NARUTO
"Does she really have to go," Naruto begs to know, looking at Kakashi with worried eyes. "We haven't even gotten a chance to talk," he finishes.
"You know the rules, Naruto-kun," Kakashi answers. "As far as timing goes the earlier the better and you have to stay here for the next four days anyway. Might as well be now."
From beside Kakashi, Karin says, "it's okay, Naruto. It'll be fine." She then gives Sakura and Sasuke a short bow before departing. Arms crossed, Sasuke is brooding against the wall of the hallway and she has to try hard not staring at his beautifully stoic face.
She grabs her cousin's forearm comfortingly before adding, "I'll see you once the second test concludes," then exits through the door behind them.
Sakura is standing beside Naruto as the blond asks Kakashi, "why do we even have to stay here if we already passed," Naruto asks and before they can tell him again, he answers his question. "Yeah, yeah, to avoid interference between the villages-"
"Or get manipulated emotionally, physically, or financially," Sakura adds.
Watching his sole family in the world leave, Naruto can't help but yell, "this still sucks!"
"Noted," Kakashi casually comments before informing his team, "remember, aside from physical conditioning, no training. All competitors are monitored heavily to avoid setting up traps or other forms of advantage which also means this is the best place to spy on the competition."
'I guess I wouldn't need to spy since I have Naru-nii,' Naruto thinks as he glumly watches Kakashi leave to take Karin to her interrogation.
"She'll be fine," Sakura reassures Naruto, though her presence and voice without the violence and survival to distract him, reminds him of the hollowness of what should've been a magical night and the resulting agony in his heart.
Turning to her teammates, Sakura proposes with an upbeat tone, "why don't we have breakfast together?"
Though it's surprising to Naruto that Sakura would want him to join her and Sasuke, Sasuke's reaction isn't. After glaring at Naruto, Sasuke leaves without a word, engulfing the pair in painfully awkward silence.
Naruto runs around them, cutting their lead again as he states, "wait, I just think we can be friends. What's so bad about that?"
"I can't tell if you're clueless, or brain-damaged," Kankur roughly comments.
"I don't know how you can tell what anything is with all that eyeliner on," Naruto mouths with an insolent and raised chin.
"Tch! It's war paint," Kankur quickly yells when Temari steps in front of her younger brother and tells Naruto, "you should stay away from Gaara."
"Thanks, but I'm sure it'll be fine," he shrugs happily. "I mean, think about it. What if we're all friends in the future? Wouldn't that be awesome," Naruto asks, and though he offers them his best smile, they walk away from him unaffected.
"Wait, can we at least eat together?"
"Kankur, Temari," Baki calls as he walks up to them and takes special note of Naruto.
"Hey, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage," he casually greets. "You're Gaara's sensei, right? You must be pretty strong."
Baki eyes the boy intensely, harshly stating, "I'll tell you this now, Konoha genin. On paper, our villages may be allies, but, we are in competition, which means you engaging us is inappropriate."
"Oh, that's okay," Naruto shrugs. "I'm not worried about competing. I was just telling them it'd be pretty cool if me and Gaara were friends. You said we're allies right?
So why don't we um, meet and stuff? You know, like how allies do?"
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