The Other Jinchūriki - A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 43

"Kabuto, right?" Sasuke questioned, getting a nod from the silver-haired man. "What are you doing walking around on your own?"

"Relax, I'm not after your scrolls," he reassured.

"It makes sense you aren't," Sasumi commented. "You would've caught us off guard and taken them by now if you wanted to."

"Correct." Kabuto pulled out two scrolls from his pouch. "In fact, I already have all my scrolls. I had some luck. I was just on my way to wait for my teammates to show up." He pointed to the direction of the towers, which weren't that far. "So if you'd excuse me..." he began walking away, until Sasuke called to him.

"Hold it. I'll fight you for it."

"Sasuke, are you on something?" Rizaki questioned rhetorically.

"Yeah, are you joking or what?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Are you serious?" Kabuto asked, his head turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"No, yes, and perfectly." Sasuke pulled out a kunai. "Sorry, but I don't have the time to play nice."

"He just showed us the way to the towers!" Sōma explained. "Once we get the scrolls we'll just go in that direction!"

"My brother has a point," Sakura agreed. "We don't want to be ungrateful or anything—"

"Shut up," Sasuke cut her off coldly, making Sōma growl at him.

"Okay, now you're just acting like a jerk!"

"It can't be helped. It's either him or us. Out here, it's about surviving and winning. Nothing else matters." Sasumi furrowed her eyes as she stared at her brother. Kabuto just scoffed softly.

"You're lying." Everyone but Sasuke blinked at him, however their minds thought otherwise.

Maji?!

Say whaaaat-ttebayo?!

How did he know my Sasuke was lying?!

And I oop-!

...Hn.

"Come on, admit it," Kabuto rested his hands on his hips. "For all your tough talk, your heart really isn't in it. If it was true, if winning was the only thing that mattered to you, why openly challenge me to a fight? Why announce it and put me on guard? Why not just jump me when my back was turned? After all, that's what a ninja would do."

"Wow," Naruto and Rizaki chorused. "That's pretty deep," the blond added.

"It's fine." Kabuto smiled softly. "Actually, I admire you for it. So how about this; I'll guide you guys down the path you should go on. But let's go, it's best to get out of here now. The smell of that cooking fire is going to draw everything in the forest, and not just animals; the competition too."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You're still keeping that stick Kiba whacked you with?" Sōma questioned Rizaki quietly as they followed the older Genin.

"Well, yeah," Rizaki shrugged. "I could use it to whack other people. I guess it could be like a bo-staff or something."

"It looks sturdy and straight enough to be one..."

"You think there are still other candidates out here?" Sasuke asked Kabuto, who nodded.

"Oh yeah," he replied. "Just think about it. What do you think is the most efficient way of finding the scrolls in an area as large as this? To go searching through the forest for them?"