Underestimated Genius

Ch 14) Chunin Exams: Preliminairies

Sasuke looked overcome with guilt.

"Sasuke why does Naruto have a fatal stab wound in his stomach?"

The boy's only reply was to pull out the blood stained Kunai from his weapons pouch.

Anger took over the Senseis expression. "What did you do!!?"

In one of the rarest moments in Sasuke's life, he was actually truly afraid of what someone could do to him. "It was an accident. I swear!! There was this guy who had some creepy snake-like qualities. He ambushed us and bit me on the neck." Sasuke pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing the curse mark to Iruka. "I fell unconscious, and woke up some time later with this ominous power coursing through me. All I remember is being extremely angry and abnormally strong."

Iruka could not see the connection between the two events. "Okay, but how does that explain Naruto's condition?"

"I challenged Naruto to a fight, thinking I was strong enough to fight him now. He refused so I kept coming at him, only to be bested at every turn. He pinned me down eventually, thinking I was satisfied for the time being, and I took that moment to surprise him with a Kunai. I stabbed him through the gut and then he fell off my body. Then we brought him here so he could get help from the medic nin."

Sakura chose this moment to butt in. "But no one was even here. So we decided to see what would happen if we opened the scrolls."

Iruka turned to the other team. "Is this true?"

"Totally, we saw the whole thing," Ino answered "Can you help him sensei?"

"No.," He replied, scaring them, before he continued. "But I know who can." He picked up the blond, carrying him in his arms. As he passed Sasuke, he turned towards the boy. "I'm disappointed with you Sasuke. I never thought you would let your anger drive you to a point where you would willingly harm a comrade."

Sasuke pushed down his guilty feelings for the moment. "What's going to happen? Is he going to be okay?"

"I hope so." With that said Iruka vanished in another puff of smoke, taking Naruto along with him.

An uncomfortable silence came over the group.

"Now, what do we do?" Choji wondered. "Do we just open our scrolls?"

"We might as well." Shikimaru replied. "There's nothing else we could really do at the moment."

Team 10 unraveled their scrolls and Asuma showed up. He explained the message in both the scrolls and informed them of the rooms they can use as temporary living quarters, until the 3rd exam.

Both teams separated and went to their respective rooms to rest and wait for any information concerning Naruto's condition.

Team 7's room

Sasuke laid down in one of the beds while Sakura took a shower and did what she could to fix her hair. Just so it doesn't look too lopsided. "Man. What a day." She spoke to herself in the mirror. "I can't believe Naruto was able to beat Sasuke, even with the added strength of that weird mark." She sighed. "I really should stop doubting him after all this time, seeing what he could do. I guess I'm just stubborn. I didn't want to admit that I was wrong about him the entire time. But I still don't understand why he was faking it. I mean what's the point? Plus, it's not like he will just tell me. Especially now. He's barely even alive for goodness sakes." She slammed her fist into the sink. "Dammit!! I hate not knowing anything. Why couldn't it actually have been true. Why couldn't he just be stupid and pathetic like we all thought!!! If that was the case, this never would have even happened. We probably would have died in Wave if it wasn't an act though, she added as an afterthought." Her mini rant / self realization over with Sakura exited the bathroom. "Sasuke you can take a shower now, if you want.