she tell Shino her whole ninja career revolved around winning Sasuke's affection?
Shino didn't say a word letting Sakura think, the Aburama heir already knew why Sakura fought but that mentality was something he wanted to help who he considered a friend realize wasn't the kind of mentality to go with when a ninja's life could be cut short in a matter of seconds.
"I know you love Sasuke-San." Shino revealed and raised a brow behind his shades when he saw Sakura's eyes widen in shock. "You do not do a good job of hiding it." He said killing Sakura's shock and the Haruno with perfect chakra control pouted.
"What do you want to get at?" Sakura asked letting her anger rise a little because she felt like she was being judged by the bug user.
"I have an adopted older brother, we were very close but one day a very bad man came over to recruit me for his organization, promising me training and power. My brother did not like that he thought I deserved to live my childhood and make friends not worry about things that did not concern me like the ambitions of an old man. He ended up going instead and since then I haven't seen him." Shino regaled his story to Sakura trying to explain to her something in his tale.
"My brother loved me like I was his blood relative and took my place so I could go to the academy, make friends, become a genin, get teammates, and enjoy being unruled by others. I learned a lesson that day on what love is." Shino paused and Sakura kept quiet captivated by the Aburama's tale. "Love is self-sacrificial and unwavering, able to get you through tough times if you know you are doing it for the ones you hold affection to, following your heart is one of the greatest things we can do." Sakura nodded agreeing with Shino thinking that was the end of that topic, and that he was supporting her goal.
"But the heart can be deceitful Sakura-San, it can be manipulated or manipulative. It makes decisions with no logical background and can hurt others in the process or oneself." This was Shino Aburama's logical mindset at play, if Shikamaru Nara was a genius strategist then Shino was a genius of logic.
"Don't let your heart rule your decisions Sakura-San, if Sasuke-San ever falls in love with you make sure it is with the real you and not a perfectly woven illusion that will have you losing your best qualities. You are smart, beautiful, courageous, and bright any man would be happy to have you as a lifelong partner don't let what one person doesn't see define how you see yourself." Shino placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder and squeezed it while she looked at him dumbfounded.
"Thank you for giving me an ear, I hope I wasn't overstepping any boundaries." Shino said before he turned to Kiba and nodded to the dog boy who didn't waste a second to remove the earplugs from his ears and Akamaru's ears.
"You done?." Kiba asked irritated and Shino nodded before taking the lead. Kiba placed Akamaru down who quickly ran over to Shino giving Sakura a wide breadth due to the stench on her person. A nice shower would have her smelling better but until then Akamaru wasn't having any of that.
Kiba followed Shino jogging over to reach him with Sakura stuck in one place lost in thought with Shino's words returning to her. He said she was beautiful, smart, courageous, and bright with a straight face but Sakura at least knew the Aburama was a very straightforward guy, so he meant what he said.
'When was the last time I thought of myself as beautiful enough to win someone's attention? The last time I thought of myself as courageous or even smart.' Sakura wondered walking behind her teammates who conversed with each other. Trailing back into memory lane Sakura began to recount her time at the academy.
It all started so perfectly, she made friends before she even reached the gates of the school. She was so happy, then she saw Sasuke Uchiha and life seemed to turn on its heels Sakura fell in love at first sight. She even thought she would have to break her friendship with Ino when she saw her best friend show interest in the Uchiha, luckily it never came to that.
Sakura was so worried about all the other Sasuke fan girls in class stealing him, she did her best to always be the loudest in the room so her voice wasn't drowned out by the rest of her rivals. Sakura took great care of herself and hated getting dirty while also being fierce when denying boys the time to try and hit on her especially when the Uchiha was in the vicinity.
Yet Sasuke fell for the Hyūga heiress. Hinata Hyūga was the opposite of all that Sakura was in the academy, the girl was quiet, she never looked in Sasuke's direction unless he was right in front of her and she was always happy to be with her best friend.
'I have a best friend too.' Sakura thought thinking of her friend Ino who was always supportive of her and sheltered her so much like Naruto did Hinata. Sakura even in her best friend's company only thought of Sasuke. She could see a simple Uchiha clan symbol and her heart rate would increase thinking it is the boy that captivated her.
