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Chapter 35

ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

 After speaking to the nurses, Kakashi decided to withdraw Y/n from the dismal hospital room and force her to attend the last battle. For a bit, he left the girl lonesome- to somewhat decompress the recent and complicated events. And the sensei went to observe the remaining fights, only to come back carrying Sakura to the clinic as well. Then bring her back to the stadium. Moreover, he attempted to bring his other student out, too.

As they trudged through the hospital's halls, Kakashi-sensei would notice Y/n's morose walk and down-casted eyes. He desired to support her, but he hasn't grasped how to yet. All the teacher knows about Y/n's past is where she was from and what he was told by...

Progressing in the halls, a crowd of medical-nin carried an unconscious dirtied body on a stretcher. They speed-walked through as though it was quite a dire condition. Behind him, Kakashi overheard his student gasp, "Lee...!" Then the teacher regarded his life-long rival dutifully accompanying the group of doctors and nurses. The vacant expression on Guy's face made Kakashi inwardly cringe in contrition.

Y/n sped ahead of her sensei, swiftly landing next to Lee's body. She glanced between the medical-nin and the other sensei, hopelessly searching for an explanation. But none was made. Instead, the nurses shooed her away with a wave of their gloved hands before speeding to one of the open rooms. Guy-sensei stayed behind. He gently patted her shoulder with a sigh. Y/n quickly remarked, "...Can you at least tell Lee that I'll see him soon?" At the sensei's composed nod, she solemnly continued her way to the arena.

 It was amidst a fight that Y/n and Kakashi-sensei arrived. The girl sluggishly hauled herself to the outer fencing to discern the two competitors. Kakashi not too far behind.

A loud crash was accompanied by a piercing burst of soundwaves, as Choji used his family's ninjutsu to avoid one of Orochimaru's lackey's attacks. Using his now bloated body, Choji attempted to smash the straw-coat man. But the other's defense was strong. The soundwave blasted Choji back into the concrete wall of the arena, effectively cracking the layer and knocking the boy unconscious. Y/n could only sigh at the display.

Hayate-sensei made his way to the front of the arena, announcing, "With this, the preliminaries for the thirds exam is completed. Everyone who advanced come down for the Hokage's speech." One of the first things Y/n noticed was how empty it seemed. Half of the initial groups of people were gone due to injuries or the like. Out of the ten contestants that made it, besides herself and Sasuke, were the man in the straw coat, Naruto, Temari, Kankurō, Gaara, Shikamaru, Shino, and the Hyuga boy on Lee's team.

Y/n made certain to pause until everyone else was down first, as not to make a scene. Almost immediately as she took her first step on the arena, however, she overheard a melodramatic gasp from Sakura. "Y/n...!" She (not so quietly) murmured. The rest of the contestants turned around and examined the tired girl. Already exhausted from her fractious emotions, she merely hung her head and stalked behind the assembly.

Yet it seems Y/n couldn't catch a break; not even a second after Sakura uttered her name, Naruto was in front of her. He jumped around Y/n in a circle as if performing a ritual, "Y/n! Y/n! Y/n!" Naruto shouted. The boy stopped in front of her downward gaze and crookedly brought his face to meet hers. Upon seeing the girl's tear-stained appearance, he took her cheeks into his hands and squished her face. "Hey! Hey! What's wrong?! Who hurt you!? That kid will pay for making you upset!" He brought his hands away and punched the air, imitating a fight. "I'll give him a little of this-" Naruto kicked the air. "-And this!" Kakashi smacked the wild boy in the head, and immediately, Naruto finished.