Chapter 37: A Rollercoaster of Emotions
Uwaaaaaaaah—!
Naruto stared at the blank test paper in front of him and let out a desperate roar in his heart!
I'm screwed! I can't do a single question! What do I do, what do I do, what do I do! Naruto could already imagine the scene of Sakura's fury. Her eyes would definitely be bulging like copper bells, her eyebrows would widen to the thickness of a finger and arch high, and her blood-red mouth would split open to her ears, with five-inch-long fangs dripping with saliva. Then she would bite his head and neck off in one go!
Crunch! Tastes like chicken, nice and crispy!
Naruto shuddered and quickly shook his head with all his might to get rid of this terrifying thought. Although Sakura is a bit savage, she probably wouldn't use the Transformation Jutsu to turn into a monster and swallow me... However, if he dared to say the image of Sakura in his mind just now out loud, then maybe... Sakura really would transform into that and bite him to death! If she knew that he was the one who dragged everyone down so they couldn't pass the first exam, even if she didn't bite him to death, Sakura would definitely use her "fists of love" to give him a harsh lesson.
In the past few years of Naruto's life, under Sakura's loving whip, he had already unlocked the talent for a cockroach-like constitution. In Team 7, the woman at the top of the food chain, Haruno Sakura, had completely different attitudes towards the lower-class creatures, Sasuke and Naruto. Towards Sasuke, who always had a cold and calm expression, she tirelessly used various methods to "train" him, trying to break his poker face and make him show expressions of happiness, shyness, embarrassment, and so on. As for Naruto, the master of facial expressions and with a top-tier ability to court death, she used various acts full of "love" to make him correct his mistakes through pain and understand the correct path in life.
From this point of view, Sakura really had Naruto's best interests at heart. In a way, the fact that Naruto had quit his habit of large-scale pranks like graffitiing the Hokage Rock was also thanks to this woman's tyrannical power.
Naruto, who had not yet sensed Sakura's good intentions, was still worrying about the exam at this moment. He could understand every word in the nine questions on the paper, but when they were put together, he had no idea what they were saying. Naruto racked his brain to recall what he had learned at the Ninja Academy, and he suddenly realized that Sakura seemed to have explained most of this content to him. That's right, Sakura did explain similar questions! Naruto tried desperately to recall. What was the answer? Then he remembered the scene at that time.
He had fallen asleep after Sakura finished reading the question, so he didn't hear the answer.
So, the question was, if he handed in a blank paper and caused all three of them to fail the exam, what kind of beating would he get from Sakura? The answer to this question was too heavy. Naruto quickly switched to another question: how can I not hand in a blank paper if I can't do a single question? The desperate Naruto immediately thought of the answer: cheat. Sitting to Naruto's right was Hinata. At this time, Naruto still didn't know that this shy little girl had a secret crush on him. Naruto, who was rather slow in this regard, still thought that Hinata was just a very shy girl.
Hinata's crush on Naruto had not been swayed by Sakura's butterfly wings. With their personalities, even without the incident from the original story, Hinata would still be attracted to the sunny and passionate Naruto, not to mention this Naruto, who, after being deeply educated by Sakura in various ways, now used the time he would have spent on pranks to train diligently. Although he was known as the dead-last, it was only because the exam tested his worst subject, the Clone Jutsu. Naruto's taijutsu and other ninjutsu were very good.
Such a skilled man was, of course, even more liked by the young Hinata. Seeing Naruto scratching his head for a while with a completely blank paper, she knew that the questions were difficult even for her level, and with Naruto's personality, he probably hadn't done a single one. When Naruto's sneaky eyes glanced at Hinata's test paper, the little girl mustered her courage, quietly showed her paper to Naruto, and said in a small voice, "Naruto-kun... do you want to copy my paper?"
However, the sweet little interaction between Hinata and Naruto ended with Naruto worrying about being discovered. Sakura, who was sitting in the back row, felt her heart ache with anxiety. She hadn't helped Naruto precisely because she wanted to leave the opportunity for Hinata. Neither of these two simple-minded people had discovered the true meaning of this exam. Hinata, who could answer the questions herself, certainly wouldn't risk cheating. If she had activated her Byakugan now, she would have discovered that the candidates present had already begun to show their unique skills in all sorts of ways. Hinata also hadn't realized that it was precisely because her method of helping Naruto cheat was too low-tech that her crush had refused her help.
Should I give her a hint? Sakura hesitated a little. The Byakugan's ability was very convenient for cheating for oneself, but it was a bit difficult to help others cheat. So perhaps Hinata herself didn't have a better way and had chosen this clumsy method.
After thinking for a moment, Sakura infused chakra into her ink, controlling it to move in front of Hinata and form words, telling her this way. Hinata was slightly surprised, then looked back at Sakura nervously and shook her head slightly, indicating that she didn't have a better way either.
