Naruto didn't think about stopping Sasuke from leaving the village. They might be teammates on missions, maybe even friends—but definitely not like father and son.
He had no duty to worry about Sasuke's future.
In fact, as a friend, he should respect Sasuke's choices.
"I got it." Even though deep down Naruto respected Sasuke's decision, on the outside, he still agreed to Kakashi's request.
Back in the room,
Naruto saw Sakura sitting quietly nearby, worriedly watching Sasuke. But she didn't dare say anything—looked like Sasuke had yelled at her.
"Naruto!"
Sakura lit up when she saw Naruto return, but then quickly lowered her voice. "Naruto, what did Kakashi-sensei talk to you about?"
"Nothing much. He just told me to keep an eye on Sasuke for now."
Naruto brushed it off and said, "Sasuke's fine. Don't worry, just get some rest."
"That's good~" Sakura let out a breath of relief, and her expression softened a bit as she looked at Sasuke.
Seeing that, Naruto shook his head. He didn't want to get involved. Just as he was getting ready to lie down and rest, someone knocked on their door.
"Excuse me, may I come in?"
Naruto turned his head and saw that it was Kabuto who had arrived.
"Kabuto-senpai? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked in surprise.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses and smiled gently. "I just passed the exam and happened to be staying in the room next to yours. Thought I'd stop by and say hi—didn't expect it to be you guys!"
"Really? What a coincidence!"
Sakura smiled innocently. "Come on in and have a seat, Kabuto-senpai!"
"Then I won't hold back," Kabuto said with a soft smile as he stepped inside. His eyes briefly glanced at Sasuke lying on the bed before shifting over to Naruto. "We meet again, Naruto."
Naruto gave Kabuto a quick look but didn't say anything.
He already knew why Kabuto had come. It was nothing more than trying to gather info about Sasuke… maybe even about him, too.
Naruto hadn't forgotten that Orochimaru had tried to bite him back then.
Kabuto didn't seem bothered by Naruto ignoring him. He just started chatting with Sakura about the Chunin Exams.
After a while, his eyes seemed to "just notice" the mark on Sasuke's neck and he asked on purpose, "That scar… looks like a pretty serious injury, huh?"
"It's nothing," Sasuke replied coldly, covering the mark with his hand.
"I know a bit of medical ninjutsu. Want me to take a look?" Kabuto offered.
"Kabuto-senpai, you know medical ninjutsu too?" Sakura asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I grew up in an orphanage and learned from the head caretaker," Kabuto explained with a smile.
Hearing that Kabuto was an orphan, Sasuke glanced at him but didn't say yes or no to the offer.
Seeing that, Kabuto acted like he hadn't said anything and, after chatting a bit more with Sakura, left.
"Kabuto-senpai is such a kind person~" Sakura said as she watched him leave.
The next day, Kabuto dropped by again.
But Sasuke was out training, so after saying a few words, he left quickly.
On the third day, Kabuto came again. Sasuke still wasn't around, so he left again.
Finally, on the fourth day… the exam officially ended at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Still, Kabuto came by once more, which even made Sakura start to get suspicious.
"Naruto."
"Hm?"
"I think there's something strange about Kabuto-senpai!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. Took you long enough to notice.
"What do you think is strange?" Naruto asked, playing along.
"I noticed that every time Sasuke is here, Kabuto-senpai stays really long. But when Sasuke's not around, he leaves super fast!"
Sakura said seriously, "I think… Kabuto-senpai might have a crush on Sasuke!"
"..."
Naruto rolled over and opened a sparkly, over-the-top fanfiction novel to read.
Better to read something crazy like this than listen to Sakura's wild guesses. Who knows, it might even give him some ideas for developing his demon abilities.
At 2:30 in the afternoon—
The three of them were called to the first floor of the tower.
Everyone who passed the second stage of the exam was gathered there—Chunin from the Konoha, Jonin from other villages, and even the Third Hokage.
Naruto quickly counted and saw there were 18 people who had passed. Shikamaru's team wasn't among them.
"Ino's not here…"
Sakura looked around but didn't see Ino, and she felt a little worried.
Even though the two of them always argued, they still cared about each other deep down—at least when it didn't involve boys.
"Congratulations on passing the second exam. Now Hokage-sama will explain the third stage!"
Anko Mitarashi didn't talk as much as Ibiki.
Once her part was done, she stepped back—it was no longer her job.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stepped forward. He looked at the 18 students and said, "Next, the third exam will begin. But before I explain the rules, there's something you need to understand first."
"It's about the real purpose of this exam—and why so many allied nations are taking it together."
He pulled his hat down a little and went on, "The real reason is to maintain good relations between allied nations and improve ninja skills. That's what truly matters. If you misunderstand that, it could cause trouble."
"Even though this exam may look like a mini war between countries…"
"If you look back at history, today's allies were once neighbors who fought many wars. To avoid destroying each other, the countries agreed to hold these battles in a controlled way—and that's how the Chunin Exams came to be."
"Why are they doing this? Isn't this exam just to choose Chunin?" one of the examinees asked.
"This exam is indeed meant to select Chunin… but it also carries the pride of each nation!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi bit down on his pipe and said, "In the next round of the exam, many lords and famous figures from countries that give us missions will be coming to watch in person. If the gap in strength is too big, the stronger nations will get more missions, while the weaker ones will get fewer!"
"It's also a way to show a country's strength and has an effect on how others see us!"
Inuzuka Kiba couldn't help but say, "Then why do *we* have to fight with our lives on the line?"
Sarutobi gave him a sharp look and explained, "A country's strength is the strength of its village. The strength of the village is the strength of its ninjas. And a ninja's true strength only shows when they're fighting with their life on the line!"
"This exam is a stage to show off a nation's ninja strength to others! It only means something because it's a life-or-death battle!"
"Your seniors all joined this exam with dreams in their hearts!"
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