Sakura sighed and looked up at the afternoon sun glaring at her from above the tall trees that surrounded the forest of death and she balled her fists.
"I know what I'm doing." Sakura mumbled to herself jogging to catch up with her teammates.
«««««"»»»»»
Ino walked down the hallways of the tower lost in thought, she was a bit angry at the adults who interrogated her like a common spy. Naruto this, Naruto that, she had her own troubles to sort out with the blonde, and having people throw their own at her made Ino feel like a tool.
The Suna team arrived after them, they didn't know each other so nobody started a conversation and they gave each other their space.
'What is going on with us Naruto-Kun?' Ino thought with a sad frown on her face, she was angry at him but she didn't even know why. Yes, Naruto and Hinata were close they have been like that since the beginning of the academy. At first, Hinata was so timid and reclusive but Naruto was always there to hold her hand and walk her through things.
As time went by Hinata began coming out of her shell and able to talk with minimum stuttering, and her shoulders every day became more and more relaxed. Ino was there throughout the shy girl's transition into the class's best student and she had thought that the Hyūga and Uzumaki were good for each other but that was in a none romantic sense.
"What happened in Wave country?" Ino wondered out loud hands going to her ponytail rubbing the soft hair with both hands. Ino loved the blonde she loved his happiness it made her happy, his silly jokes and his compliments always made her heart flutter but when she thought back to Hinata and all her interactions with her Golden boy she felt like they were the more intimate duo.
'They have sleepovers at his apartment, she wears his clothes and bathed in his apartment.' Ino felt her heart squeeze in her chest. What if Naruto and Hinata slept on the same bed? Ino has never seen inside the Golden blonde Jinchuriki's bedroom but Hinata sleeps on his bed, she has never seen his bathroom yet Hinata baths inside. She's never seen him topless before yet Hinata wore his clothing.
"Why do I feel like I'm not the girlfriend in this situation." Ino mumbled in sadness finally reaching the cafeteria and spotting her team conversing with team 8. Ino though sad brightened up at seeing her pink-haired best friend okay. Her team was lucky to pick up that scroll.
Ino's eyes widened stopping in her tracks before backpedaling back into the hallway. Realization dawned on the young Yamanaka. Kakashi Hatake was waiting for team 8, not all of them, he was waiting for her. It couldn't have been a coincidence that they found a scroll lying around just when the third wanted to speak to her.
'What are they hiding?' Ino's curious nature was making her catalog the information she has gained so far. She remembered that Naruto was an orphan, that he stayed on his own since he turned 4. What could have happened for him to leave the orphanage and decide that living alone was better. He also had a reputation with the older generation that gave him a wide breadth or openly showed their disdain for him which he ignored like it wasn't even there.
Ino remembered how the clerk at the jewelry store openly feared Naruto, the woman shivered, stuttered, and always had her eyes on the back exit but when they walked out of that jewelry store the woman was more relaxed around the blonde. She realized her fears were unwarranted after meeting him for the first time.
"That would mean it's a reputation and not personal experience that produced her fears." Ino looked around the corner seeing that her teammates were still conversing with team 8. Ino rubbed her chin in thought, the Hokage said he was worried for Naruto, that he felt the boy did not trust anyone and was behaving like the world was against him when all the aged Hokage wanted to do was help him realize his potential but Ino also remembered the guilt the old man showed when Naruto mentioned not having anyone.
Ino found it counterproductive though, why would you trust people that would openly hate or fear you, and yet you have never interacted with those people before in your life? In Naruto's eyes, they were strangers who meant him harm. The Hokage should be trying to show the people of the leaf that Naruto wasn't to be feared or hated but instead understood by spending time with him and interacting.
'Instead, he seems almost fearful of Naruto himself, like one wrong word and he could explode with the damage being catastrophic.' Ino sighed walked out of the hallways once more and went over to her teammates who were seated around a rather large table with Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Sakura.
"Hey, Ino! I can't believe your team was the first to arrive and on the first day." Sakura was the one to spot her and speak out looking happy and a bundle of joy. Even with the faux glare of anger aimed at Ino's smiling face.
"What did you expect, I'm leading these lazy bums no team can outdo my leadership." Ino gloated sitting down between Shikamaru and Choji who had his food going from his side of the table to in front of the seat Ino took. The Yamanaka heiress pushed the plates away from her and towards choji who screamed in terror when they almost spilled off the edge of the table.
