Chapter 97: The Night Before~!

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Ino's POV (Iron Fair - Land of Iron)

Ino slowly marched through the fair, feeling incredibly lonely. Things were still awkward between her and Naruto; Neji was missing in action, and the same was true for Sakura. Her other friends were either missing or likely hanging out with Naruto. Instead, the Yamanaka slinked around the edges of the fair, attempting to take in the sights but mostly looking out for those she was trying to avoid.

Of course, things couldn't work out so neatly. Perhaps Ino's time in Team Seven had made her and Naruto develop the same taste. When she had chosen a location to mope, she discovered Naruto and Team Eight were present. A slick and regretful getaway had allowed her to avoid the complicated mess that was her love life/friendship with one Naruto Uzumaki. Furthermore, she felt conflicted by Tsunade's message.

How to repair things with Naruto, what it means to be a kunoichi, and if Ino could match her teammates. The woes pursuing Ino whirled through her mind. The young woman walked through the fair in an emotional daze. She gazed at a more oversized stall advertised as a dango bar, bringing Ino memories of her temporary sensei, Anko Mitarashi. Perhaps that was why she walked in, got a booth, and settled in with a pile of dango and sake. A habit Anko had seemingly instilled in her. As a Yamanaka, Ino knew this was a form of mimicry from her role model. A chilling thought her seeing Anko as an idol, but she supposed she needed guidance…

God, booze made her introspective. Her mind was interrupted by her booth shaking slightly as someone haphazardly plopped down into it. Ino jumped at such, then leveled a glare at the interrupter. The dark-haired Iwa kunoichi smiled at her as she poured herself a glass of liquor from the bottle Ino had bought. Ino, in a bad mood and not wanting some random woman to mess with her, drew and fired a kunai with lightning speed mere centimeters of the face of Kurotsuchi. Said the woman, freezing before barking with laughter as she sipped her glass.

"Ino wasn't it? We were on the same team in part one. I think I fought your monster of a teammate." She asked while sipping at her stolen booze.

"Yes," Ino said, her tone defensive and frosty. "Why do you ask, better yet, why are you here? If you want revenge, then just leave, I won't have mercy for some bitch gunning for my teammate. What was your name anyway?" Ino felt her rage bubble as she spoke; sniping at someone without guilt felt good.

"Ahahahaha!" Kurotsuchi roared, slamming her fist on the table, heedless of the other patrons who glared at them. Though none dared approach, almost all of them had seen the matches of Ino and Kurotsuchi, and while they hadn't won, it was clear they were strong. "See, before, you were friendly and funny, which was nice, but you lacked some fire! Now I can see a bit of a badass out of you. Glad to see Blondie has a teammate just as fun as he is."

Ino felt annoyed at Kurotsuchi so casually using her affectionate nickname of her teammate. But buried it down, more than happy to ignore such to accept the compliment. It felt nice to talk to someone, and it was simple and guilt-free. Ino smiled as she raised her glass, and Kurotsuchi slammed hers into Ino's, both girls chugging their drinks and refilling their glasses with content sighs.

"So we're just drinking and eating off the loss, or is something else up?" Kurotsuchi said as she twirled her glass with a raised brow. Ino froze at the odd question. "Oh, come on, drinking, eating absurd amounts of unhealthy food, and doing so on your lonesome? I recognize a night of moping when I see it."

Ino sighed but nodded her head. "Frustrated with myself, not only am I weak, but I hurt one of my friends with my big mouth. Just trying to enjoy the night somehow… pretend like everything isn't fucked up." Ino said cynically as she sipped her glass once again. She was already feeling tipsy, but her misery liked the buzz.

"Ah, so I see." Kurotsuchi said plainly. "You're upset you messed up with Blondie, and even more upset you couldn't beat Miss D-Cups for him. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for moping a little bit. After all, your ass of a teammate kicked my own. Lords knows I did some pouting of my own." She said while guzzling her glass and setting it down with a sigh.

Ino weakly glared at her but morosely nodded all the same. "Utterly embarrassing, I hurt the guy's feelings, declare my victory for him, then lose. What kind of teammate am I? Hell, what kind of kunoichi even…"

"A normal one, I would say." Kurotsuchi replied with ease. "Personally, I fail a lot, more so than I like. My grandfather mastered one of the rarest ninjutsu styles, yet I seem helpless to master such. I was also defeated today after a declaration of my own. See us, kunoichi are a little different from regular shinobi."

"So I've heard." Ino complained, looking into her glass with a frown.

"Assuming you got some spiel about how it's so different for us that we have to basically forgo ourselves to match our male counterparts?" Kurotsuchi asked. Ino blinked, stunned at the accurate guess. "Yeah, I've heard the shit too. Crushing, isn't it?"

"Yes!" Ino yelled out passionately. "It's like I have more problems than I can handle already, and now, just because I'm a woman, there's even more coming." She slumped in her seat as the flame of anger burned out as quickly as it came. "I'm trying my best, but it all feels hopeless…"

"I suppose it might be if you were some pussy and not a kunoichi." Kurotsuchi countered. "Trust me, I've been there. But I've got the perfect answer."

