Chapter 72

"What's the matter with you?" Sasuke asked. He had found me sulking, leaning against the railing over the arena where I was sure we were about to fight in the preliminaries for the exam.

"Kakashi just chewed me out for what happened in the forest," I lied. It was childish of me to get so upset at the jounin for leaving me to rot in an orphanage. I was never promised anything more and I managed to survive on my own. Still, the prospect of having literal family burned in my mind like a heavy regret that refused to be pushed away.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Bullshit. Tell me what really happened."

"What makes you think..."

"Because you're a terrible liar," Sasuke immediately answered. "Now tell me the truth."

"I just found out something unpleasant about my past. It doesn't really matter. I'll get over it soon." I continued to stare out at the wide, open room and I wondered who I would have to fight.

Likewise, Sasuke stood next to me, also leaning with his arms crossed over the railing, looking out at the same view as if he too could see the future. "It's been about six years, hasn't it?"

"Something like that," I answered.

"The problem with you is that you try to do everything by yourself. You talk a lot about teamwork but in reality, you're a pretty selfish person," he stated factually.

"Yeah," I answered.

"If you need help with something, you can just ask."

"I'm sure the heir to the Uchiha clan has better things to do than sort out the petty annoyances of a clanless genin."

Sasuke sighed. "You'd be surprised, Haru. Anyways, don't think that I don't know you well enough to tell when something is wrong. It's insulting to my skills as a ninja."

I continued to silently look ahead to the near future until it was time for the preliminaries and we had to return to the main room.

"Shut up, woman!" Kiba shouted into his teammate's face.

"Kiba, you're such an ass!" a female genin shouted back.

Akamaru simply whimpered while sitting on top of Kiba's head.

"If it weren't for me, we would never have made it here!" Kiba continued to shout.

"If it weren't for you, we would never have gotten lost on the way here!" the female genin shouted back.

Simultaneously, they both turned to their last teammate and shouted, "Hibachi! Who's right?"

The third genin shrugged and merely offered, "Sure?"

I felt bad for this Hibachi. I didn't expect Kiba to make it through the forest of death but I was happy to see he hadn't been left behind because I took his place in the Rookie 9. They had made it just in time too, becoming the seventh and final team to pass the second stage of the chunin exam.