Naruto: If I ask you to kill Sasuke, you will become a succubus?

Naruto said angrily, "We're taking both Asaka and Sasuke away!"

"Gaara is not an enemy." I pulled Naruto aside to explain to everyone so as to avoid a pointless fight, "He didn't hurt me and Sasuke."

Naruto was stunned: "Really? He and that giant snake are not on the same side?"

"Yeah. I met Gaara after Sasuke and I escaped. Although he did want to kill Sasuke and me at the beginning...but now we have reached a consensus, and he even took the initiative to give me the scroll, which is a perfect match with ours!"

I pulled out both scrolls and showed them to Naruto.

But Naruto was not happy. Instead, he held my hand tightly and pursed his lips.

"Naruto?"

"…Nothing." Naruto gave another forced smile. "As long as Asaka is okay!"

I looked at him and could sense that he wasn't "speaking his mind".

If I were younger, I would point this out directly and force Naruto to tell me what he really thinks. But now I understand that when others don't want to speak directly, sometimes you should just pretend you don't know, otherwise it will embarrass and bother them.

The shadow under Gaara's feet broke, and "Temari"'s body fell down, and Lord Kankuro quickly caught her.

Shikamaru and Ino's ninjutsu cannot be maintained for too long at present, so the best strategy is to stop as soon as possible to preserve their strength.

Kiba and Hinata jumped down from the tree, but still didn't dare to approach Gaara: "You said he's not an enemy...really? Chaolu, you're not being fooled, are you? Akamaru said this guy smells very strong of blood!"

Shikamaru walked out of the woods, and behind him, Choji was supporting Ino, who had just returned to his body.

He frowned, glanced at Gaara, then looked at the unconscious Sasuke, and said to me: "How is Sasuke? If it's serious, I think it's more important to give up and get treatment than to take the exam."

"Sasuke..."

I looked worriedly at the place where he had been bitten, not knowing whether I should tell him the truth.

Given Orochimaru's personality, if he really wanted to kill Sasuke he would have done it directly a long time ago. He wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to bite him, and he even let him go on purpose - he must have done it on purpose, otherwise, as one of the Three Ninjas, couldn't he have left a few of us behind?

So Sasuke probably won't feel good, but it won't be fatal either.

But I bit Naruto’s neck before. If I tell them that Orochimaru bit Sasuke—even though Naruto was the only one who knew about this, I really don’t want to say it out loud, lest people associate it with the same thing…

I walked over to Sasuke and touched his forehead, "He has a fever."

Shino also came to my side: "Do you want to give up?"

Just as everyone in Konoha gathered together, Gaara, who was naturally excluded, suddenly said, "That's not necessary."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Gaara said, "As long as I am here, he can pass the exam."

Naruto frowned and looked at him: "Why are you helping us? We are rivals!"

Gaara looked behind him at Temari and Kankuro-sama - mainly Kankuro-sama.

Because they were caught off guard and succeeded in a sneak attack just now, both of them were angry towards everyone in Konoha, but Gaara had no intention of attacking at all, so they just stood beside him, otherwise they would have attacked him long ago.

"Aren't you good at talking?" Gaara said, "Give them a reason."

Lord Kankuro: "..."

Lord Kankuro looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but he held back, "We, the Sand Village... have always been allies with Konoha. It's not a big deal if we help each other."

Ino leaned close to my ear and whispered, "He sounds a little gnashed-teethed."

Shikamaru said helplessly: "Stop talking. We may not win if we fight head-on!"

"But we won't necessarily lose, right?" I thought subconsciously, "Because Shikamaru is here."

Ino: "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god—"

Shikamaru covered her mouth with his hands, his ears turning red: "Don't yell like that, you're not a monkey!"

Shikamaru is really humble, as he would feel shy when his talent is recognized.

Shino glanced at Shikamaru who was pulling Ino away, and said in a lukewarm tone: "Although it is true that the Sand Village and Konoha are allies...but that doesn't explain why you are so obsessed with Asaro."

"Asaro understands." Gaara looked at me, his green eyes as calm as a clear lake, "Didn't we agree on this? I'll give you the scroll, and you'll always be with me without any pressure."

"Who wants to stay with you all the time!" Naruto immediately said, "Let's return your scroll to you!"

Gaara just looked at me, "Asaro."

I looked at him too.

There were only Kankuro and Temari by his side, but they kept a distance from him and were not close to him.

There are many, many people around me.

Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, Shino, Choji, Kiba, Hinata...

And there is Sasuke who is between us and Gaara.

He is alone.

I took advantage of the illusion of his mother, the feelings between him and his mother, the pain and loneliness he had suffered for so many years, held his hand, and told him that his mother hoped that we could be friends.

I hope we can be friends.

When he really treats me as a friend as I wish, do I have a responsibility towards him?

If I leave him here... I'd feel really sorry for Mother Karura, and it would also be a kind of abandonment for Gaara.

A betrayal…like the one that Yashamaru had used to assassinate him.

I know how it feels to be abandoned, and I absolutely don't want to hurt others in this way.

But I also had no way to convince everyone to accept Gaara easily, because to them, he was just a stranger.

What finally made me make up my mind was Gaara's ending - in the future he would become a hero protecting the ninja world, but after a desperate battle, he was killed by Uchiha Sasuke.

Before this, no one and nothing was more important than staying with Naruto, but Gaara's life was so short and the warmth he received in his childhood was so rare, I couldn't just ignore him and leave him alone.

Besides... with everyone here, Naruto shouldn't be in any danger during the Chunin Exam.

Sasuke is the one who is more likely to be in danger.

And the greatest danger he might encounter had just happened to him.

I handed both the Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of Earth to Naruto, "Naruto... I'll leave Sasuke to you, okay?"

“朝露？”

"I promised Gaara... that I would help him collect the Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of Earth. I want to fulfill my promise."

"But!"

"Naruto, please."

"I don't want to! Why?! Why don't you come with us?!"

Seeing him getting excited, Shikamaru quickly held Naruto's shoulder and said, "Hey! Don't make things difficult for Chaolu. She must have her own reasons for doing this. As a companion, it is enough to support her when she needs support."

Seeing Naruto unable to think calmly, and thinking about Sasuke being unconscious now, and the two of them not knowing what to do, I could only look at Shikamaru and say, "Shikamaru, if Naruto and Sasuke are together, they might be in trouble if they encounter other candidates before Sasuke wakes up... Can you please take care of them both?"

"...This is really troublesome." Shikamaru sighed habitually, "But since it's your request..."

"That's not necessary." Gaara interrupted him, "Kankuro, Temari, go protect them."

Kankuro-sama was stunned: "What, what about you?"

"I'm enough on my own." Gaara's confident tone once again made me feel that... he was more like Uchiha Sasuke than Sasuke. "Asaka and I will meet you at the finish line."