"The perfect answer?" Ino asked doubtfully.

"Of course! Spite is the answer, my young student." Kurotsuchi started.

"Not your student."

"See, I've always had a chip on my shoulder. Always was looked down upon and doubted. It ate away at me until I realized I could use it, had to use it." Kurotsuchi explained. "I took all the frustration and such it caused me and used it as fuel. The world may doubt you, and you may fail, but if you stay as sure as stone, in the end, you will prevail. And victory will be all the sweeter for it. My grandpa said that to me when I was young, which has always stuck with me. So, while we may be looked down upon and even fail. We do so knowing eventually we will succeed and be acknowledged for such."

"Is this some sort of reasoning behind your superiority complex?" Ino asked frankly. "Because my team really doesn't need another ego on it."

"No, Ino, I'm starting to see Blondie's point on some things; it's making me reconsider some things… But this is more of how I keep going. It never gets easy, Ino, but if we as women persevere, we can do anything we set our mind to. Even surpass our male rivals, and one day we will. But until then, we gotta keep strong. Be confident and smart, and everything they expect of us. One day, we'll change the game when we can! … if that makes sense… I'm not very good at this comforting thing." Kurotsuchi finished lamely. "Always got into a good fight when I was upset."

Ino chuckled earnestly at her new friend. Kurotsuchi was right, and her words didn't fully comfort her. They filled her with hope; truthfully, she understood what Kurotsuchi meant. Perhaps she just needed to keep going. "No, no, you not, but somehow that helps. Why are you helping anyway?"

"Ugh, I hate to admit it, but Blondie kinda made sense in our fight… somehow that idiot had a clearer picture of what it meant to be a Kage to me… and is oddly…" Kurotsuchi paused, searching for the right words.

"Wise and caring yet confusing and infuriating?"

"Yes! For some reason, it wasn't enough to kick my ass, but he had to psychoanalyze me and set out to change me for the better! And worse… it's kinda fucking working!" Kurotsuchi complained. "I'm already acting nice to you, Leaf Hippies! And now I can see why that is so problematic… your boyfriend is a damn pain in the ass, hippie."

Ino raised a brow and leveraged another kunai. To which Kurotsuchi smiled apologetically.

"Sorry reflex… anyways. After Naruto won, I couldn't help but wonder if my need to be better and my perceived superiority of myself and my home were holding me back as a person… Maybe that's what that old bastard always refers to when he says I have growing to do… anyway when I saw you moping, it reminded me of his words. Felt like talking to you would be the right thing to do." Kurotsuchi said with an odd tone.

"Thank you…" Ino was somewhat touched by Kurotsuchi for helping and was amazed to see Naruto's influence.

"Eh, wouldn't have come if I realized how heavy this would be." Kurotsuchi teased. Ino felt a little happier as she smiled.

"Well, wanna pig out with me and get drunk to forget our embarrassment?" Ino asked, hoping to fix the awkward atmosphere.

"I thought you'd never ask."

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 Samui's / Naruto's POV (Bar at Iron Fair - Land of Iron)

Samui found herself glad her teammates weren't around. Even more so, A had the wherewithal to ban Bee from coming. As much as she loved her team, she had more than enough problems on her hands without juggling them as well.

It was disappointing this fair had become business for her. Samui had always found them cool and traditionally beautiful; fairs were something Samui had always enjoyed. Even now, she did so to a limited degree, but mostly, she searched for Naruto. It was a new feeling for Samui, while for reasons outside of social nature, she could not say she was used to chasing the guy.

Truthfully, Samui was unsure what she would do upon finding the Uzumaki. She must see him; she had said she would do so, and not doing so would be uncool. Yet doing so was inherently uncool due to A asking her to do so to manipulate her new friend. Despite A's orders, Samui had plans to further befriend Naruto. He was… interesting to her, similar to her brother, yet different… perhaps she should do as A said? Naruto was a pretty cool guy, and it would be nice to have someone else around. Yet guilt still made it feel wrong.

Samui's search had yet to succeed even a couple of hours into the fair. Seemingly, Naruto had either left or not even attended. Just as she intended to leave and accept her punishment for failure, a familiar and slurred voice rang out.

"You thought you could outdrink me? I'm no pushover, ya know?!"

"Cool…" Samui sighed as she marched into the stall. The bar was largely empty despite the busy fair it was held at. The barkeep seemed bored and upset, perking up slightly when he saw her. Only to slouch when she gestured towards the only patrons. Samui smiled apologetically as she walked towards the back.

In the aisle seemed to be a pale-skinned male who was passed out on the ground on the outside of the booth. Samui noted such and stepped over the man; she had no time for drunks. Well… this one anyway…

Inside the both were a litany of empty sake bottles. They are separated into neat piles assembled in front of each person. Shikamaru Nara, the man who had unintentionally avenged her teammate, had two empty bottles and was sipping lazily from a third. She believed Tenten, the woman she recognized from Naruto's first fight in the finals; to her credit, the woman had four bottles in front of her. She held her head in her hands and seemed to be lamenting something. Finally, it was her target; he had six bottles before him and was guzzling a seventh. Naruto Uzumaki, someone her leader had demanded she somehow win over.

