"Actually, my teammates didn't make it..." A white haired ninja with glasses rubbed the back of his head. "Even if I kept this scroll, there's nothing I could do with it. Take them Naruto-san. You guys need it more than I do."
"Really! Thanks so much! We'll make you proud in the upcoming stage, you better believe it!"
"...Yeah, just help me get to the center alive please. I don't want to be a target."
A black haired man with red, spinning eyes lowered the Kunai he had been taking out of his back pocket and scoffed. His eyes faded back to black. After fighting that snake who called herself Orochimaru, he had finally awakened the legendary Kekkai Genkai of the Uchiha clan, the Sharingan. He was itching to put his new eyes to the test.
"Coward."
A pink haired girl walked at the very back, both shaken and silent. Her long pink hair still fluttered behind her as she walked. She had been no help to Sasuke, or Naruto. She was useless. As soon as Naruto woke up after fighting with that creepy snake bitch, he forced all the sound Ninja away with a massive amount of clones.
Only Orochimaru had been able to handle him and those Giant spinning Shuriken of his. Naruto wasn't even accurate with it. But when tens, hundreds, or even thousands came at you all at the same time, nobody could escape unscathed. If only he hadn't been taking a piss when that masked ninja came by... She shouldn't have driven him away at the time.
Naruto wanted to do his business near them to make sure they both remained safe. With his back turned, it shouldn't have been a problem. However, she had to shout at him, call him disgusting, so he left without complaint. Then that guy infiltrated under Naruto's appearance. Sakura hadn't realized he was a fake Naruto in time.
She even distracted Sasuke long enough that the man was able to steal their scroll! As always, she was beyond just merely useless. Wasn't she actually dragging them down? Even Sasuke had started to look at her with contempt!
"Haha, I'm no genius. People like me..." He glanced over at Sakura, "We'd be better off knowing our place."
Sasuke smiled. "At least you're sensible."
Ouch. Sakura shrank even further back into her shell. The land of waves mission had gone well enough. Sasuke still ignored her as always, but her relative incompetence hadn't come into play. Naruto and Kakashi-sensei handled everything, with Sasuke being there to assist. She hadn't been needed anyway.
Now, she could feel it. She wasn't just a minor annoyance anymore. She was an eyesore. Sakura couldn't keep going like this on her own.
"Naruto-san... Can we talk?"
"You want to talk, Sakura-chan? With me!? Hehe~!"
Naruto appeared at her side in an instant. Somewhere along the way he had picked up the body flicker Jutsu and used it from time to time. Every time Naruto used the Jutsu, Sasuke would follow him with his eyes. Yet he never spoke up. Sakura was jealous of the attention.
"So Sakura-chan... Have you decided to change your mind about Sasuke? Feel like giving me a try?"
"No, Naruto..." She deadpanned. Still, she had another favor to ask. Sakura suppressed her instinctive anger.
Naruto was pretty chill about the rejection now. He was used to it. "No problem then! What did you want to talk about?"
"Actually, this was about Saul..."
"Ah, that's right! I recommended Saul-sensei to you, didn't I! So so, how did it go? Was he able to give you any advice?"
"Ahahaha..." Sakura laughed nervously.
She had been incredibly rude to him, brushing him off constantly and letting her ego get in the way of reality. Sakura hadn't been able to get much help from the insightful man due to her attitude. She was sure she had already ruined any chance she had with Saul.
"Naruto, you know I'm a bit of a klutz sometimes. There was a bit of a misunderstanding between us, so I think he might be angry with me. Would you mind asking Saul to talk with me again please? To hear me out, just one more time?"
Naruto scratched his head, "That's a little bit of a problem though... You see, I already used the favor he owed me to get him to talk to you the last time. Actually, I think I sorta owe him now..." The spiky haired blonde fiddled with the giant shuriken on his back, "I got the idea to use the Fuma shiruken like this from him. It's saved our lives countless times."
That sounded about right. Sakura didn't believe an idiot like Naruto could've come up with such an effective tactic on his own.
"So you're saying you won't help me?"
Naruto jumped.
"No no, of course not Sakura-chan! Even if you don't like me, we're all members of Team Seven!" He smiled, "You guys are my comrades. Comrades have each other's backs, no matter what. I'd trust you with my life, Sakura-chan. I'll figure something out with Saul-sensei!"
Sakura felt bad. Naruto, he was too good for someone like her. The longer she had been on a team with him, the more she recognized that even though he was an idiot... Naruto was someone pure, genuine. He meant everything he said and tried his best at everything he did. If even someone like Naruto was too good for her, then what about Sasuke!? No, she needed to do better.
"Thank you Naruto. This really means a lot to me."
"Mnn!" Naruto flexed his right arm. "You can count on me, dattebayo!"
The three kept walking. Soon they started encountering gigantic swaths of destroyed forest. Multiple trees had been felled among a field of wilting flowers. There was a gigantic patch of scorched earth that they moved by now, as if a gigantic explosion had taken place.
"What the heck happened here!"
Sasuke looked over the apocalyptic scene with his Sharingan.
"A battle. Something long, gigantic whips of some sort cleaved through these trees around here. And..." His eyes moved over the multiple corpses of snakes, "I think it was with a certain someone we know." Sasuke clutched at his neck.
Kabuto pushed up his glasses with a glint. He saw gigantic tracks where something had slithered past leading up to the explosion. Bending down, he picked up something charred from the ground. Skin? His eyes widened. Someone had forced Orochimaru-sama to use that technique!?
"We should hurry inside the center building. This area does not feel safe." Kabuto remarked with sweat sliding down his brow.
Naruto grinned, "Who could be strong enough to do something like this?"
Sakura, who was already breathing hard by merely having to walk up and around the multiple fallen gigantic trees, paled.
"Surely they couldn't be a Genin, right? Maybe someone from Konoha put down that snake woman for infiltrating the exams."
"No, that isn't possible." Kabuto replied a little too quickly. Sasuke glanced over at him from the corner of his eye. "A Genin, I mean. No Genin could do something like this."
Sasuke did a front flip over the last gigantic pair of fallen trees. "Whoever did it, it doesn't matter. Nothing can hide from these eyes." He gave Kabuto another side eye.
Kabuto grinned back nervously. This Uchiha was sharp. Already so suspicious from just a minor slip-up!
"Well thank you all for your generous escort to the center of the forest. Even though we didn't encounter any problems, I am grateful for the assurance."
"Of course Kabuto-san! We're all Konoha ninja after all!"
"Mhmm."
The four entered the tall building. Inside, they found themselves face to face with another team chilling in the lobby. A brown haired, elegant woman, a white eyed, tall woman with big breasts, and a brown eyed man who seemed to be beginning to bulk up.
Naruto ran up to them and shouted, "Saul-sensei! You made it!"
Author's Note: The time is here. The 2nd stage of the Chunin exams are finally coming to a close. Due to Saul eliminating quite a few teams however, the exams will go a little bit differently. I'm actually going to do a small experiment with some of the matches as well. Going to let rng decide the matchups. Should make things more realistic in terms of 'luck' of the draw.