Root Operative, Kitsune (A Naruto what-if Fanfiction)

Part 5

Naruto walked into the Arena and searched for a good spot to sit in the stands, knowing that his fight won't be until the end. He found a reasonable place to sit so that he could watch the rounds before his in peace, but then Sakura walked over to him and sat down next to him, followed by Ino and Choji.

Naruto took a deep breath and kept a locked lid on his emotions, annoyed that Sakura would want to converse with him yet again.

"Good luck in your match today, Naruto-Kun," She whispered to him low enough so that Ino or Choji wouldn't hear.

"I'd just like to thank you for telling it to me straight. You were right, I did need to work on getting stronger so that I wouldn't weigh the rest of you down, and because of you I've grown stronger, I even made it to the Finals side-by-side with you two. So thank you!" Sakura smiled at him, successfully stunning him.

Naruto was sure that he'd never shown the slightest bit of compassion for his pink-haired teammate, and she wanted to thank him for his harsh words? Naruto couldn't think of a response to her words, but felt that he should show something to her- she wished him luck after all.

He nodded at her and turned to look at the first round.

"There have been some changes to the rounds, Yakushi Kabuto will not be participating, Aburame Shino will take his place against Temari. If there are no objections, then the first round, Haruno Sakura vs Kankuro will commence."

"Oh!" Sakura moaned out. Naruto tilted his head fractionally to the right to look at her from the corner of his eye and saw that she looked extremely nervous.

Sakura shakily stood up and took one step forward when she heard it. It was short, it was low, and she was 99% sure that she was just hearing things, but that one percent was all she needed.

"Good luck, I'll be rooting for you."

She turned back around and gaped at her teammate, but he was looking straight ahead, ignoring her. His eye flashed to her but it went back to staring ahead so quickly that Sakura wasn't sure if he looked at her, to begin with.

"Sakura! What are you waiting for?" Ino demanded as she got up, pushing Sakura toward the stairs. 

The pinkette made to walk but was stopped by her opponent.

"I Kankuro of the Sand, forfeit my fight!"

Astonished at her luck, Sakura skipped back to her seat, knowing that she never would've won their fight. But when she got back to her seat, Naruto seemed pissed about something. It was hard to tell as he's a master of emotion control, but she could see the hint of rage in his eyes, or at least his right eye, he had his left covered by his headband for some reason. Sakura just assumed that it was to copy their sensei, it would appear that Naruto had a soft spot for the Jonin.

The look of anger didn't die away as the next round proceeded as planned, Temari beat Shino with little difficulty- her Wind style killed too many of his Insects that he conceded the match.

Sakura wondered what it was that angered her teammate, he seemed perfectly content when Ino was pushing her. What could have angered him so much so quickly?

"Uchiha Sasuke will be given ten more minutes, if he fails to arrive by then he will be disqualified."

'Sasuke-Kun...'

Sasuke and Kakashi arrived in a swirl of leaves right on time, allowing Sasuke to continue his match without being disqualified.

"You should forfeit this match, fate has declared me the winner."

"You'll do well to remember this, Hyuga! I don't care what bullshit you made up to make yourself feel better after you lost your mommy and daddy! Only one Genin here can beat me, you're no exception."