"..." Normal chat.

ABC. Thought.

Chapter 15

Sitting beside Sakura, Naruto's also perked up when hearing the good news. As he must have figured those daggers hold a special place in Nina's heart. Though seconds later, his expression turns sour and he shifts his head away.

What's with him?

Sakura watches Naruto switching his attitudes in confusion. And she notices that he's picked the furthest seat to sit, which is at the end of the bed, for some strange reasons.

Did something happen to them?

Nina's acting somewhat awkward as well, especially toward him. Whenever she speaks up, Naruto will stops talking and vice versa. Whether their eyes meet, they turn away instantly.

"..."

Sasuke, who is standing against the wall next to Nina, also notices something abnormal between them but decides not to bother. Unless it's going to affect him in some way.

Hmm?

Then Sakura notices that he's looking at her. His eyes movements seems to be saying to let those two sort things out by themselves. Since having her jumping in will only mess things up more than it already is.

"See you later. Nina-chan. Rest up well."

After an hour or so, everyone decides to leave.

While on their way home together, Naruto mentions having a business to attend and parts way with them. Soon, Sasuke disappears out of sight. Leaving Sakura behind to walk home by herself.

There must be something more about yesterday's incident that she hasn't told us.

Carrying a few questions in his mind, Sasuke makes his way back to Nina's house in hope to gain more info about them.

What the- Naruto?

However his friend has already gotten there first, so Sasuke decides to hide behind the wall and eavesdrops on their conversation.

"Yesterday... I shouldn't have said those things to you. I'm sorry."

The first thing Sasuke hears is Nina apologizing to Naruto about something, which he has yet to know. Hopefully Naruto will be the one to reveal what it is.

"Despite knowing how dangerous it is, are you going to keep using it?"

Instead, Naruto mentions her power, which is also fine as well since that's the main reason he's here.

"Yes. And I won't stop until knowing what that source of power truly is."

And Nina states that whenever anyone of the team 7 is in danger because of her, she will also not hesitate to use it to save them.

"Even if it cost you your own life?!"

Much to their surprises, Nina nods in response.

"But why?!"

"Because this is my problem and it's my responsibility to deal with them. Okay?"

Therefore she cannot let her teammates get themselves involved deeper into her personal affair, which is shown to be difficult and even life-threatening. At first they're robots, but who knows what else the enemies are going to bring up later on.

"...And it's also because you will be the one who lead us to the future, Naruto. That's why I cannot let you sacrifice yourself for my sake, under any circumstances."

Nina claims that his existence is important and will affect many lives, much to Naruto's shock.

"Are you serious?!"

Usually, Naruto will argue loudly that this is not the time to be joking. And yet when looking into those determined topaz eyes, he can tell that she's speaking through her heart.

Is it because that Nina's taken his words to heart about him always wanting to become the Hokage? Is she believing in him that much?

Leading us to the future?! That Naruto?!

For a moment Sasuke's thought that Nina has gone crazy. To say that their idiotic of a teammate will one day become everyone's savior. What make her so confident that it's going to happen?

"Naruto, I don't intend to die when there's so much things left to be done. I'll be careful, okay?"

After a long moment of silent, Nina speaks up again.

"You promise?"

Therefore Naruto asks her to stay true to her words and Nina offers him a pinky swear, which kids usually do to each other. Only then he relaxes and returns to his old self.

As childish as ever.

Sensing the air between them has changed into much positive vibe, Sasuke figures that the two have made up.

A few minutes later, Naruto leaves. This should be the perfect chance for him to step in and yet, Sasuke's no longer feels the need to do so.

What's wrong with me?

There's been something stirring up inside him for a while now. But Sasuke doesn't know the reason behind it. And what he wants to do right now is to get away from this place. As far as possible.

In the afternoon after his usual training, Sasuke walks home alone and passes by Naruto, who is carrying a take away bowl of Ichiraku ramen and grinning to himself like an idiot.

This is a normal sight of Naruto. Still, it irritates him a lot for some reasons.

"Huh? What do you want?"

All of a sudden Sasuke appears standing in his way. And the next thing he knows, they are already at the third training ground to face against each other.

"Bastard! Why the heck do you want to spar at this hour?"

Annoyed, Naruto yells. Since the bowl of ramen he has bought for Nina is about to get cold.