The first exam finally ended amidst Naruto's grand declaration.
For Naruto, this exam was like a rollercoaster. First, he agonized for half an hour over not being able to write the answers and worrying about getting caught cheating. Then, after receiving the answers transmitted by Sakura, Naruto, who had been saved from a desperate situation, felt overjoyed and relieved. He was immediately hit hard by Ibiki Morino's tenth question. Finally, just as the determined Naruto was about to face the difficulty head-on and follow his own ninja way with the spirit of burning his bridges, he discovered that the answer to the tenth question was this very attitude of facing difficulties head-on, and he was even praised on the spot by the proctor.
The ups and downs of life were truly exciting. On the way to the Forest of Death, Naruto was smiling smugly the whole time. Sakura, who was feeling impatient, was in no mood to deal with him. It's rare for Naruto to be praised once, so let him be smug for a while. The thought of possibly encountering Orochimaru soon made Sakura's mood very low.
If she had chosen not to participate in the exam, could she have avoided Orochimaru? Sometimes, Sakura couldn't help but have such a question pop up in her mind. But after thinking about it carefully, she knew it was impossible. Even if she didn't participate in the first year, what about the second year? As the so-called strongest of the rookies, Team 7, as the so-called genius, Sakura, if she didn't even dare to participate in the Chunin Exams, what would others think? Not to mention, Sakura herself couldn't get over this hurdle. If she always chose to escape, it would cast a shadow on her heart. How could she become a strong person if she lost the mentality of a strong person?
Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan was, one, to take revenge on Konoha, and two, to get Sasuke. So as long as she was with Sasuke, Sakura would have to face Orochimaru sooner or later. Avoiding the Chunin Exams was useless.
Even Naruto managed to not shrink back from the challenge, so how could Sakura be worse than him! Recalling what Naruto had said earlier, Sakura suddenly felt that she had also been inspired by him, and her spirits were lifted. Perhaps this was the charm of Naruto as a protagonist! Sakura gradually understood why the Naruto in the original story had gained the recognition of so many people!
After receiving the Heaven Scroll, the three of them arrived in front of the entrance. Glancing at the still-calm Sasuke and the revitalized Naruto, Sakura broke into a smile. The gloom on her face dissipated, replaced by a confident look in her eyes, and she took the lead in stepping past the entrance.
I'm ready... Whatever difficulties and dangers there are, just bring them on. I'm not afraid of you! With this feeling, Sakura led the two of them into the Forest of Death.
A great battle of hunting and being hunted had officially begun.
Sakura suddenly woke up from a deep sleep. At this moment, she was inside a giant tree, in a tree hole that had been temporarily created by her water cutter. Through the faint light shining in from a ventilation hole, she could vaguely see Sasuke and Naruto sleeping soundly on the other side of the dark tree hole.
Sakura's head felt chaotic, her thoughts like frozen paste, unable to function. After a long while, she realized that she was not at home, but in the Forest of Death.
She slowly stood up, clenched her fists to feel the strength in her body. Her exhausted stamina had only recovered by twenty to thirty percent, and her whole body was aching. This was the aftereffect of waking up forcibly after a great battle without getting complete rest.
What happened? Sakura tried hard to recall everything that had happened before. After taking a few deep breaths, her mind finally cleared up, and the images from her memory also surfaced.
Earlier...
After entering the Forest of Death, the three of them found a small river and followed it towards the tower.
In the evening, when the three of them stopped to prepare dinner, Sakura suddenly sensed something strange.
"Sasuke, Naruto! Wait, something's not right!" Sakura said with a sudden unease. "It feels like... someone is watching us!"
Sasuke frowned and was about to speak when three ninja suddenly rushed out from a hidden spot in the forest not far away. They were not wearing forehead protectors, and from their attire, they seemed to be Genin from the Village Hidden in the Rain.
"Hehehe—" the tall young man in the lead sneered. "Your perception is quite sharp, brats, to have discovered us! Unfortunately, you can't win a battle with just perception. If you want to live, then obediently hand over your scroll!"
Sakura snorted coldly. She had discovered these people long ago and had only pretended not to know because she wanted to stop and rest for a bit before dealing with them.
"Get lost... I don't have time to get tangled up with small fry like you right now!" The growing sense of crisis in her heart made Sakura lose her patience, and she said irritably. Am I being targeted by Orochimaru? Sakura tried hard to suppress the impulse to run away in her heart. She knew she had no special escape skills; a single Genin had no chance of escaping from Orochimaru. Moreover, there were enemies in front of her right now.
Taking a deep breath, Sakura calmed her quietly trembling body.
Orochimaru... let me see just how terrifying you are.