Unnoticed

Fourth Life [pt.9]

With the first match of the exams over, a new problem arose for me.

It was time for the second match and yet Sasuke wasn't here, much to my annoyance. It seemed Kakashi wasn't budging on his reputation of being late, and I had no way of contacting him. I suppose it wasn't too much of a concern, whether he was disqualified or not. Not like the tournament was gonna last longer then the first rounds anyway.

I was obviously unable to hear what was being said in the kage booth, but their expressions made it clear enough. The Raikage was obviously annoyed but based on his actions I'd assume he wanted to delay the match, if only to give his own genin a chance to prove herself.

The Hokage's expression seemed perfectly calm and composed, despite that I knew he was worried over Sasuke. For him there was a possibility that Sasuke had already been captured. I knew from canon he would advocate for the match to be delayed.

When I looked to rightmost 'kage', he stared right back. His face was almost completely covered, yet there was no doubt he was staring down straight at me. I couldn't discern any specific expressions from his covered face that far away, but I could almost feel his intrigue towards me.

I seem to have peaked his interest, but I am still not his primary target. I am simply a genin with some interesting skills and knows a bit more then they should. The Sharingan is still worth much more to him then I am, and we both know that

It was a clear decision. As the Procter went to announce Sasuke's disqualification, he was tapped on the shoulder. The Konoha Jonin who had appeared whispered something into his ear then disappeared once more.

"Huh? Alright. The Kage have decided to delay this match for a few so they will be skipped for now. Next up then, Naruto Uzumaki versus Sakura Haruno! Please come down to the arena, and the match will begin." The Procter announced to the crowd as well as the participants. It took all of 10 seconds for Naruto to get over his shock at his opponent, weep over having to fight her, then get excited again at being able to show off all his cool new moves to her first hand.

Both of them were quick to make it down to the field, and after a bit of small talk I didn't pay attention to -mostly Naruto flirting and Sakura rejecting- the match began. It started off quick, unlike my first match. Naruto made the first move, shadow clones spontaneously bursting into existence at Naruto's hand sign. As they charged forward Sakura took advantage of the small time it would take for them to get to her. Within moments shuriken were flying, and though most blocked with kunai, a few lucky hits got through, popping a few of the clones.

While viewing the match from the competitors box, I was discreetly aware of the presence looming behind me. My response was a very slight, almost unnoticeable flinch when they placed their hand on my shoulder. Mentally jotting down the glint in their eye when I turned, "So he does get surprised. What a shock."

The witty comment was unsurprising, and having seen their own reaction, I turned back to the match. The other took that as an invitation and sat down next to me.

I looked down as they took a seat, noting how the pace of the battle hadn't changed much. Sakura was still dodging and throwing sharp objects, Naruto was still throwing an abundant amount of shadow clones at her, and the person next to me was yawning.

"Man, you'd think a match-up like this would be interesting." Was the bored remark from my companion.

"Sakura is eventually going to run out of things to throw, that's when things are going to get interesting."

True to my words, Sakura's endless torrent of kunai and shuriken came to an abrupt halt. She quickly fled into the forest as fast as possible once the shadow clones began encroaching on her.