"Now then lets stop with the mournful tone! It's not my style!" Naruto said with a huge grin. Hinata couldn't help but giggle at the quick change back into a lighter atmosphere. The pair walked the rest of the way, making idle chitchat about matches.
When they got to the Colosseum it was already crowded. People were wandering every which way trying to find a quick entry and get a good seat. Naruto scanned the area before spotting what he was looking for. The doors were reserved for competitors and were guarded so they could get through the crowed. The pair walked up to the guards who nodded and opened the doors for them to enter.
Naruto and Hinata looked up at all the people in the stands and watched as more and more flooded in, taking every empty seat. Naruto stole a glance at the lineups and smirked a little
Naruto vs. Neji
Gaara vs. Sasuke
Shino vs. Kankoru
Tamiri vs. Shikamaru
Haku vs. Dosu
The sea of faces all turned in random directions focusing on different things. Naruto knew how soon all those eyes would be looking at him and he grinned. Hinata followed Naruto up into the high ledge where all of their teammates were waiting. Naruto escorted Hinata over to where Sakura, Kiba Shikamaru and Choji were standing.
"Honestly Shikamaru I wouldn't have thought you of all people would be early..." Choji said licking his fingers having finished a bag of chips.
The lazy Nin yawned and looked to Choji in a mock glare. "I'm lazy not late..." He stated simply.
"Who are you kidding? You spent the night here so you wouldn't have the 'troublesome' task of getting here in the morning." Kiba stated flatly.
"Pfft... Anyway, I think we should be going down there. They want all the competitors on the field before they start..." Shikamaru said, indicating to Naruto.
"Yeah, they probably just want to let the aristocrats size us up." Naruto said. "Or their doing it for people who want to bet on the matches..." Naruto said after spotting Tsunade.
Naruto and Shikamaru joined the rest of the competitors on the floor. Naruto took a quick look around and half smiled at the fact that Sasuke wasn't there. Although Naruto couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't there. Last time Kakashi had shown up with the black haired nin just under the wire, but this time with Kakashi not training him as much Naruto had thought Sasuke would be in the Colosseum on time. 'ah well I guess he'll arrive under the wire again... though I'd still like to know what's holding him up.'
Sasuke was snoring, blissfully unaware of the world around him. He had been training late into the night and barely had enough energy to get himself into bed. Unbeknownst to him, however, someone had done something to his alarm and so the young nin just slept. Sasuke gave a short moan as he rolled over to try to find a newer more comfortable spot. A little bit away, Jiraiya smirked. Earlier that morning, as ordered to by Tsunade, the white haired man crept in, set his trap, and crept out. Tsunade's reasoning being that if the tournament went like how she remembered, it would be easier to spot any changes.
Unfortunately for Sasuke, however, the perverted sennin also left Sasuke a few extra... presents to slow him down even more incase he woke up before the alarm went off. Jiraiya had made it so the jutsu he planted would be cancelled out by the ringing of the alarm. The alarm had a seal placed on it so that Jiraiya could set it off when Shikamaru's match started, giving Sasuke enough time to get to the stadium before his time ran out, but after all the other matches had their outcome determined. The seal on the alarm, and everything else for that matter, also ensured that Sasuke wouldn't be leaving his house until Jiyria wanted him to.
chappy 27
Start from the beginning
