I'm at this sorry excuse for a hospital inside the facility.
Sakura is sleeping. More like forced to sleep—sedated with a heavy dose and pumped full of morphine.
I doubt she'd recognize me even if I yelled at her.
I gently pat her head. She mutters something I have no way of understanding. Sleep-talking.
That's fucking cute.
Even the new wound on her stomach somehow seems cute.
She already has scars from the gunshot back in the Wave Country. Every scar she gains only adds to her... cuteness?
Usually, when I see something cute, I get butterflies in my stomach.
But with her... it just makes me angry.
No point doodling on it.
Orochimaru must've wanted something from Sakura.
My first guess? To blackmail me. But that sounds a little narcissistic on my part.
Sakura herself is a shinobi worthy of attention from someone like Orochimaru—on her own merit.
But one thing is certain: people around me are in grave danger.
Hinata, Neji, Sakura, Karin, Naruto…
And... a lot is different.
Maybe the power scaling is different?
Tameri wiped the floor with Tenten-senpai in the OG.
Yeah, I've had interactions with Team Guy—for training, and... business purposes. Tenten-senpai is a trusted customer of my experimental scrolls.
She even volunteered for some field tests. I don't know if it counts as volunteering if she's paying me to test them. Internship?
Is my presence in the world changing things?
But this is different.
I sigh.
Sakura is okay. She's alive. Let's get back to the arena—
Sakura groans in pain.
I turn around to see her wide awake, smiling like a loon.
"Sasuke-kun! You came!" she says with wide eyes.
Though... one of her eyes is half closed. Probably hit her head during the fight.
What the fuck!?
"Sakura, you should be knocked out right now!" I rush to support her before she falls off the bed.
"Tehehe\~!" she sticks out her tongue.
"It did... but... you came to see me. I couldn't just lie down and not— *cough!!*" Sakura breaks into a coughing fit.
So she can wake up from a medically induced coma out of sheer will.
That's fucked up.
And that cough does not sound good.
I run my chakra along her back to clear her airway. Should make it easier to breathe. She'll need her chakra points repaired soon. Let's hope they finish the matches fast. They don't even have life support in here.
Fucking—
Sakura suddenly grabs my hand.
Squeezes it tightly.
I stare at her hand for a solid few seconds.
"What happened?" she asks.
"Nothing," I lie.
She furrows her brows. "Did someone scare you?"
I almost laugh. "Scare me?" I wave it off. "Not a chance."
Still... I run chakra along her hand. Her blood flow's a bit weird. Chakra exhaustion?
Then, suddenly, she grabs my cheek and pulls me to face her.
"Tell me," she urges.
Something rattles inside me.
I felt like a bottle under pressure. One little push, and everything would come spilling out.
But... I can't.
I just can't.
I look into her eyes again. Those green fucking eyes should be *banned.* Banned for being so fucking gorgeous and dreamy.
I look away.
"Bad things are about to happen," I blurt out.
"Really?" she's still smiling.
"Yeah, but nothing the little old me can't handle," I say, giving her a thumbs-up.
She stares at me... with so much love? Pity?
Like she's looking at a puppy squeaking with a chew toy.
How is she so strong, ruthless, and loving at the same time?
I came to check up on her. I guess it turned the other way around.
"Just don't overdo it," she murmurs as she drifts off again.
"Yeah... Mom," I roll my eyes and turn off my Sharingan.
Let's make sure she stays knocked out.
I make my way back to the AC vent I crawled through.
As I'm crawling around the tight space, a black figure suddenly appears in front of me.
"What the—! Where did you come from?" the figure asks. Probably an ANBU on duty.
God, they put personnel in the weirdest places.
"Oh, I was just passing by," I say nonchalantly.
He pulls out a kunai.
"Any contestant abandoning the facility—"
I pull out a crumpled-up 100-ryu bill and hold it in front of him.
He looks at it for a few seconds.
Then he takes it.
"...It's getting chilly in here, isn't it?" the ANBU mutters.
"Yeah... better get out before I catch a cold. Take care though," I nod slightly.
"Yeah... yeah... you do that," he shoos me away.
After crawling a bit more, I end up right above the arena.
I can see everything from here.
Naruto's jumping around Kakashi, ranting about Tenten-senpai. Guy-sensei is swinging his fists in front of Rock-senpai to pump him up. That "youth" speech really works. Best therapy session you could get.
Asuma-sensei lights a smoke—only for it to be smacked away by Kurenai-sensei.
Asuma looks like he wants to argue but just sighs. Then our eyes meet.
Busted.
I smile innocently through the iron grids.
Asuma scoffs but doesn't react. He's probably got enough on his plate.
Mei-sama is trying to flirt with Zabuza.
Oh, did I mention? They switched. It's Zabuza sitting beside Hiruzen.
That water transformation is flawless.
I wonder if the Hokage knows.
Then there's Orochimaru. Sitting right there, wearing the Kazekage's drip.
That transformation jutsu is also flawless.
Jeez. Hokage and the ANBU need to level up their sensor game.
I make my way back to the platform.
"Where have you been?" Kakashi asks.
"I went to see Pink," I admit. No point in lying.
Kakashi sighs.
I didn't get caught... I mean, I *did*, but I handled it.
"Whaaa!? Why didn't you take me?" Naruto bounces up like a kid.
Good point—he's better at sneaking than I am.
"Next time?" I shrug.
"Hey! The bushy brow's up!" Naruto announces.
Here we go...
The moment we've all been waiting for.
Gaara vs. Rock Lee.