Another Take (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Complete)

Ch. 24: War Of Change

~It's a truth that in love and war, worlds collide and hearts get broken~

Kiyomi's POV

I leaned against one railing of the balcony on which I was standing, looking out over the match below. It was Sasuke versus one of the guys from Kabuto's team, Yoroi something.

And it was not looking good for my raven-haired teammate.

~Flashback~

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test!" Anko yelled, looming above us on the stage. "Listen carefully!"

Lord Third than began to talk, and like I normally do when people start giving long-winded speeches, I tuned him out.

'Are you ready for this?' Fenrir asked, having observed the competition. 'At this stage, it'll probably be either team vs team, or one-on-one battles. Have you recovered enough from the Forest?'

I sighed. 'I hope so,' I muttered, leaning on Fenrir's shoulder. The brown wolf was laying down in my mind, and I took the opportunity to get some rest. 'I'm not sure about my team though. They look about as exhausted as I am now.'

'But knowing them, they won't quit, if given the option.' I nodded in agreement with the wolf, knowing that he was right. My team was way too stubborn for their own good.

'They truly are...'

The sound of severe coughing broke into my mind, shattering whatever semblance of peacefulness I'd gained. 'Oh gods, what now...?' I muttered, then jumped out of my mind to see what all the racket was.

"... a preliminary test, to see who will compete in the Third Exam," a new guy was saying. He looked incredibly sick, but he was at least a Chunin if he was proctoring this. So I shouldn't underestimate him.

"Why are we having a preliminary test?" Sakura asked as she raised her hand, voicing the question that everyone was wondering.

The proctor smirked. "Well, it's because," he stopped briefly to cough, then continued. "Because there's too many people. So we need to reduce the number before the real Third Exam." The proctor looked up at Lord Hokage before he started speaking again. "There will be many guests at the Third Exam, and we wouldn't want to bore them with a lot of long fights."

"Anyone not feeling well, state your name now, and you can leave!" Anko broke in, leaving Hayate to his coughing fit. "It won't affect your team's performance, so anyone not in fighting condition, please drop out now!"

All us Genin shuffled about for a few minutes, glancing around to see if anyone was planning on quitting. My team and I were all giving each other death stares. Sakura wanted Sasuke to quit, Sasuke wanted me to quit, I could care less, and Naruto just wanted to get started.

"Well, guess I'm out," Kabuto said suddenly, raising his hand. I frowned. He didn't seem to be in bad condition, in fact he looked perfectly fine! So why drop out now?

"If Kabu-kun's out, then so am I!" Skyla said strongly, adjusting her glasses again. She flipped her long white hair over her shoulder, then glomped Kabuto again. The boy just sweatdropped, but didn't move her arms off.

"Kabuto Yakushi and Skyla Ran of the Leaf?" Anko asked, looking at a ledger with names on it. "Okay, you may leave." She looked around some more, trying to see if anyone else was giving up. "No one else? This is an individual fight, and you quitting won't affect your team's performance!"

Kabuto and Skyla walked out of the silent arena as the remaining contestants waited to see if any of them would give up. No one did.

"Sasuke... You should give up," Sakura finally said in a whisper, staring at the Uchiha who had his hand clutching his neck.