"Watch it!" Choji exclaimed, the soft-spoken and quite timid boy only got angry if his food, or food, in general, were in danger of spilling. It was their clan quirk like the Nara being lazy, the Inuzuka smelling like dogs, the Yamanaka being curious, the Uchiha and the stick up their ass, and so on.
"Troublesome blonde, your barely here four seconds and your already bringing unnecessary noise." Shikamaru complained head resting on the flat of the table and looking to the left up at Ino's seated form.
"Whatever shouldn't you be watching clouds or something." Ino dismissed the boy's words with a wave of her hands before looking back to Sakura who had a little eagerness in her that seemed to show its face by how she always looked around the room.
"What are you looking for Forehead?" Ino asked teasing with a smirk on her face, said forehead got a tick mark on its surface with its owner glaring at Ino.
"I'm looking for nothing Ino-pig how did you even get here before us?" Sakura questioned the Yamanaka who smirked at her best friend ready to tell her exactly what happened.
"We went up against a very strong team, it was an epic battle but thanks to my leadership they felt they would not survive so they ran away leaving their scroll behind so we wouldn't chase them." Shikamaru turned his head around and looked up at Ino with his signature boredom. Choji's mouth opened wide and gawked at his female teammate who had an air around her that asked them to contradict her words they wouldn't like the end game.
Choji simply used the opportunity of his mouth being open to deposit a sandwich in there and chew. Shikamaru simply turned his head back to the table and ignored the conversation between the two very troublesome girls.
"I don't believe it, she's lying, right? Right?!" Sakura asked, first looking at Shikamaru who didn't budge from his position, and then at Choji who made like the food was so delicious he couldn't hear anything as well as see, seeing as his eyes were closed as he munched. Ino simply smirked in triumph.
««««"»»»»
"There are three teams now in the tower. Team 8, 10, and the Suna team. Team 9 is inbound, I saw Kabuto-San for a bit but he is now out of my range he may be meeting Orochimaru again." Hinata relayed her findings before deactivating her eyes and looking at Sasuke who had come up to ask her the question.
"Okay, thanks." Sasuke's response was short and curt he looked like he wanted to say something but didn't have the heart to say it. Hinata sighed she was back in the darkness of her blindness but she could feel how Sasuke's emotions were in turmoil since she returned from her scouting mission to cover more ground with her Byakugan she could feel the tension in the air.
"Sasuke-Kun, can we talk?" Hinata softly asked and she felt Sasuke's emotions register confusion at her words, she couldn't blame him it was a first, and if not then it was a rare thing for her to start their conversations.
"Sure Hinata, what do you want to talk about?" Sasuke agreed his voice seeming cold yet she could feel his emotions that somehow resembled Naruto's when dealing with her but now she felt anger mixed within, he was frustrated and that emotion was pointed at her.
"First I want to say, I am glad we are teammates." Hinata bowed at the Uchiha her face a blank slate like many other Hyūga members, she hoped she could keep it that way throughout the conversation. "We work well together, you always have my back and are very sweet, to me thank you for that." Hinata said after she straightened from her bow giving Sasuke a soft smile that he didn't acknowledge outwardly but his emotions only grew more frustrated at her.
"You have always been so supportive of me and during our time in wave I saw a side of you, I don't see often." Hinata looked up at the evening sky and took a deep breath feeling like such a villain for what she was about to do.
"If you want to tell me, you love Naruto I already know." The Uchiha heir interrupted the Hyuga heiress making her eyes widen at the revelation. She was quick to feel bad because expecting Sasuke who spent the most time with her and Naruto in training, Missions or one of Uchiha sensei's talks would be At a loss concerning her feelings for the blond was degrading to his intelligence.
"My apologies." Hinata said apologetically when Sasuke's eyebrows were going down into a glare. The Uchiha stopped blinking at Hinata wondering why she apologized. "I didn't mean to react that way, it's insincere. Of course, you would notice." Sasuke grew even more frustrated, he didn't understand the Hyūga girl. She understood him so well because honestly he felt insulted by her reaction to the news, that he knew about her feelings for the blonde but she noticed it and instead of acting to let it pass she apologized.
