Aftermath (A Sequel to A Flash to the Future)

Chapter 13 - Training Ground 44: The Forest of Death

Naruto stood with his back resting against the tree as he watched his teammates talk to the three academy students he dubbed as his minions. They were currently getting interviewed by them for the Academy Newspaper. Team 7 had been the first team they wanted to interview.

At the moment, Sasuke was talking about team 7's past missions, successful and failed alike. Of course, most of the failures were blamed on him, a point he had no issue with. It was true after all. Sakura was giving his young underlings a break down of ninja art was and fangirled about the almighty 'rookie of the year', which wasn't surprising. He sighed at that thought. He would never understand girls' obsession with him. He's seen better.

Getting bored with watching the interview, Naruto's eyes traveled over the rest of the competitors. They were all lounging around or talking to each other, waiting for the 10 minute break to end. Some looked nervous while others had bloodthirsty grins on their faces. '24 teams...' Naruto thought to himself as he evaluated his fellow competitors. His gaze settled on Anko, who seemed to watching the teams as well. He shook his head as he saw a predatory grin on her face. She did tell Ibiki that she was going to cut the number of participants in half by the time the second exam was over. And having been and trained in the Forest of Death, he couldn't help but believe her. Five days in this death trap was enough to cut it down to at least 9-10 teams.

Naruto felt a sudden shiver go up his spine as he felt the familiar touch of bloodlust aimed in his direction. He looked around at the contestants, looking for the source of it. His eyes finally landed on a Kusa genin that was looking his direction. He followed her line of sight and saw that she was staring at his teammates, particularly Sasuke. He narrowed his eyes at this. He had smelled the scent of snakes on her when she caught Anko's kunai earlier. Whether it was him or not, he didn't know, however, he did know one thing. That woman had malevolent chakra. And the predatory looks he was giving his teammate made him tense and his senses buzz in warning.

"N-Naruto-kun?" a soft voice called out, snapping the genin out of his pondering.

He turned to see that was one of the few people that he cared about in his life. She was looking down and pressing her fingers together with a light blush on her cheeks. Naruto couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face as he walked up to her. Her cheeks seemed to darken slightly as he stopped in front of her. He brought his hand to her chin and lifted it up, making her look directly at his face.

"How may I help you, Hinata?" he asked her, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I...." she started to stutter before stopping herself and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before opening them again and looking him directly in the eyes, slightly shocking Naruto. "I-I just wanted to tell you g-good luck on the next test." she lightly stuttered.

Naruto blinked a few times before a huge grin made its way onto his face. "Of course, Hinata! Good luck to you to. I know you will do well." he said.

Hinata prettily blushed as she diverted her eyes quickly, trying not to look down again. She pressed her fingers together as she looked back at Naruto, who was smiling brightly at her. Her blush seemed to deepen as she began to fumble over her words.

"H-Have you turned i-in you form?" she stammered.

"No, not yet." he said as he scratched his whiskered cheek. "I'm waiting for teme to finish his interview."

"Well, y-you should probably h-hurry. The exams s-start in 4 m-minutes." Hinata said.

Amusement sparked in his blue orbs as he looked at the girl. "Hai, hai, Hinata-sama." he teased as he walked away from her, toward his teammates.