All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
"Tell me what four-eyes said about me," Bakugo said.
"Well... it wasn't that strange. Maybe it was the tone he used when he said it, or the context..." Sakura said, rubbing her chin.
"Get to the point already, forehead girl!" Bakugo yelled, losing what little patience he had left.
—When he examined your wounds, Kabuto whispered that you were one of them—Sakura finally said.
Bakugo suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head upon hearing the pink-haired girls' words. The blond boy winced and brought his hand to his forehead.
"Where have I heard that before? What am I forgetting?" Bakugo thought, with a pain in his temple.
—Bakugo! Are you alright?—Sakura asked worriedly.
"I'm perfectly fine," Bakugo lied, not quite knowing what had happened to him. "So what does it mean that I'm one of them?"
"How should I know! I thought you'd know something," Sakura replied, glancing at Bakugo's greeting status. Something was wrong with him.
"I was literally dead for who knows how many minutes!" Bakugo retorted, annoyed. "My memory of what happened in that shitty forest is all blurry, so I have no idea what Four-Eyes is talking about. But what I do know is that Four-Eyes can't be trusted. I'm missing something really important..." the blond boy trailed off, lost in thought.
—Ehhh, I remind you that it was Kabuto who saved your life. —said Sakura, raising an eyebrow.
"I know!" Bakugo said angrily, massaging his temples. "You don't need to repeat it! I have enough to deal with being indebted to that bastard. Besides, you yourself said he's a weirdo. I don't know why you're defending him now."
"Well, it's one thing for him to be a weirdo, and another thing entirely for him to be a bad guy, which is how you're portraying him. Look at Lee, for example," Sakura said, observing Lee. Bakugo mimicked her.
"Go Tenten, you can do it! Show her who's the best!" Lee shouted enthusiastically, waving his arms wildly. Feeling their gaze, Lee turned his head and saw Bakugo and Sakura staring at him. "The flower of youth will make Tenten defeat that girl from Suna!" He gave a thumbs-up, flashing his gleaming teeth.
"Tsk," Bakugo muttered, a bead of sweat trickling down his neck. He broke eye contact and went for a walk on the second floor of the hall. "That four-eyes is hiding something, I'm sure of it," he muttered to himself.
"Where are you going?" Sakura asked her companion. "Aren't you going to watch the fight?"
"I'm going to stretch my muscles. My fight is coming up soon, and I can't afford to be in less than the best possible condition," Bakugo replied, putting his hands in his pockets.
"But you left your sword behind..." Sakura said, looking at Deku on the ground where Bakugo had been.
"Fuck Deku!" Bakugo replied, frustrated at being almost unable to hold his sword due to his poor health.
The truth was, Bakugo didn't stretch much and thought a lot. One of them . He'd heard that expression before, and he was seething with rage at not being able to remember the where and when. His instinct told him that what Sakura had said was very important, and his instinct had rarely failed him. What was failing him now was his memory.
She'd been racking her brain for a few minutes, but nothing came to mind. Seeing the futility of her mental effort, she decided to focus on Tenten and Temari's fight, which was about to end.
—Ninpo Kamaitachi! (scythe spirals) —Temari shouted with the fan extended with three purple moons drawn on it.
A sharp whirlwind erupted from the blonde's fan, sending Tenten flying and leaving her with countless cuts. When the whirlwind dissipated, Tenten plummeted unconscious into the void. But Temari, ruthlessly, positioned her folded fan so that, upon falling, Tenten's back would strike the hard material of the fan.
"Tsk," Bakugo thought in amazement. "This girl seems pretty powerful, and yet she seemed terrified of the eyebrowless stump. I wonder how strong that stump is." He glanced at Gaara, who was watching his sister with his arms crossed.
"There hasn't been much fighting. How boring," Temari said, disappointed.
"The winner of the second match, Temari," Hayate announced.
Temari smiled wickedly and moved her fan slightly where Tenten lay unconscious, but this action did not go unnoticed by Lee, who watched his companion with concern.
"Just a second!" Lee shouted, leaping down to the floor below. Thanks to his speed, Lee was able to prevent Tenten from falling onto the weapons she had thrown down earlier in their fight.
—Hey! What a great catch!—Temari said ironically.
"What's wrong with you?" Lee said indignantly. "Tenten may have lost, but that's no way to treat an opponent who gave it her all!"
"Bah, get lost!" Temari slammed her fan on the ground. "And take that garbage bag with you."
"Grrr!" Lee growled.
"No, Lee!" Neji shouted, seeing his teammate's intentions.
