Chapter 31: Preliminary Round

Naruto's POV

"What is this place?" I asked. "Look over there." Nue-chan said. "It's some kind of sign." Sakura-chan said. Nue-chan narrowed her eyes at the sign. "I think it means we're supposed to open the scrolls here." Nue-chan said.

"You sure?" Sasuke asked. "I think so." She replied. I grabbed one scroll and Sakura-chan took the other. As we opened them, smoke began to pour out of it. "It's a summoning! Quick! Throw the scrolls!" Nue-chan said, quickly.

We did what she said and threw the scrolls. "Looks like you guys made it." we heard a voice say. "Iruka-sensei!" I said, surprised. "Hey, Naruto." He greeted with a smile. "Nue, you don't look so good," Iruka-sensei noticed. "Was it that tough for you?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, Iruka-sensei. I'm perfectly fine, despite my appearance." Nue-chan said with a closed eye smile. I could tell she was lying. I know Nue-chan was still in pain. Iruka-sensei began to tell us that we passed this part of the exam and we need to move to the next stage of the exam.

"All right!" I cheered. "Be careful, dobe! You'll drop Nue!" Sasuke said. "I'm okay." Nue-chan informed. "Go, get in there. They're all waiting for you." Iruka-sensei told us. "Hai!" We chorused.

Nue's POV

When we entered through the doors, I could see all our friends, including Kabuto's team, the Bushy Eyebrow guy's team, and a Sound team. It's like no one got left behind. "Naruto, are you sure you wanna keep carrying me? I'm kind of heavy." I mentioned.

"Don't worry, Nue-chan. I don't mind. Believe it." He said, smiling. "But I don't wanna become burden to you." I told him. "You're not burden, Nue-chan. You're as light as a feather." Naruto replied. "There's no way I'm that light, you silly blonde." I said as I ruffled his head.

I turned my head and noticed Gaara's team. They don't have a scratch on them! How is that even possible?! I turn the other way, noticing Iri next to Kakashi. I narrowed my eyes at her. She did help us out, but why do I feel like I still can't trust her?

I could still hear Orochimaru voice, telling me how Iri or Okaa-san didn't love me. But what about Maria? Can I still trust her? What if what Orochimaru said was true? What if she really was sent to me just to kill me? 

I looked towards the front and spotted Maria, standing next to Anko. I gasped when I saw Misaki on her shoulders while Kiyoshi was sitting on top of her head, all coiled up. How did they even make it out of the forest?

"All right. Since there's so many of you, we're going to have a preliminary round." A Chunin Exams proctor said. Preliminary Round? What the hell is that?

"Each of you will come up one by one and fight each other. The match will be over if the opponent is unable to continue or if he or she quits. If anyone wishes to leave now, this is the time." He explained.

I blinked in surprise when I saw Kabuto raise his hand. "Kabuto? But why?" I asked. "I'm just pretty worn out of it, that's all. I don't think I can continue. But good luck to you and your team, Nue." Kabuto said. "Thank you, Kabuto." I replied.

I guess I was wrong about him. Maybe I can trust him. I mean, he did help my team and I get this far. I felt pretty bad that he was all worn out. I feel like I'm the one to blame for him giving up. I watched Kabuto walk away and exit through the doors.

"Nue, I think you should quit, too." Sasuke said. "Excuse me?" I asked. "I said, I think you should quit." He repeated. "Why? I've made it this far. There's no way I can give up now." I told him. "Nue, you have cracked ribs, a broken ankle, and a mild concussion." He pointed out.

"You don't have to keep reminding me." I said, frowning. He sighed and started to raise his hand until I grabbed his wrist.

"Don't even think about it, Sasuke. Don't you dare tell them I quit. I've been through too much to quit now. Especially when I've gotten this far. I'm not gonna give up over a couple of injuries. Not here, not now." I growled.

Maria's POV

"I've noticed you've been staring at that girl in the cloak a lot lately, Maria. Is something wrong?" Anko-san asked me. "Yes. If you take a close look at Nue-sama, you can tell she's injured." I said.

"She looks fine to me, despite the way she looks. I'm referring to her bruises, by the way." She mentioned. "There's something wrong with her. I know it." I said with narrowed eyes. I activated my kekkei genkai and looked at the Naruto boy right in the eye.

When he caught my gaze, his eyes began to glow red. "Tell me what's wrong with Nue-sama." I ordered in a whisper. Naruto slowly nodded his head and began to mouth his words to me. I could read his lips easily.