And he was surrounded by protective friends, and they were all drunk…

Cool…

Somehow, the group seemed oblivious to her arrival. They continue on, needing to be made aware of their waiting audience.

"How. The. Hell. Can you drink so fucking much…" Tenten complained. "It feels like the room is spinning, and you've drank twice as much as me…"

"I warned you. Shoulda paced yourself like me." Shikamaru spoke in a slow slur. "Shoulda listened; jinchuriki are hosts of all sorts of extreme um… shit, what's the world?"

"Awesomeness!" Naruto offered.

"No less stupid." Shikamaru responded.

"Bullshit?" Tenten guessed, then hiccuped. Now, entirely collapsing on the table.

"No…" Shikamaru said with a glance, Samui saw him notice her. "But it works… Naruto, what's with the chick?"

"Chick?" Naruto asked confusedly before his gaze landed on her. "Samui! I missed you! Drink with us!"

"I think you've had enough." Samui answered honestly.

"A good uh? Rundown?" Shikamaru asked?

"Beatdown." Naruto guessed.

"Assessment." Samui answered with a smile. While this wasn't perfect, their inebriated states would at least make isolating Naruto easy.

"Someone gets it. Anyway, you want to speak to Naruto or something?" Shikamaru asked. Samui flinched, realizing even drunk off his ass Shikamaru was sharp… "Bring him home a man~" Shikamaru sang with a giggle. 'Or he's shitfaced.' Samui rolled her eyes, grabbed Naruto's hand, and led him off. Samui did not see when the drunk man straightened and narrowed his eyes at them as they wandered off, nor did she notice a tiny mouse following them out.

Drunk Naruto's POV

It was hard to focus; what was he doing? Was he drunk? Surely, Naruto Uzumaki wasn't drunk. He hadn't been since that little get-together they had a while back. It had led to an embarrassing and confusing night. He had learned his lesson…

Where the hell was he again?

Drinking with his excellent buddy Shikamaru and his teammates, he believed. Man, he loved those guys; they always had his back… wait, hadn't he been taken away?

Oh yeah! His new friend Samui had shown up and had asked to speak to him. Naruto wondered what she wanted… oh wait… she was speaking…

"Naruto, were you listening?" Samui asked, concerned. "Maybe it's best I wait to talk to you till later…"

Naruto's mind whirled wildly as it formulated a response. It calculated the risk and the purpose of the conversation. His mind was a machine that formulated the perfect response.

"Screw that! I like talking to you, ya know? Nice not to be judged or dissed in a conversation, hehe." Naruto responded, using all of his charisma to convince her. Samui smiled, and Naruto knew his silver tongue had convinced her to stay and convinced her of his sobriety.

"So you're absolutely shit-faced…" Samui said with some kind of tone. Naruto struggled to read her; Jiraiya had taught him to check their bodily language. Or had that been to check them out? Best not trust the pervert, he guessed. "Maybe that's for the best…"

"Of course it is." Naruto nodded confidently. It had always been the correct choice to agree to whatever his mother said when not heard so it would work again.

"Listen, just… listen, ok?" Samui stated plainly. "My Kage wanted me to get close to you tonight. To seduce, bribe, or extort you into joining my village. He wants to do this to weaken our rivals and strengthen ourselves. I was trusted to manipulate you subtly. But I can't… we're not incredibly close, but you seem to be one the coolest people I've ever met since… well since I lost him… So, despite my duty and pride as a Cloud kunoichi, I won't manipulate you. Instead, I ask you as a friend to consider the offer. The people of the Cloud see jinchuriki as heroes. You would be under the tutelage of people similar to yourself. You would want for nothing, and we would protect you from the Leaf or anyone else who would seek to harm you. All we ask in return is…" Samui turned to gauge Naruto's reaction, only to see the blonde completely asleep. She sighed at this but smiled all the same. "Uncool." She finished simply before she started to aid Naruto back to his friends. It appears she would have to try again. Perhaps a different angle…

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 Kakashi's POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

Kakashi stood in the center of the Courtyard, staring out blankly. The crowd was silent, but the tension in the air was palpable. The Five Kage sat in their box, patiently waiting. The nonfighting competitors watched with rapt attention; this fight was one everyone was interested in. The crowd murmured over the matches and bets placed on them. But none of this phased Kakashi. He hadn't learned to be so nonchalant for no reason. Standing in the center of the arena, making everyone wait on his word? Even Obito would've respected it.

"I believe it's time then Ne~!" Kakashi said, with the crowd immediately roaring in approval. He waited until it died down, and he got the Kage's nod before continuing. "Well, let's not waste any more time. Hinata Hyuga, are you ready?"

"Hai." Hinata answered calmly. Byakugan was already active as she glared at Neji and lowered into a loose combat stance.

"Excellent. Gaara of the Sand, are you ready?"

"I suppose I'm ready for this farce." Gaara answered.

"Disrespectful. Anyway, let Day 2 of the Chunin Exam Finals begin!" Kakashi roared. The crowd's echo was much louder.