The Oto-nin stood no chance against a focused Naruto who sat vigil for two days straight. He had taken their scroll and send them running. The pressure he exuded was enough warning to the Oto Genin, reminding them of an apex predator not in the mood to play around. He almost snapped the arm of the noisy boy and choked the girl before she could throw her senbon, almost snapping her neck. He looked at the other boy and warned in colder than artic voice, "I know that you enjoy trampling on others but I am not in the mood to compare who has the bigger dick. So either you surrender your scroll right here and now or you can kiss your teammates goodbye permanently,"
The girl whimpered when he tightened his grip and the boy with the weird arms shrieked in pain as his captured arm creaked. In the end, they complied to his wish and left.
Sakura had gawked at how easily he handled them. Naruto was not in the state of mind to play around. He's already barely holding on to his sanity. He turned to her, "How is Sasuke?"
She gulped, noting how he still refused to look at them and turned to Sasuke who started to show signs of waking up. She said so and Naruto nodded, "We will move after breakfast," He created a clone, the clone popping into existence with nary a sound or a smoke, sending him to hunt down breakfast. He then unsealed some basic camping provision.
She recalled that he had handed her and Sasuke some energy bars for sustenance the other day and again last night when she woke up hungry. His clone came back with eggs, some wild tomatoes and some fishes. Soon enough Sasuke woke up to the scent of food being cooked. He sat up, groggy as he looked where Naruto's quietly cooked. Sakura looked at him and smiled, "Good morning. Are you alright?"
He touched his neck, "What...how long was I unconscious?"
"Two days,"
He looked at Naruto who handed him a plate of simple meal of grilled fish, tomatoes and fried egg. His stomach grumbled as he watched Sakura ate her own food hungrily. He ate his own slowly but then hungrily. He didn't know why but Naruto sure know how to grill his fish. Naruto has always been particularly good at fishing, he noticed during the few times they had to camp out and there's a river nearby. He's also good a grilling over open fire.
He watched as Naruto buried everything and started to move. He shared a look with Sakura and silently followed the once blond. He didn't know what to call Naruto's hair color, he mused distractedly, as it wasn't the golden blond it once was or white like Kakashi's. It wasn't the same shade as the Yamanaka Clan either, too silvery.
He looked at Sakura who filled him in over the events that happened while he was unconscious. She told him that Naruto did something to ease the pain of the bite on his neck.
Sasuke rubbed the spot, confused.
They made a slower progress to the tower, Naruto being particular about Sasuke's body's limit. Sasuke didn't like being protected but...he supposed it felt nice. His face pinched in distaste. He should be stronger than this.
Naruto seemed to notice as he said, "There's no shame in being defeated by someone like Orochimaru. Not even Kakashi can face him and survive. Take it as a waking call. There is always someone stronger, especially when they're older. But your younger age simply meant you have greater room to grow,"
Sasuke blinked at the once blonde's back. Naruto still won't look at them and it frustrated the Uchiha endlessly. He didn't like this...wiser and sadder...Naruto...
They came across a red head running from a giant bear. Naruto was quick to rescue her. He looked at her, but averted his eyes from looking at her face just like he did to all of them. He asked, "Are you alright? Sakura here's a medic,"
Sakura had been silent since Naruto leveled that frightening gaze on her but she's also more receptive of his orders. She quickly checked on the girl. Sasuke took note how Naruto almost flinched when she said her name's Uzumaki Karin. He smiled at her instead over his shoulder, "Funny that. My name's Uzumaki Naruto. Do you think we are related somewhere?"
Karin followed them to the tower after that, watching Naruto with wide eyes full of interest. She drifted close to him but noticed the once blonde's discomfort and so kept a polite distance. She then asked, "Have you...always been in Konoha?"
Naruto didn't look at her but nodded, "Yeah...Uzumaki was a clan affiliated with Konoha before Uzushio's fall. In fact, the Shodaime's wife was Uzumaki Mito,"
Karin blinked, "Wait...we are...welcomed here?"
"Yeah..."
She pondered before asking, "Do you think...do you think I can move here?"
Naruto tilted his head, "Why don't you meet up with Hokage-Jiji? He has always been on the lookout for Uzumaki survivors. He never did get over failing to get to Uzu in time,"
They reached the tower on the final day, Sasuke feeling stronger than when he first woken up in the forest after whatever it was the Orochimaru did. Naruto's pacing was just...perfect...for Sasuke to heal and get a better bearing. Iruka greeted them after Naruto wordlessly opened the scrolls in the tower before either Sasuke or Sakura can argue. Karin left to guest side of the tower, knowing that she's not going to be welcomed as she came without her team.
She looked at Naruto and hesitatingly waved, "See you...uh...cuz?"
Naruto waved back, "Sure,"
He still didn't look at her. But though she smiled a sad smile at the odd treatment, she noticed that he treated his teammates similarly. She didn't feel any malice from him, just a deep sense of sadness, which confused her. He didn't seem to be sad because of team but rather simply sad. She wondered what had happened to him. But most importantly, if he's truly an Uzumaki then she had found family. Mother always told her that family's important to Uzumaki.
She'll help him. She didn't know what she can do but she'll find a way...
Iruka smiled at them in greeting but frowned when he noticed how Naruto seemed to flinch, his face turned to the floor while his hands gripped white as they tremble at his sides. He asked, "Naruto, are you alright?"
A deep breath and the once blond smiled with his eyes perfectly crinkled to a squint, "I'm fine, Iruka-sensei!" But he can't hide the way his voice failed him, almost breaking at the end. He looked like he was on the verge of crying but he continue to smile, forcing his lips to stretch in a parody of cheerfulness. He need to get through this. He have to get through this.
