Fate Wheel | Naruto

𝟑𝟓| Kabuto

"In this world only the paranoid survive."
—Dean Koontz

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DAWNS POV

The moment we stepped foot inside the room, the silence ceased upon our arrival. My face hardened, warily examining the participants, all whom wore fresh scowls and impatience on their faces.

It was clear that they were much older than we were since it had only been a few weeks since we graduated from the Academy, putting us at a disadvantage considering we hadn't participated in the exam before and we lacked experience. I'd like to think that I was an exception as survival beyond the Village walls was no easy job, but my teammates on the other hand could easily be intimidated by the amount of competition we had.

My stomach churned, as I forced myself to keep my chin up. Even the slightest hint of weakness could be preyed upon and used against me during the exam, that was when cognisance of character and reading the surroundings came in. Fear could be used as a weapon against you therefor putting you at a disadvantage. It could also be used as a prompt to encourage you to not get yourself killed if your will to live and to protect others is strong.

Fear could be manipulated, but it was also the manipulator. It was whether you could acknowledge the factor, that will give you the ability to control the way things flow. And in order to do that you must recognise your own weaknesses and overcome it before it's used against you.

"Sasuke, there you are!" The familiarity of the voice caused me to grimace in the inside. I had almost forgotten that there were a few other teams that had also graduated. "Why are you late?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in recognition. He sent me a pleading look as Ino tossed her arms around his shoulder, practically suffocating him.

"I haven't seen you in such a long time!" She proceeded to smother him, a part of me felt bad considering he looked like he was going to punch himself in the face, but at the same time it was entertaining. "I've been waiting for your arrival for so long, but you definitely made it worth the wait."

"Someone just eat her already." Jiro grumbled in distaste. "What a disgusting human, her voice resembles high pitch sirens that make me want to separate her head from her body."

"Ino-pig, instead of running your annoying voice all the time maybe allow Sasuke to actually breathe?" Sakura retorted, her glare flashing like lightning bolts as it connected with Ino. "He doesn't need you up in his space all the time."

"I see your forehead is still wide as ever. And don't you practically do the same thing?" Ino seethed, finally releasing her hold on Sasuke, and stormed towards Sakura.

Sakura lifted her nose in the air. "Yes, but that was when I realised that he's human too and by the way, making yourself sound like a nasally pig isn't going to make him like you any less than he already does."

Sasuke's eyebrows raised as he sent me a glance. "Well that's new." I nodded in agreement.

The blonde released an enraged huff, her eyes glancing towards me. "And how did that weird freak get placed on a team with Sasuke."

Freak. That hurt but it wasn't like I was hearing anything new. Instead, I remained silent. Humouring her would only give her the attention that she craved and the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of me, there was no way I was going to let her words hurt me when worse things have been said and done to me. But it seemed that, if she wasn't going to get anything out of me she was definitely first in the line to get brutally attacked by a large wolf.