COTE x Naruto: New Beginnings

Chapter 24: Betrayal

Sakura was very surprised to hear him telling her about his plans. She hadn't expected it at all.

"Oh, and if you even think about submitting Class C's leaders, I will destroy you and then your class," he added with a mocking smile, before turning around and walking away to where his dorm was.

Sakura shivered at the warning. She didn't think she and her class were strong enough to face Ryuuen yet. If anything had been revealed to her today, it was that he was a huge threat and dangerous.

Sakura also realized that by no means was she ready to lead her class yet.

Unfortunately, she didn't think anyone else from her class was any better, which meant that she had to up her game soon, or she'd be defeated by people like Ryuuen and the mysterious person that had figured this exam out.

"How troublesome," she muttered, tugging at her pink hair in frustration. She idly thought about cutting it, but decided otherwise.

'I'll cut it once I become a good leader of Class D that can fight against the likes of Ryuuen,' she decided, solidifying both her desire to lead the class, and to work towards improving herself.

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Sakura felt like tearing her hair out once more.

She'd spent an hour pondering over the rules of the exam and the meanings behind each Zodiac.

She'd tried using compatibility charts, but there were no apparent relations between Horse, Dragon and Rabbit. She'd also looked into the years each zodiac sign corresponded with, but no clues there either.

How could she reach Class A when she couldn't even figure this out?! Two people had figured it out. What hopes did she have reaching Class A if she couldn't beat these two people?

Not even the meanings of the zodiacs set any bells off in Sakura's mind.

She was currently in the library located on the cruise, using the library's laptop to write down information on the exam, using the books to research the zodiac signs while at it.

Sakura was beginning to think that the solution was much easier than she was making it out to be. She doubted the school expected the students to waste their holidays away in the library trying to crack their exam. The answer had to be simpler.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Her workflow got interrupted by an exasperated Hatake.

"I've never seen you in the school library. Since when do you read books?" He was talking about the stack of books next to the laptop she'd spent a lot of time skimming over.

"Huh? Did you think I'm too dumb to read or what?" Sakura grumbled, tired from reading so much. She wouldn't be complaining if it was something fun, but she didn't find Chinese zodiac signs particularly amusing.

"Don't get grumpy so fast, Haruno. It was just a question," Hatake defended himself, plopping down into the chair next to her.

"Oh? Chinese zodiac?" He asked as he took a look on one of the books on her desk.

"Isn't it a bit too late to try to figure the exam out?" He asked again, sounding amused.

"Shut uuuup. I'm trying to concentrate, dammit," she bemoaned, hitting her head against the desk in frustration.

Sakura stared at the names of the members of the three groups whose VIPs she knew in bewilderment. How the heck did this make any sense?

Hatake didn't heed her warning. Instead, he peeked over her shoulder at the screen of the laptop, quickly scanning what she was doing.