Chapter 180

'Yeah,' Naru-nii regretfully agrees. 'He wasn't just a brother to me, he was the bar I always thought I had to clear to turn around all the bad stuff, so rather then do everything in my power to keep him from being corrupted by his hate, I unconsciously used that moment to prove a point to myself; that I had value, that I was strong, that everyone was wrong about me… which is why I failed. Ever since then, I trained as hard as I could, every day, for another chance to fix my mistake.'

'But eventually you learned keeping Sasuke from his hate wasn't your job,' Naruto connects the dots from their month-long story-time.

'Sasuke already had a brother helping him and it wasn't me,' Naru-nii agrees. 'Had I known of the true villains out there, I might've spent less time worrying about Sasuke and more time training because it shouldn't have taken me so long to get this strong. Things might've gone completely different if I wasn't so selfishly stubborn.'

'Well, if the Valley of the End happens this time around and I brawl it out with Sasuke,' Naruto states in a light and energetic voice, hoping to break Naru-nii of his funk. 'I'm just going to kick his narrow ass,' and Naruto felt content to hear Naru-nii snicker and approve before their mystic prayer ended.

The sickly proctor, Hayate, turns to the surprised Hokage before Hiruzen turns from the scoreboard to a masked shinobi beside him. The man then disappears as Asuma and Kurenai, along with their students walk toward Kakashi as he walks to his team. Guy-sensei is nearby as well, with Hyūga Neji taking enough of an interest to move closer to the gathering Konoha ninja.

"What freaking luck, eh, Sasuke," Kiba laughs, though Sasuke hadn't taken his menacing eyes off Naruto. Shikamaru and Chōji agree with their own corroborative comments, Chōji going so far as to yowl, "aww man, Naruto-kun was the one person I wanted to match up against…"

The Jōnin Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy all stare at the Hokage as Kurenai tells Kakashi, "that shouldn't have happened."

Turning away from her teammates, Sakura says in a questioning tone, "Kakashi-sensei," while giving Ino a knowing sideways glance. This match-up means a great deal for Sakura as Sasuke is a never-ending source of turmoil between her heart and her mind, and Naruto is a good person who's always treated her with loving care; even when she didn't deserve it.

'And now they have to fight,' her concerned mind states. Regardless of how obvious it is she ought to be cheering for Naruto, she simply can't. Her aching heart can't cheer for Naruto, her miserable mind can't cheer on Sasuke, and yet, she still feels lucky compared to Ino.

Ino ignores Sakura's aware green eyes as they both understand this isn't a simple fight between teammates. For years, Sasuke was the most dominant affection in her young heart, but, after all the unexpected perspective she's recently gained, she's not the same girl she was when she graduated, and her love for the beautiful Uchiha has waned significantly. Sasuke has the crown for longest love of her life, but Naruto is the unexpected, can't-quite-believe, quality feeling making Ino's heart throb now.

'And now the most disregarded boy in the village, who I like, has to fight our class's strongest genin that everyone loves,' Ino thinks glumly. Ino felt like this colliding engagement was a deciding moment for her heart and mind. 'It's put up or shut up,' she harshly thinks, and so, her pupil-less blue eyes spy on Kurenai-sensei for strength, wisdom, or just any sign that it'll be alright. Ino only sees unexpected concern in the beautiful woman's ruby-red irises.

"The electronic match-up board may be random," Kakashi informs the gathering of genin. "But it shouldn't pair genin within the same team."

Adding a little more detail for the gathered teens, Kurenai states, "that could easily be viewed as duplicitous. Like Hokage-sama said, this selection process involves prospective clients, which then involves trade, ryo, and a village's prosperity. In this case, if two Sand or two Sound nin fought each other, that would lower their chances of reaching the finals with more participants and attracting business without any Konoha genin needing to fight them. It's a clear advantage for us which is why the scoreboard is programmed to randomly generate one genin from each team."

"In short," Asuma adds moving to stand next to Kurenai and cross his large arms. "If you want to avoid a diplomatic nightmare, it's better if everything remains as fair and above-board as possible."

The masked shinobi that had disappeared returns beside the Hokage and whispers information before the Hokage turns to the gathering, announcing to all, "my apologies to our Chūnin candidates and their Jōnin-sensei. While the match-ups are indeed selected at random, for the purposes of balance, it has been programmed not to pair teammates. If no one has any objection, we will run the generator again-"

Hiruzen is interrupted when Sasuke purposefully walks to the center of the stone ring, telling the Hokage, "I object," then turns to eye Naruto, calm in his bold move as he awaits the blond thorn in his side.

"…Sasuke," Naruto hears Sakura mouth from beside him.

"I object as well," the smiling Jōnin-sensei from the Hidden Village of Sound announces.

Baki-sensei from Sunagakure also objects, prompting Hiruzen to assert it will not be changed should their genin teammates have to fight each other. Naruto notes Gaara eying Sasuke before moving with his teammates toward the stairs to the upper walkway. Like with Haku, Naruto is certain he'll also be good friends with Gaara, and though he can't be sure how the future will play out, if there's a chance Gaara can see that Naruto is, in fact, worth the redhead's time, then maybe the pair of Jinchūriki can bridge the gap a little faster.

"Don't be discouraged, Naruto-kun," Lee calls with a clenched fist and fiery eyes, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "Amidst the truly strong exist the genius types and the hard-working types. Sasuke-kun may be a genius type, but those who work hard and never give up can truly be strong too!"

"OHHHH!" Guy-sensei calls, also with clenched fists and fiery eyes. "Well said, my beautiful student! That is what youth is all about!"

Naruto can see why Naru-nii likes them so much as Hinata walks up to him, despite being observed by her sensei, teammates, and peers, and wishes him, "g-good luck, Naruto-kun."

With a smile and a strong nod, Naruto replies, "thanks, Hinata-chan," bringing out different measures of envy in a raven and blond-haired kunoichi watching.

Turning at a very troubled and baneful avenger, Naruto decides not to wait for Valley of the End. As his Konoha peers move up to the second-floor walkway, Naruto walks to the stone stage as their sickly proctor gestures Naruto and Sasuke in opposing positions. With a small smile, Sasuke voices, "it's about time, dumbass."

As Naruto took his place, from the walkway above, Kiba calls, "two thousand ryo says Naruto loses in under two minutes."