It appears Nue-sama has quite a few injuries. Yes, she's definitely injured. 'Nue-sama, if you know you're in pain, why don't you quit? Please, I'm begging you. Please quit, Nue-sama' I thought. "There's a curse mark on her neck." Anko-san said as she narrowed her eyes at Nue-sama.

"A curse mark?" I repeated. Why didn't Naruto tell me? Maybe he didn't know. "She must've got it from that bastard, Orochimaru." She said with a bit of anger. Anko-san has told me a little bit about this Orochimaru person. He seems like a sadistic bastard if you ask me.

Wait, if he got Nue-sama, then that means she could snap at any moment. "Hokage-sama, you have to tell Nue-sama that she can no longer continue." I said to him. "That's not up to me, Maria. If Nue doesn't want to quit, then she shouldn't." Hokage-sama said, calmly.

What's he doing? He knows Nue-sama has Orochimaru's mark on her, doesn't he? Why isn't he doing anything about it? I hope he knows what he's doing.

Nue's POV

We looked up at the board and waited for the first round. I stare calmly at the board when I saw the first names that came up; Nue Houjuu Satori vs. Iri Satori. I had to go up against my sister. I'm wasn't worried. I've gotten a lot stronger.

Iri may be older than me, but that doesn't make her stronger than me. Or does it? I don't know. I slid off Naruto's back and he gave me a worried look. "Don't worry, Naruto. I'll be fine." I assured him with a smile. 

He gave me a small smile back and left with Sakura and Sasuke. Everyone went by the balconies and Maria approached me.

"Hey, Maria. What's up?" I asked. "Nue-sama, I know about your injuries and I know about the mark on your neck." She whispered near my ear. My eyes widened. How does she know? "So, what?" I asked, putting a hand over the mark on my neck.

"Nue-sama, I'm not going to order you. But I think you should forfeit the match." Maria said. I'm not going to quit, Maria. You can't make me." I said. She stared at me with wide eyes, then sighed.

"I'm not going to force you to quit, Nue-sama. But if the match gets out of hand, I will have to step in and stop the match myself." Maria warned in a serious tone. I frowned at her. "That's not fair! You can't do that!" I said to her.

"I'm only doing what I think is right, Nue-sama." Maria said with a slight bow. "Will the two competitors please step forward?" The proctor said. "Excuse me." Maria said before teleporting by Kakashi-sensei. Iri and I stepped forward and faced each other.

"Are you sure wanna do this?" Iri asked me. I stared at her, emotionlessly. "I don't care what Orochimaru told you, Nue. I still love you." She said with honesty. I gritted my teeth. "Stop that." I said.

"Stop what?"

"Stop saying those things. You're only saying them to throw me off, to get in my head. Well, it's not going to work."

"I mean it from the bottom of my heart, Nue."

I frowned at her. "Let's just get this over with." I said, coldly. "If you are ready, you may-." I didn't wait for the proctor to finish. I swiftly ran behind Iri and stabbed her shoulder with a kunai knife. She stumbled forward and spun around to face me.

The moment she turned around, I grabbed her face and threw her to a wall. I didn't wait for her to recover. I teleported in front of her and pulled her out of the wall before punching her in the air. While she was in the air, I jumped up and kicked her stomach, making her smash into the ground.

I landed on the ground in a crouching position as I watched Iri shakily get on her hands and knees. She coughed up some blood and began to chuckle. "Looks like now I have to fight back because you insist on fighting mercilessly." Iri said as she stood to her feet.

She jumped in the air and did a hand sign. Huge ice sickles began to rain down on me. I ran forward, dodging them as I ran, and jumped up in the air, meeting her face to face. She gasped at my speed.

I smirked and punched her in the stomach, causing her to cough up a little bit of blood. I grabbed her throat, and threw her to the ground. When she made impact with the ground, a crater formed around her. I landed gracefully on my feet, frowning at her.

"You sure do attack ruthlessly when you're angry." Iri mentioned before coughing up more blood. Still frowning, I narrowed my eyes at her. How can she still be standing?

Iri smirked at me and wiped the blood that ran down the corner of her mouth. "Now, I'm ready for real." She said. So, it comes down to this. I'm going up against my sister.

My friend.

My family member.

The first person who didn't find me as a monster.

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Oh, man. Nue has to fight her sister in this round. Will she end up killing her or will Iri defeat her? How will this turn out? To be continued in Chapter 32. Vote and Comment. Until next time! Sayonara!

Kureiji out~