"What's wrong with fighting at this hour? Busy going somewhere?"

"Duh?! Can't you see?!"

Therefore Naruto shows the takeaway food in his hand to him. He has no idea why Sasuke's so determined to settle a match with him today. Even to the point of dragging him here.

"Stop asking question and fight."

Ignoring his excuse, Sasuke charges forward with multiples of Shuriken in hands. And Naruto has to return his favor.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

The match gets serious within seconds. At first Naruto finds it's somewhat similar to their match yesterday, when they had to fight for their prides. Except this time Sasuke doesn't hold back.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Several screams and shouts later, Naruto ends up to be the one lying on the floor. While Sasuke remains standing with hands inside his pockets. Their clothes are messy, faces full of dirt and injuries.

"I win."

Therefore Sasuke declares his victory. Completely ignores Naruto cursing at him from below.

Just what exactly... Did she see in that idiot?

It feels as if the more he gets to know about Nina, the more he doesn't understand her. Including the fact that she's paying too much unnecessary attention to Naruto.

"You will be the one who lead us to the future, Naruto."

Sasuke frowned when recalling to their previous conversation. It doesn't make sense to him, at all.

And why did he have to take her words so seriously? For what reason did he get so work up for? Since when did he care so much about what other people think?

"What are you looking at?"

Annoyed when being constantly glared at, Naruto's ready to demand for a rematch.

"Nothing much. Ultimate loser."

However Sasuke turned around and walked off.

Ultimate loser? Naruto's dumbfounded for a moment before finally remembers about the bet they've made.

"Hey, bastard! That's not fair! You didn't mention anything about that when calling me out here!"

A few days later.

In the morning.

Since there's still no response from Kakashi about my withdrawal request, I have to continue playing my role as a member of team 7 and attending missions with them.

Once done preparing, I make my way to our usual meeting spot. Both Sasuke and Sakura have been there since early, while Naruto is yet to be seen.

"Ah, Nina-chan."

"Hello, Sakura. You guys sure are punctual."

The moment we meet, Sakura greets me with a smile. And Sasuke is as quiet as ever. Though I notice that he's acting a little off, being much more grumpy than usual.

"Hi, Sasuke."

"..."

"Uh... Are you okay?"

"..."

For some reasons Sasuke keeps staring at the floor. It almost as if he's ignoring my existence.

What's with him? Did he eat rotten tomatoes before coming here or something?

It seems that Sakura's also suffering from the same treatment, though not as severe since he replies to her from time to time. In any kind of topic, whether interesting or not.

"Hey, guys!"

Then, Naruto arrives to the spot. Upon seeing Sasuke, they exchange glares to each other and the air between us grows even more intense. So much that Sakura's probably screaming inside her head right now.

"Hey, Naruto. About the ramen you brought me yesterday..."

To be safe, I decide to stick with Naruto for the time being. And our casual conversation soon turns into him bragging to become the strongest shinobi or the best Hokage no one has ever been.

Is it me or Naruto's become more arrogant than usual?

It's probably because of our conversation from yesterday. Though I have no regret telling Naruto a little about his fate. As long as he understands that his life is important, for himself and for the sake of this world.

Hmm...?

Suddenly feeling chills running down from the back of my neck, I turn around and see that Sasuke's glaring daggers at us. Dude. If you want to say something then just say it.

"Wassup, my lovely students."

Ages later and our mentor finally appears, much to our annoyance. Then the following scenes play out exactly the same to the story. Except for one thing.

"I'm not going to lose to you!"

For some reasons, both Naruto and Sasuke are burning strong in fire of passion.

Strange, Zabuza's incident happened like ages ago. What are they still competing for?

First mission: Weeding.

"Hey, Naruto? You may want to be careful with that."

Not wanting Naruto to get into trouble like he would in the story, I warn him beforehand but he's too focus on winning against Sasuke to listen.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you two?"

When I approach to check, Naruto has already plugged out more than half of the area that he's in charge with.

Oh boy, this is definitely not going to end well...

Therefore I decide to help by telling him how to distinguish between weeds and herbs. Also carefully showing him which one should be plugged and which not.

"So... Who is the one that need help all the time again?"

Suddenly Sasuke appears right behind us and mocks Naruto for his poor performance. Because why the hell not.

