Chapter 58: Ditching for a chick

"PLEASH SHTAP!!! I SHURRENDER!!" - Yoroi cried out.

His face was completely trashed and his sunglasses were completely destroyed.

"Uhmm, I guess Uzumaki Naruto won." - Scatter-brained Jonin

"YEAH!! I WON!!! I ADVANCED TO THE THIRD EXAM!!!"- Naruto was jumping happily around, oblivious to how he got so strong suddenly and the atmosphere around him.

"Oh man, now it turns out that Naruto is a freak as well...at least you won't betray me, Choji." - Shikamaru

"(Potato-chips noises)" - Choji

"HOW MANY BAGS OF CHIPS DO YOU HAVE STILL HAVE??!!" - Ino

"Mpfmhmhm" - Choji

"I didn't understand a word..." - Ino

"What happened to Naruto? I thought he was a total loser...even Akamaru is scared of this weird chakra which popped out of him..." - Kiba

After celebrating enough, Naruto's and Neji's eyes met.

Naruto got instantly serious and did the pose again, which he did when he vowed to defeat Neji.

"So what? You think you can escape your fate of being a loser just because you showed some strange power to defeat this pushover?" - Neji

"You...just you wait. I will defeat you and smack your face until you stop saying this stupid fate stuff." - Naruto

Sparks flew between them and they got so fired up that they would have started to fight each other right here if it wasn't for the screen showing the participants of the next fight.

It was Gaara vs Lee!

Naruto walked beside Kakashi and Sakura.

"Well done, Naruto." - Kakashi

"...Congratulations..." - Sakura said that with a worried face.

"Hey, what's wrong Sakura?" - Naruto

"Nothing."

Anyway, the fight between Gaara and Lee started.

Needless to say, this fight was a real show for the spectators, and Eiji had goosebumps watching it in real.

Some old feelings he has forgotten started to surface again.

'Right, even though in terms of safety it sucks living in this world, it's still nevertheless the world I immersed myself for years in my previous life. I laughed and cried watching the journey of Naruto and all those people...'

Being born and living in this world for so long, his former life was already starting to get blurry and felt like it was someone else's memories and not his.

His thoughts were interrupted when Temari returned from the bathroom.

"It's Gaara's turn? It looks like it's already ov- wait, what happened here? Why is Gaara injured and what happened to the battle stage? Hey! Answer me Kankuro!" - Temari

"Sorry...it's just his opponent was unbelievably strong. And the other Gaara almost fully awakened..." - Kankuro

"Almost? So we were lucky he didn't snap?" - Temari breathed out some air.

She then looked at Eiji but didn't show any emotions, like nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"Anyway, guys. I think I should go to my team now. They probably think I ditched them for a chick, so see ya!"

Eiji then went to his team.

"..."

"What? Alright I get it, but wouldn't you all agree that it would have been awkward for me to return instantly after all that?" - Eiji

"*cough* I have much I want to say to you, but I guess it has to wait." - Hayate pointed at the screen.

The next names were placed there.

Akimichi Choji vs Nogami Kotaru!

"Oh, it's my turn. I honestly think I stand a good chance against that fatso." - Kotaru

Far away at team 10 Choji's ears twitched slightly.

'Did I really hear that now or was I just imagining things?' - Choji

His expression and mood turned completely serious.

'I was worrying if he would be even in the mood to fight, but looks like he is up for it." - Asuma

When Choji and Kotaru were in their positions, Shikamaru and Ino started to cheer Choji on.

"GO GET HIM!" - Shikamaru

"YOU CAN DO IT, FATSO!!" - Ino

"Ugh...! SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN! I'M GONNA END THIS MATCH FAST SO I CAN COME BEAT YOU UP!" - Choji was shouting towards Ino.

Meanwhile on Kotaro's side.

Eiji was picking his nose, while Arina was at least showing a "Fight on!" pose, even if it was half-assed and with a bored expression.

"..."

'Do those guys even care if I win or not?' - Kotaru

___________

A/N:

So now, only the "leftover" fights are left. Even though it's generally a good idea to give some more screentime and depth to original characters like Kotaru and Arina, I know you guys want to get to the juicy stuff as fast as possible and me too to be honest. So I plan to have the rest of the fights be short, so the preliminaries end in the next chapter or the chapter after the next.