"Konoha Senpu! (Leaf Blizzard)" Her spinning kick technique was easily stopped by Temari. "Huh?"
"You haven't even come close. You know what? You're as dumb as you look," Temari said with a wicked smile.
"What did you say...?" Lee was interrupted by a shout from upstairs.
"Hey, pigtails!" Bakugo yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'm the only one who can mess with the bushy-browed guy! So do us all a favor and get the hell out of here! I want to get this foreplay over with as soon as possible!"
"You again...!" Temari trembled with rage and glared hatefully at Bakugo. "Insolent brat..."
"Temari, that's enough," Gaara said, his face serious but barely raising his voice. "The fight is over. Get in here now."
"Gaara..." Temari whispered, frightened. The blonde didn't need to be told twice. She jumped up and stood beside her two brothers.
"That's right, you bastard! Go away with that eyebrowless plug and that other sand-dwelling idiot and stop acting like a fool already!" Bakugo exclaimed. The argument with Temari served as a distraction so he wouldn't feel frustrated about not remembering something his instincts told him was very important.
"No eyebrows?" Gaara whispered, confused, his attention now focused on Bakugo.
"That kid is completely crazy! Of all the people in the universe, how dare he mess with Gaara?" Kankuro thought, horrified.
"Let me kill him, Gaara!" Temari said, a vein throbbing on her forehead from how angry she was.
"No," Gaara replied, crossing his arms. "I don't know how many times I have to repeat this for you to understand that Katsuki Bakugo and Sasuke Uchiha are mine and mine alone."
Bakugo returned to where Sakura was waiting for him with her fists clenched.
"Bakago! Why do you always open that big mouth of yours at the worst possible moment!" Sakura said, raising her voice.
"Why are you taking her side, forehead girl?" Bakugo retorted, not understanding the pink-haired girl's attitude.
"I'm not taking sides! But you can't just insult everyone, Bakago!" Sakura said.
"Look who's talking, you're the one who always calls me Bakago," said Bakago.
"Because you drive me crazy!" Sakura retorted.
"Those sand bastards drive me crazy!" Bakugo retorted, watching the sand trio intently from a distance.
"Aahhh! You're incorrigible!" Sakura exclaimed, annoyed.
The argument ended with Kakashi appearing in a puff of smoke.
—Kakashi-sensei ...—dijo Sakura.
"Finally you show up, one-eyed man," Bakugo said, frowning.
"Hey guys," Kakashi greeted, raising his hand.
"What do you mean, 'hello '? Is that all you have to say?" Sakura said indignantly. "How is Sasuke?"
"He's fine, sleeping soundly in the hospital," Kakashi replied.
The two jonin students felt relieved. What Kakashi didn't tell them was that he was being escorted by an ANBU squad in case Orochimaru attacked Sasuke again.
—Cough, cough, cough.— Hayate coughed. —Please, now pay attention to the screen.— The names Kankuro and Choji Akimichi appeared on the screen. —Challengers Kankuro and Choji Akimichi, please come down so the third match can begin.—
"FUCK IT! THIS IS SHIT! WHEN AM I GOING TO FIGHT?" Bakugo yelled, wanting to kill whoever was doing the draw.
—Cough, cough, cough.— Hayate coughed. —Please, now pay attention to the screen.— The names Kankuro and Choji Akimichi appeared on the screen. —Challengers Kankuro and Choji Akimichi, please come down so the third match can begin.—
"FUCK IT! THIS IS SHIT! WHEN AM I GOING TO FIGHT?" Bakugo yelled, wanting to kill whoever was doing the draw.
A few meters away from where Kakashi, Bakuko and Sakura were, Team 10 was trying to cheer up a Choji who didn't feel much like fighting.
"Ugh, I don't want to fight, especially not on an empty stomach," Choji complained, making a sad face.
"Don't give me that, Choji! You have to cheer up! You're the first one from Team 10 to fight, you can't let us down!" Ino said, patting him on the back.
"But Ino... That guy from the sand seems strong..." Choji said, observing Kankuro who was smiling with an air of superiority.
"Even though this is a drag, do what you can. And if you find it too difficult, you can always quit," Shikamaru said with a yawn.
"What kind of attitude is that, Shikamaru!" Ino protested, annoyed with the Nara clan member. "No wonder nobody takes us seriously!"
"Let's make a deal, Choji," his sensei Asuma proposed. "If you win this fight, I'll treat you to whatever you want to eat."
"Whatever you want?" Choji said, his eyes widening. His mood had completely changed.
"Whatever you want," his sensei promised him.