"Do you see what you do?" Sasuke asked shaking his head with a frown on his face. Hinata looked in the direction of his signature in confusion at his words with Sasuke taking a step forward. "Do You see what you do to me Hinata? You are not like those other girls." He took another step. "You put other people's emotions in front of yours, as well as understand them." He took another step. "The first quality of a listener is the fact they don't talk much, because of that I feel I can trust you with my thoughts." He continued walking and Hinata let him approach.
"You are considerate enough to admit to your mistakes before you are called out on them." Sasuke pulled a smirk while standing in front of Hinata. "Do you want me to forget about you Hinata? To forget why I have grown fond of you, to let you be taken away without a fight?" Sasuke's smirk turned into a smile that had his conviction in plain sight but Hinata had the unfiltered hate that was coming out of Sasuke slapping her in the face.
"Do you remember our first team meeting on the academy rooftops? You said you disliked people who give up without trying." Sasuke grinned, his hand going to cover his left eye as he laughed a shallow laugh throwing his head back.
"I don't give up either Hinata-Chan and if I meet the dobe In the tournament phase of the exams I will remove him as a challenger for your affections, hopefully permanently." Sasuke turned around and leaped onto a tree branch heading to who knows where leaving Hinata to hyperventilate at what she saw.
There was something foul in Sasuke's soul it ate away at him slowly twisting and manipulating his thoughts. His Soul was dark and edgy it was the complete opposite of Naruto. Hinata balled her fists, Sasuke's words finally registering in her mind.
She wasn't gonna let him hurt her best friend, if it ever came down to it Hinata would defeat Sasuke herself. She understood Sasuke's feelings but he should understand her feelings as well, she was not in love with him. Why was it he never considered anybody else's feelings?
It was always about what Sasuke wanted, Sasuke wanted to be rookie of the year, Sasuke wanted to be the strongest Uchiha, Sasuke wanted to be left alone, Sasuke doesn't want Sakura Haruno, Sasuke wants Hinata Hyūga, Sasuke wants to be ahead of Naruto. It was always about his feelings and other people's feelings could kick a bucket.
Hinata's Byakugan activated in her frustration with the route the conversation took place and she glared in the distance of 60 meters at Sasuke's retreating form. Hinata turned on her heels and headed up to the tent Naruto was inside last she saw him he was busy with a scroll.
Authors Notes.
Sorry Hinata but Sasuke is not the giving up type either his just very cool about it. The Uchiha is on a mission, wether he thinks Hinata is bewitched by The 'dobe' or not really none of our business all we need to know is that he plans on saving her from her 'knight in shining armor.' Sasuke really hated that phrase when he heard it in wave country.
SHINO GAVE SAKURA SOME ADVICE ON LOVE. IT SEEMs THE QUIET ONES ARE ALWAYS THE MOST INSIGHTFUL. INO SMELLS FISH IN THE DEEP and SHE IS GOING SCOBBERDIVING IN THE DEEP TO FIND THE INFORMATION SHE WANTS.
HOW WILL THE YAMANAKA GAIN THIS INFORMATION AND WHAT EXACTLY DID SHE AND THE THIRD DISCUSS? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON A DIFFERENT TELLING NEXT CHAPTER THE PRELIMINARY ROUNDS.
KARIN MAKES AN APPEARANCE
KABUTO RECIEVES HIS ORDERS
INO AND NARUTO 'talk' cough cough
FYI!!!
I have a favorite reader to this story and it's a guest account I don't even mind, "Daisy" thank you for the love of following this story your Reviews always make me smile because you always pick up on the Scenes I try to make the Highlights of a chapter.
Your thoughts are infect being taken into consideration but the two hot headed boys need to meet and spill some unhealthy dose of warm blood to cool off. This has been building up for a while and since I already have a draft of Sasuke's end of part 1 decisions as well as Naruto's it's only safe to say this fight will have to be the most dramatic in the end of part 1 maybe two to three chapters long with many perspectives coming into play to really make y'all the readers wipe sweat from your brows during Close calls ... squeeze your buttocks during intense tests of strength and plague your emotions on many questions that will have you reconsidering the two boys dynamic.
I might just surprise you all with some early revelations...
Every body say yeah !!! For daisy
...
...
..
Very tough crowd indeed( sigh )