Konoha: Naruto's abnormal life choices

On the high walls surrounding Konoha, after the giant snake had rampaged through the village, Maki surveyed the scene with a frown.

"Why haven't Gaara and Temari come out yet? Didn't they get the signal?"

Kankuro, standing beside him, looked uneasy. "Could they be in danger?"

"Impossible," Maki replied with a faint smile. "Right now, most of Konoha's forces are tied up because of us. The ones still in the Forest of Death are mostly Genin. What could they possibly do to Gaara? As long as we kill them all and leave, the Jōnin won't have time to chase us."

"Well... what if Gaara runs into that Uzumaki Naruto? The one who injured me before…" Kankuro trailed off.

The memory was still fresh in his mind. He could still see that squinting smile on Naruto's face—chilling and smug. Just thinking about it made his skin crawl.

Maki patted Kankuro's shoulder. "What, you're scared just because you got beat once? Come on. You've got to trust Gaara. Temari told me that without using his tailed beast transformation, Gaara's about equal to that yellow-haired kid. But if Gaara uses Shukaku's power, that kid's toast."

Hearing that, Kankuro nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'm overthinking it. No Genin can beat Gaara."

"Enough talk. Konoha shinobi are coming," Maki warned, stepping in front of Kankuro and focusing on the rapidly approaching figures. "You're still injured, and I won't be able to protect you. Go find somewhere to hide."

"Got it," Kankuro replied, glancing over at the Konoha group. One of them looked weak, but the other... she had purple hair and wore an ANBU mask—he recognized her from before.

Trailing behind them were seven or eight ninja in green vests—clearly Chūnin.

Meanwhile, deep in the Forest of Death—

Naruto Uzumaki's shadow clones had all engaged in battle. Three were fighting Hyuga Neji, two were taking on Aburame Shino, two were facing Tenten, and one was dealing with the injured Rock Lee.

As for Naruto himself—he'd caught up with Temari and absolutely wrecked her. After knocking her out cold, he tossed her unconscious body into a bush, grabbed the scroll from her and tore it up. Then he turned toward the real battle: Gaara vs. Sasuke.

"Naruto," Sasuke said with a frown as he felt Naruto's gaze on him. "Stay out of it. This is my fight."

"Fine by me," Naruto shrugged. "I've already got the scroll, so I don't care who finishes him."

"You're all going to die," Gaara snarled. His right hand had already turned to sand, and his bloodlust was palpable.

Just a moment ago, one of Naruto's shadow clones had smashed through Gaara's sand armor with a Rasengan.

In response, Gaara had entered his possessed form and destroyed the clones before they could react. He had charged straight toward Naruto—only to be intercepted by Sasuke.

But Sasuke couldn't fully suppress him, and now that Naruto was back, Gaara felt completely ignored—like he was some insignificant footnote.

That was the final straw.

The pressure he'd been bottling up exploded.

"You first, Uchiha Sasuke. Then I'll kill Uzumaki Naruto!" Gaara roared.

Sasuke, always up for a fight, didn't back down at all. Even at a disadvantage, he sneered.

"A loser like you thinks you can kill Naruto?" Sasuke's tone dripped with contempt. "Are all you Sand freaks this delusional?"

"You should know—Naruto beat me three times. With one move. Every time."

"And look at you. You and I have been going at it for ages and we're still not even close to finished. Who gave you the right to think you can beat him?"

The others around them were shocked. Sasuke—who had effortlessly defeated Kiba, held his own against Rock Lee, and had been fighting Gaara on equal terms—was openly admitting Naruto beat him three times with one attack each time?

Even Hyuga Neji, who was still locked in combat with three of Naruto's shadow clones, felt a flicker of unease.

Defeated Uchiha Sasuke with one move?

No wonder even his clones are this strong…

No—I can't keep fighting. If I stay any longer, he's going to steal our scroll!

"Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!"

Neji activated the Hyuga clan's secret technique, blowing away the shadow clones with a burst of chakra. Then he turned and shouted to Tenten and Lee, "Stop fighting—we're leaving!"

The three looked at each other and started retreating.

But then—a breeze stirred the leaves.

A soft rustling.

And suddenly, Naruto was standing behind them.

"Weren't you three going to challenge me? Why are you running away now?"

His voice was raspy and low, each word thick with pressure.

"You're Naruto?" Tenten asked hesitantly, her breath catching in her throat. "Lee already lost to your teammate. Our challenge is over. There's no need to keep fighting."

Naruto looked at her, eyes narrowing—then his expression softened slightly.

"Oh. It's you. Been a while."

"Yeah," Tenten responded quickly, smiling awkwardly. She felt a tiny spark of joy—he remembered her.

The three of them relaxed a little, thinking the tension had passed.

But Naruto's eyes narrowed again.

"You can go," he said quietly. "But leave the scroll."

"What?" Lee barked, clutching the wound on his side. "We've already surrendered. We're from the same village. Do you have to be this ruthless?"

Naruto blinked, then suddenly laughed out loud.

"Wait—I'm the ruthless one? Didn't you come to challenge me first? Did that not count as aggression?"

"Now that you've lost, you just want to walk away like nothing happened?"

"I'm only taking your scroll because we're from the same village. Otherwise, you'd all be dead."

"I'll say it one more time. Hand over the scroll and leave. Right. Now."

The three were speechless. It hit them—they had started this.

Lee, infatuated with Sakura, had challenged Naruto multiple times after learning she liked him. He'd even dragged his team with him into the Forest of Death to provoke Naruto.

They were the aggressors. Not Naruto.

"If you won't take the scroll," Lee muttered, "then I'll stay and fight. You two go find a backup scroll for the exam."

"What is it with wounded guys trying to act cool?" Neji snorted, stepping forward and activating his Byakugan. "You're right, though. If we're going to be in the wrong, we might as well own it."

"I swear, you two…" Tenten shook her head. "Fine. Let's finish what we started."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Naruto clapped slowly and gave them a faint smile. "I admire your courage," he said softly, "but that's the only thing I admire."

With a single hand seal, he summoned over twenty shadow clones—each cloaked in red Nine-Tails chakra.

Rasengan's too risky, Naruto thought. If one of them dies by accident, and Might Guy comes looking for me... that'll be a problem.

"Alright," he said with a grin. "Let's make this fun."