"I-It's okay, Nina-chan! I can do it myself!"

Thanks to Sasuke's *encouraging words*, Naruto refuses my help and returns to his weeding business.

"But...!"

Standing beside Naruto, I can see that he's still mindlessly removing everything on the ground and throws them into a huge pile next to him. Despite having been told how to his job properly just seconds ago.

"Sigh, Fine. Just... Be mindful about the herbs, okay?"

Hearing so, Naruto gives me a confident thumb up while I'm holding myself back from cursing at Sasuke, who is enjoying his easy victory with the usual smug face.

In the end, the result's almost the same to the original and Naruto gets scolded by the owner. At least he doesn't earn any hit to the face, so I guess it's something...

Second mission: Collecting trash in the river.

"Watch your step, okay?"

The moment I finish talking, Naruto trips over a rock and fall into the river. Hopelessly crying for help while being carried away by the strong current.

"Naruto!"

I try to catch him but he's moving too fast. Then I remember at this point of the mission, it's Sasuke who should be jumping out of water to catch Naruto with his Shinobi tools. Yet he's nowhere to be seen.

Sasuke? Where is he?

When I turn around to find him, however, Sasuke remains still at his spot with a basket on his back and a trash tong in his hand. Casually watching his friend getting carried to the waterfall up ahead of us.

"What are you standing there for?! Help him already!"

And it's not until Naruto's about reach to the water below that Sasuke's muscles decides to move. Talk about close call...

Third mission: Dog walking.

Naruto grins widely when seeing me picking a dog at the same size as his. In response to the confused look on both Sakura's and Sasuke's faces, I shrug and pat Naruto by the shoulder.

"If you're going to be stupid, why not just be stupid together."

Beside, playing it safe too much can be quite boring.

"Yeah!"

Not only that Naruto isn't feeling offended, but he's happy to have someone stay in the same boat as him.

"I'm taking this one."

All of a sudden, Sasuke decides to swap his Chihuahua to something 3x bigger. Shocking us all with his bold move, especially Sakura. While saying to us that he wants to try something much more challenging.

"A-Alright, let's us go."

Soon, Sasuke's dog and mine follow Naruto's dog footsteps by leading us straight into the Trap field. Different from the original that Naruto is the only one to suffer, this time there will be three of us.

Eventually it turns out to be another competition between Sasuke and Naruto. As whoever triggers the landmine more than the other will be the loser. And sadly, it's Naruto who gets hit the most and become the loser of this round.

After all the ruckus between Naruto and Sasuke about their unsuccessful teamworks, Kakashi's departure for the meeting with the Third, Sakura's threatening to end Naruto's life for being too annoying. They decide to parts ways to do their own things.

"Come with me."

As Nina's about to go home, Sasuke stops her.

"Huh, me? To where?"

Confused his sudden request, she asks him again.

"Yes, you. Off to the training ground."

While Sasuke frowns at her. Thinking that she's acting stupid on purpose.

Eh? Sasuke-kun?!

Sakura's shocked for the first time seeing Sasuke officially asking a girl to train alone with him. Still, she knows the exact reason behind his doing. And that Nina's stronger and a better fighter than her.

What's wrong with this Uchiha? First he's treating me like air and now he's asking me to come training with him.

Meanwhile Nina's dumbfounded by Sasuke's ridiculous mood swings.

"Why me? There's Sakura, you know?"

Then she tries to push the *heavy responsibility* to Sakura's hands. By reminding him that she will not use her special power in friendly matches.

"Because her abilities are even lower than Naruto."

After looking at Sakura, he says. And his piercing words hurts her greatly.

"Jeeze, Sasuke. How much more of a jerk can you be?"

Watching a disheartened Sakura walking home alone, Nina let out a sigh.

Not that I mind about the whole training things but... If we use a whole day to train together, then Sasuke will miss his chance of meeting Gaara and end up messing the whole plot.

After spending a few minutes thinking over, Nina refuses his invitation.

"Sorry, but I've already promised to treat Naruto ramen today."

Therefore she uses Naruto as an excuse. Much to Sasuke's irritation.

Again with Naruto... Knowing that he cannot change her mind whenever Naruto's involved, Sasuke walks off.

"Fine, whatever."