Iruka couldn't do anything more than sending them off to the arena where the prelim will take place...
Sasuke looked at Naruto, worry gnawing in him. He caught Kakashi's eye and tried to inform the Jounin with his gaze on Naruto's oddly fragile state of mind. Kakashi nodded but truly the man can't do anything. Naruto had insisted on joining the Chuunin exam. Sakura gripped his sleeve, her own verdant eyes full with worry.
It seemed she had finally decided to look beyond her comfort zone and realized that the Shinobi world was more than just romantic adventure. She has begun to notice Naruto's odd behavior. Naruto's strong from what she told him, oddly so. But at the same time he's strangely fragile and it was that fragility that worry them.
Odd how when he was the weakest member, he was also the strongest mentally. But now that he's physically stronger than them, he's also the weakest of them emotionally. Sasuke felt that an emotionally weak Naruto was simply wrong. Like the world had gone dark...
But at the same time, he's still unimaginably strong. He's breaking but holding on. He refused to bend to whatever it was that broke him and Sasuke found himself admiring that value. As he went to battle, Naruto whispered, "Use pure Taijutsu..."
He was confused by the odd advice, because that was what it was, but the moment his chakra was adsorbed, he understood. He's still weak from whatever it was that Orochimaru did but he refused to be beaten by this chakra stealing loser!
Kakashi stared at Naruto, worried for him as his hands trembled whenever certain name was called. Then his name was called and he walked down, ignoring Kiba's goading. His face was pale and Kiba took it as him fearing the coming fight. But Akamaru whined.
Kiba was confused. Akamaru warned him that Naruto's strong but sad. Very sad.
He kept goading the boy, trying to get a reaction but Naruto kept a façade of calm. Akamaru's whine that Naruto's only amused but sadder by Kiba doesn't help. Kiba wanted to punch the pale blond boy. What's up with his hair anyway?
He did punch Naruto but it felt like punching an ancient oak tree; hard. Naruto simply grabbed his arm and flipped him hard against the floor, winding him. Kiba coughed and tried to stand back up but Naruto still held on his arm. He flipped Kiba again and again, leaving the boy no chance to get away. Akamaru was kept away by using Kiba like a bat.
In the end Kiba was too winded to stand back up. He was deemed unable to continue and was disqualified. He looked at Naruto who didn't look at him this whole time. He wondered why the boy refused to look at him. He looked dazed at the beginning, like he wasn't really there in the arena. The punch was Kiba's only lucky shot at Naruto.
He scowled, "What the hell are you moping for, baka?"
The blue eyes flicked at him for a second and Kiba felt his throat constricted by how sad it was, like the whole world had ended and he was the only one standing. Naruto smiled but it was sad and somber, like he was forcing himself to smile at a funeral, "Go get yourself treated, mutt,"
The joke didn't really sound cheerful...
As he walked back to the upper floor, he froze as his eyes caught Hinata waiting with a familiar case in her hands. She blushed and offered the salve. His hands trembled as he accepted with shaking thanks. She blinked at him in confusion and Kakashi's grip brought him back to his senses. Hinata quietly asked, "A-are you alright, Naruto-kun?"
"Please, Naruto-kun...before I became something I am not..."
He blinked rapidly, realizing that he was shedding tears endlessly. It seemed that not even Yami can hold back the dam in his heart when confronted by her directly. Hinata's name was then called and Naruto wanted so much to tell her to give up, to not fight against Neji. He recalled just how close to death she was in the previous timeline.
But he didn't...
He couldn't...
Hinata put everything on the line for this and he needed to respect that...
So instead he smiled and sincerely told her, "No matter the result, know that I am proud of you,"
She blinked at him before blushing, "T-thank you..."
He watched then as she fought with her heart on the line. Hinata has always fought with love in her heart; love for her cousin, love for her family, love for her team, love for her fellow Shinobi, love for Konoha and finally, the most devastating love of all...her love for him...
As she stumbled from the weight of self-doubt, he gripped the railing so tight it almost snapped in his hand, "You're not a failure! Your heart is the strongest I know! You walk your path even though its painfully lonely! You kept standing strong even though the people that should cherish you kept pulling you down! So don't you ever doubt yourself, Hime!"
And like before, she fought. She was beaten but she kept standing back up. But in the end, Neji did what he almost did before; the fatal strike. He found his hand gripping Neji wrist with unforgiving pressure. He glared at the shocked Hyuuga as he held a falling Hinata, "Are you breaking your own promise to keep her safe?"
Kakashi placed a calming, grounding hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto...you're going to snap his wrist. Let go..." He looked at Hinata who looked at him in confusion as she choked out blood, "Hinata need medic,"
He swallowed his emotion, his face colder than glacier as he stared at Neji. A promise in his too blue gaze, "When you're at the bottom, the only way left is up..."
He couldn't see Hinata as the medic took he to the hospital. His chakra control still not stable enough to attempt the Yang release to help heal her. He looked at the blood she spat out and touched the crimson puddle. A familiar promise as he stared at Neji.
This Neji was not the Neji that came to peace with what life had dealt him. This Neji was the not the Neji that sacrificed himself for him and Hinata. This Neji's a brat that need a waking up spank...
Kakashi looked worriedly as Naruto started to shake. His eyes wide and haunted as he stared after the medic that took Hinata away. He knew then who Naruto's wife was. The fact that the boy held back from a complete meltdown was admirable. Naruto hold on, even when his hold on his immense chakra flickered dangerously when Gaara attempted to crush Lee only to falter at the end, Naruto hold on to his fraying emotion.
Only when he left the Forest of Death did he ask Kakashi to knock him unconscious...