A fire coursed through Choji's body at the promise of being able to eat all the meat he wanted if he won his fight. He was so impatient that he immediately jumped downstairs without going down the stairs.
"What a pain. Are you sure about what you promised him, Asuma?" Shikamaru asked his sensei. "If he wins, you might end up ruined."
"Heh." Asuma took a drag on his cigarette. "It'll have been worth it if it gets Choji to take this seriously."
Kankuro went downstairs, puzzled by Choji's change in attitude.
"Are you that eager for me to finish you off, fatty?" Kankuro asked with a mocking smirk.
"I'M NOT FAT, I'M BIG-BONED!" Choji shouted, filled with fury. His motivation to win increased considerably after Kankuro's insult. "YOU'LL SEE WHAT THIS FAT GUY IS GOING TO DO TO YOU!"
Everyone upstairs was waiting for the third match, which was about to begin. Well, not everyone. Bakugo was still mulling over what his classmate had said.
—When he examined your wounds, Kabuto whispered that you were one of them—
"One of them... One of them... Why can't I stop thinking about it? Why do I feel like this is so important?" Bakugo felt frustrated. "Damn it, I'm like that idiot Deku, always thinking. Not even the fat guy and the mummy bastard fight can distract me. I don't think it's going to be very entertaining." He sighed.
—Cough, cough, let the third fight begin. —announced Hayate.
—"Nikudan sensha!" (human cannonball)—Choji shouted, performing the technique he used in the Forest of Death, rolling towards Kankuro.
"That's it, Choji! You can do it! Crush him!" Ino cheered from upstairs.
However, Kankuro easily dodged Choji's jutsu, as the rotation speed was not very high.
"Just what I feared. This fight is going to be a drag. I can't stop thinking about that four-eyes. If only they fought the shorty with no eyebrows..." The blond looked at Gaara, who seemed bored, arms crossed, staring at his brother. "...or the bushy-browed one..." Lee, on the other hand, was very animated, gesturing as much as he had during Tenten and Temari's fight. "...or that bastard with the weird eyes..."
Bakugo stared at Neji for a while. Unlike Lee and Gaara, the Hyuga clan member had no interest in the fight. He was glaring at... Hinata.
"Huh?" Bakugo thought, puzzled. "That bastard seems to hate weird-eyed people more than me..."
Kakashi watched out of the corner of his eye as Bakugo moved on from the fight and started walking towards Hinata.
"Aren't you interested in fighting, Bakugo?" Kakashi asked him.
"Not in the slightest. The bastard mummy is just toying with the fat guy. This can't really be considered a fight," Bakugo replied without turning around. "I'm going to stretch my legs."
"Mmm." Kakashi didn't add anything more. He didn't want to inflate Choji's already inflated ego by agreeing that Kankuro was far superior to him.
Bakugo reached Hinata. She was so focused on the fight that she didn't notice her crush nearby.
"Hey, weird eyes," Bakugo said without looking at Hinata, as he was watching Neji.
Neji, who had been watching the girl's every move, frowned even more when he saw his hated rival talking to his hated cousin. This pleased the blond boy, who smiled arrogantly at the Hyuga boy. Finally, he could distract himself from Kabuto's words. But what he didn't like so much was being ignored by Hinata, who remained focused on the fight.
"Hey!" Bakugo said, raising his voice and shaking Hinata's arm to get her attention. "Stop ignoring me!"
For the first time since the Kankuro vs. Choji match began, Hinata looked away from the fight to see who had distracted her. When she realized it was Bakugo, standing just inches away, she blushed bright red.
—Bakugo-kun...—Hinata whispered, pressing her index fingers together to calm her nervousness.
But it was impossible when she realized her crush was still shirtless. She glanced quickly at his abs and pecs. Her heart was racing. The girl didn't know what was worse, staring into the blond's fierce eyes or at his incredible body. So she opted for the only thing she could do to avoid fainting: look at the ground.
"I told you to stop ignoring me, weirdo!" Bakugo demanded, raising his voice as he saw Hinata staring at the ground. The blond grabbed Hinata's face and forced her to look at him.
Feeling the blond man's hand on her face was the last straw. Hinata couldn't take it anymore and fainted.
Despite the blond man's surprise, he was quick-witted enough to catch her by the waist when she was about to fall to the ground.
"What the hell...?" Bakugo thought, perplexed because he didn't understand anything that had just happened.
Neji Hyuga also didn't understand anything, but he displayed an expression of infinite hatred towards the blond.
"I'm going to kill Katsuki Bakugo," Neji vowed, clenching his fists tightly.