The Lack of Motivation

Chapter 22

Naruto looked around the arena with a pout. It seemed Sandaime had done a sweeping on the arena before the tournament started to destroy any trap he managed to put there. What Naruto didn't know was that there were several ninjas got themselves transferred to hospital in the attempt to remove his traps and how the old Sarutobi got a bigger headache from it, especially that some of his ninjas were down to count when there was an invasion to fight off.

The whistle was sounded to announce the start of the tournament, but even then no one moved from their spots, carefully watching their opponents.

Tenten was already focused on Naruto. She'd make him pay for hurting her teammates while he seemed to enjoy seeing them suffer. At least Yakushi Kabuto had taken care not to injure Lee much and only trying to disable the taijutsu specialist with special care. It didn't mean she would dismiss the others' dangerous potential though. This was not one-in-one battle.

Kankurou warily watched Gaara from the corner of his eyes as he looked at Uchiha Sasuke. He knew that the black haired boy was one of the genins the red head was interested to and he didn't want to face Gaara's ire if he chose to attack the Leaf genin. Uzumaki Naruto was another one to be wary about. His presence seemed to unsettle Gaara, and he never saw his little brother did it before. Kabuto's chakra scalpel was one to be watch for this ability could cut the chakra strings that connected him to his dolls, beside he was between Uchiha and Uzumaki. He decided to target the bun haired girl.

Sasuke immediately dismissed Tenten from his list, for he didn't care much fighting a kunoichi. He'd like to fight Naruto if only to avenge all the pranks that happened upon him. Still that four eyed was annoying, ogling him like he was a piece of meat, so perhaps he should be the first one to go first. Kakashi had told him to be careful around Gaara, so he'd see what he got first. It would be a fool move to dismiss his teacher's warning. He didn't care much about Kankurou unless the older boy attacked him first.

Kabuto's target was definitely Sasuke, but he could feel Naruto's malicious smirk toward him even if he didn't see it. He clutched the hidden syringe tightly. It was still in its experimental stage, but he was pretty sure that he had managed to create a way to mirror the effect of Orochimaru's bite to make cursed seal. Inside it was Juugo's blood and Orochimaru's venom. The snake man had approved him using it, but warned him that if it failed, he'd pay for it. Kabuto was confident that his experiment wouldn't fail him. Beside if Sasuke died because of it, he could salvage the situation by implanting his sharingan eyes to Orochimaru like what had happened to Hatake Kakashi. He could think later how to implant the eyes many times so Orochimaru could still use them when he changed his body after years of use.

(AN: for those who don't know who Juugo is, Juugo is the original who has the cursed seal which was then twisted by Orochimaru to fit his purpose)

Gaara was looking at Sasuke. He had heard the rumored prodigy and would like to taste his blood. But his real target was Uzumaki Naruto. The boy didn't seem to fear him even though he knew that he was the vessel of Shukaku. He wanted to know why and to see whether he was truly not afraid or it was only a façade.

Naruto didn't care about Tenten, Kankurou, or Sasuke. He felt they weren't really worth his time. Who cared if the girl's eyes were drilling daggers against him. Kankurou was a wimp for fearing his own brother, even if said brother was jinchuuriki. And Sasuke? Time and time again the boy had fallen to his traps. Gaara would be definitely strong opponent, but he already knew what to expect from the red head. No, his focus was Yakushi Kabuto. He was on jounin level with great control to become an excellent medic-nin like Tsunade, one of The Legendary Sannin of Konoha. And his bloodline limit was definitely interesting for it reminded him of his own regenerative ability that was passed down from his furry tenant. And the old man did ask him to apprehend him.