"I'm the real Naruto—he's the fake!" Suddenly, another Naruto burst out from the trees, blocking the Naruto standing next to Sasuke.
Sakura: (⊙ω⊙)!
Startled, she immediately backed away from the Narutos in confusion.
Naruto pointed at the newcomer and frowned. "Who are you? I don't remember using Shadow Clone."
The second Naruto responded firmly, "I'm the real Naruto! You're the fake!"
"I am the real Naruto!" the first one snapped back.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, silently observing. The moment the exchange ended, he whipped out a kunai and charged toward the new arrival.
Without hesitation, he slashed at the newcomer. The second Naruto dodged hastily, shouting, "Sasuke! What are you doing?!"
"What do you think?" Sasuke muttered coldly. He flipped midair and delivered a spinning kick to the fake Naruto's face, sending him flying and slamming into the ground.
"Nice one, Sasuke!" the original Naruto called out. "How did you know he was the fake?"
Sasuke said nothing, keeping his eyes locked on the imposter sprawled on the ground.
The downed "Naruto" stood up and scowled. "Tch. What bad luck. Since I've been exposed, I guess there's no choice. Hand over the scroll, and I'll let you live."
With that, boom!—his appearance shifted, revealing a man in yellow clothing wearing a respirator.
"Give me your head!" Naruto shouted, dashing forward. He planted his left foot and punched at the man in yellow.
The man grabbed Naruto's fist and countered with a stab.
"Naruto!"
"Naruto!"
Sasuke and Sakura called out in panic, unable to react in time.
But then—the man's eyes widened. His stab had hit nothing.
Shadow Clone.
"Up here!" another Naruto shouted from midair, descending with a Rasengan in hand.
Boom!
The Rasengan connected perfectly, blasting the yellow-clad man into the ground. He lay motionless, likely unconscious or worse.
Sasuke walked over, kunai in hand, and lightly tapped Naruto on the head.
Naruto: w(Д)w "Hey! My head!"
"You're welcome." Sasuke smirked and patted Naruto's shoulder.
"Don't 'you're welcome' me! My poor head..." Naruto grumbled.
"Haha." Sasuke chuckled, then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, check if he has any scrolls on him."
To Sasuke, Sakura's main role on the team was handling the simple tasks—like looting fallen enemies.
Sakura immediately got to work.
Meanwhile, Naruto looked at Sasuke curiously. "Hey, how did you figure out he was the fake?"
Sasuke replied, "Your shuriken holster is tied to your right leg—because you're right-handed. The fake had it on his left."
"Whoa, Sasuke! You really are my best friend!" Naruto beamed and threw his arms around Sasuke.
"What about Hinata?" Sasuke asked dryly. "How many best friends do you have, Naruto?"
"Of course Hinata's my best friend too!" Naruto said without hesitation. He wondered if he should invite her for ramen after the Chunin Exams. She'd probably say yes... right?
Tch. Sasuke looked away, pouting slightly.
(*￣︿￣)
Suddenly, a thought hit Sasuke, and he turned to Naruto seriously. "What if it had been me just now? Could you have told the difference?"
Naruto blinked, caught off guard. (°ー°〃)
He scratched his head. "Probably...?"
Sasuke: (へ╬) "Probably?! Hmph."
"There's nothing on him," Sakura reported just then.
"No scrolls?!"
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance, and Sasuke immediately barked, "Let's go!"
The two grabbed Sakura and bolted from the area. Five minutes later, two more enemies arrived—wearing the exact same clothing as the man Naruto had taken out. Clearly, they were from the same group.
They silently checked the body, then carried their fallen comrade away.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest…
Two Konoha teams crossed paths.
"Stop hiding. Come out," Hyuga Neji said calmly.
Shikamaru and his team—Ino and Choji—were startled in their hiding spot.
Ino whispered, "Seriously? We hid so quickly too..."
Shikamaru sighed. "What a pain. That guy's such a nuisance."
They had seen Neji's team first and tried to wait them out. Unfortunately, they'd been spotted anyway—thanks to Neji's Byakugan.
Ino grumbled, "Plan A failed. Time for Plan B."
"...Do we really have to?" Choji asked reluctantly.
"What, got a problem with it?" Ino glared at him. "This is your fault, by the way!"
Shikamaru sighed and nodded. His brain was already spinning with backup strategies.
They emerged from the bushes, and Ino immediately turned on the charm. "Oh wow! We actually ran into last year's Rookie of the Year, Neji Hyuga!"
"I totally want his autograph," Choji said with zero enthusiasm.
Shikamaru stayed quiet, doing his best impression of someone impressed.
Ino "accidentally" let her hair tie fall, golden locks flowing as she smiled. "I've actually been wanting to meet you for a long time."
Neji: "..."
"It's you three. Get lost." He turned and walked away with Lee and Tenten.
Before leaving, Tenten shot Ino a death glare.
Ino clenched her fists. Why didn't my beauty trick work?! So frustrating!
But then Neji suddenly stopped and turned to glance at them again.
Ino froze in place.
"Do you know the red-haired guy?" Neji asked out of nowhere.
Red hair?
"You mean Brother Menma?" Shikamaru asked, puzzled.
"Yeah. What's his full name? How strong is he?"
That question caught Shikamaru off guard. Strange—Naruto had said they often visited the Hyuga compound. Hadn't Neji met him already?
Still, Shikamaru answered honestly, "His full name is Menma Uzumaki. He's incredibly strong—stronger than any of the candidates here."
Stronger than anyone here!
Neji: (⊙ω⊙)!
Lee: (ΩДΩ)!
Tenten: (O_o)?
After a beat of silence, all three immediately reignited with determination. After all, they were trained by Guy.
"Let's go," Neji said coolly, leading his team away without another word.
Shikamaru exhaled deeply. "Phew... Glad we didn't pick a fight."
"Why'd he suddenly ask about Brother Menma?" Choji asked.
"Maybe they've met before." Shikamaru shrugged. "Anyway, let's keep moving. We shouldn't linger."
Choji and Ino nodded, and the three quickly disappeared into the forest.
(End Of Chapter)
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