While on my way back, I come across Sakura, who is chasing after Naruto and Konohamaru for having called her big forehead and lacking of feminine.

"Ouch!"

And what's coming has to come, Konohamaru bumps into Kankuro and falls.

"That hurts, snot face!"

Irritated, Kankuro grabs Konohamaru by his scarf and pulls him up.

"Hey! If you don't let go of him, you're going to get it from me! You idiot!"

His rude speeches and actions angers Naruto immediately.

"I'm sorry... I was fooling around."

Sakura admits her fault and tries to apologizes to him, but is completely ignored.

"We apologized, didn't we? Let the boy go and we will pretend none of this happened."

Therefore I remind the sand shinobi that they gain nothing from picking a fight with the leaf shinobi within their base.

"Heh! You're disrespecting your elders. You make me want to kill him."

However Kankuro's too stubborn to listen. As he's taking joy in his the bully acts.

Ugh! This son of a-.

As much as wanting to hit him in the face for acting like an ass, Gaara is lurking extremely nearby watching us and I have no desire to piss that guy off as well.

"How about I take his place? You can hit me instead of him."

So I decide to play their game, much to everyone's shock. Except for Kankuro, who seems to have taken interested in my lame heroic act.

"Are you serious? If you dodge it, I will double the amount. For you and the boy."

Therefore Kakuro says that he's not going easy on me just because I'm a girl.

"Fine. And you have to let Konohamaru go after this."

"It's a deal."

Once done cracking his fingers, Kankuro's hand clenches into fist and aims for my noses.

After waiting for his fist to get close, I block him with my hand. Causing Kankuro's smug expression to change into different kind of shades before stopping at the furious one. Struggling to set his hand free from my grip.

"Grrr! Why you!"

Just my luck that Kankuro happens to be weak against close-range combat, which I'm certainly not. And that means in this battle, I have the advantage.

"Don't get so angry. From the start you've never stated that I'm not allowed to defend myself."

It's not my fault that he overlooked that aspect in our agreements.

"Yeah! She's right, you know!"

Naruto and the others cheer for my victory from behind.

"You lost, Kankuro. Hurry up and be done with it. You're wasting our time."

While Temari urges her brother to finish his silly game before Gaara gets angry.

"There, have your damned brat back!"

Irritated after losing to a bunch of kids, Kankuro takes his sweet little revenge by throwing Konohamaru at us. And Naruto rushes forward to catch him before he lands with his head.

"Damn you...!"

Not going to let him off that easily, Naruto attempts to lunge at Kankuro.

"Quit it, Naruto. We've had enough."

Can't let us engage in any more trouble, however, I stop Naruto and drag him back to our side.

"Hey, Kankuro."

From behind, we hear the sand siblings saying something to each other and turn around. Seeing that Kankuro is launching an attack at me.

"I never state that it has to be one hit."

When his fist is about to reach to my face, a small piece of rock appears flying at his hand. Hurting him in impact.

"What do you think you are doing in another's village? Get lost."

Then we hear Sasuke's voice echoing from above. He's sitting on a tree's branch with another rock in hand.

"Come down, little squirrel. Think you're pretty smart, huh?"

As these two are about to settle down their misunderstandings with a friendly match. Gaara appears to stop him.

"Kankuro. You're a disgrace to our entire village."

Skipping through the reasoning and threatening between the brothers, Gaara and Sasuke staring into each other's soul. We then have the sand siblings explain to us about their reason for coming to Konoha, the Chunin exam, which we've totally forgotten about thanks to all the chaos from days ago.

After exchanging their names, Gaara leads his team away. While the sound shinobi, team Dosu, is watching us from above.

That means there's only a few days left until Sasuke receives his cursed seal and Konoha's invasion. I should be ready.

"Is there something on my neck?"

It's not until Sasuke asks me that I realize my eyes have been staring at a specific spot on his neck.

"No-Nothing! I'm going home then. See you guys later!"

Embarrassed, I turn around and walk straight home. Almost forgetting about my promise to treat Naruto ramen today...

Next morning

"Hold on, why are there only three applications? Who isn't coming?"

Naruto's confused when seeing three papers in Kakashi's hand. As the team 7 contains four members total.

"It's me. I won't be joining this year Chunin exam."

And Nina's the one to respond to his question.