Naruto : Saga of Tanya the Kunoichi

She looked at the hundred people still in the camp. To rely on this hundred people to win against ten of thousands, she almost thought she's stupid and naive as much as her brother. She really just wants to survive at the end of the day.

I can only try to increase the chances… I will start starving them next time.

"For the next activity, you all will be navigating through tight tunnels underground, with a twist! No worry, it won't be tiring like yesterday!"

"Group 1, follow your Warden!"

Naruto's squad followed their warden deeper into the forest. As they walked deeper, the smell of rotting flesh, blood, and even shit permeated the air.

All of them closed their noses. Few gawked and almost threw up. A large entrance to the tunnel underground is seen… but surrounding the tunnel, there's signs of blood.

Tsuyu walking with Group 1 starts to explain.

"Each of you will carry a torch as you navigate through the dark tunnel. There's nothing special, it's only a kilometer distance really. But…"

"In there, corpses, shit, every nasty thing you could imagine are littered everywhere. It's been fermenting for a few days now. Maybe you could even find humans… who knows. Haha! I am just joking!"

Tsuyu laughed out loud. But everyone shuddered, some even thought it might be true…

"Battlefield never smells nice. What do you do when you want to crap and an opponent sneaks up on you? Down in your pants. The corpses you will see, the blood you will smell, it will be worse than this! At least you know whatever in there wasn't your own friend! But once you go out there, the rot scent you will be smelling is your own comrade, the very people you know!"

"Now go!"

Naruto's squad eventually comes in. With torches in their hands, they walk through the dark tunnel. The soil is bloody and sticky. The smell of various unspeakable dirty things linger in their nose and even tongue.

Sasuke is the first one to throw up. But doing so makes him inhale even more filth.

"Mmh…" Sasuke forced his mouth and nose to shut with his hands, tightly pressing.

He gestured to the two that worried for him to continue.

But as they walk, the torch on Sakura lights up a corner. Her eyes saw something, and unintentionally looked at it.

A skinned man, with its bloody rotting flesh exposed, maggots infesting its flesh. The Konoha headband on it makes it more human.

"KYAAA!!!" Sakura fell to the bloody dirty ground, her body shaky, her hands closing his face. She eventually threw up on the ground.

"Sakura…!" Naruto called out. Seeing her crying, Sasuke and Naruto move their torches, both of them almost gasp in shock. Naruto realising there's a human corpse in here, threw up as well.

Human… there's… there's really…

Sasuke closed his mouth, but, death of people wasn't that special for him. He already saw corpses of his own clansmen and his parents, so he's the best between the two. He takes a closer inspection at the corpse almost calmly. But noticed the remains of furs on them.

"... You two. This is a corpse of a monkey. Not a human… They dress them up to look like a human" If Tsuyu is there she would make Sasuke push up 500 times for lessening their trauma.

"Eh?" Sakura is the first to react after hearing them. Her heart felt relieved finally.

"Monkey? Haha… monkey… haha…" Sakura's laughter almost sounds like she almost lost it.

Naruto too felt relieved. But then, he looked at the poor monkey… a part of him felt it's still cruel regardless.

The same screams sounded in the tunnel. Some never figured out that those 'human' corpses weren't actual humans. 

Most of them come out shaky, their expressions pale. One or two actually fainted.

Seeing the time, she let them jog with weapons thrown at them for an hour before finally having their lunch.

Oh… no they don't have lunch. She only let them drink water.

Naruto being passed a wattle bottle but no food looks at the Warden as if questioning if he forgot. The warden in a mask just left just like that.

"Wait! We don't get our food!"

The warden turned around to face them. "Our supply line is broken, we no longer have food. Just hold on." He said coldly before leaving.

Naruto's stomach grumbled hard. He felt so bad… so bad…

But just then the warden stopped and continued his words.

"If you want to find it on your own, go ahead. But only during your rest time."

Naruto's eyes lit up. He went with Sakura and Sasuke to find something. Other groups too start to move. But due to time constraints, and with hundreds of people looking for wild animals, it's not easy to get wild meat.

"You guys… I found something but…" Sakura hesitated. "Come on…! Anything is fine! I am hungry…" Naruto insisted.

Sakura led them to a burrow… they thought it's a rabbit… but.

"R-rats?" Naruto almost threw up at the idea.

"It's… it's wild rats… they must eat… organic things? I guess…? And there's a lot…" Sakura tries to convince herself mostly.

Sasuke seemed undeterred. "Quick, set up a firecamp. We only have 37 minutes left…"

"Okay…"

The trio had to eat rats for lunch… relatively, they still feel full. 

In the evening, they are ordered to jog carrying a log of wood like on the 1st day, but this time they had to keep their vigilance on weapons raining down on them as well.

After 3 hours of jogging, even up to a point of losing their minds, they finally had their rest. As usual he picked on Naruto to do extra calisthenics under heavy gravity, with others who had guts joining alone.

Next, another set of obstacle courses. Before the sun could set, everyone finished all of them. Like a starving ghost, everyone had to search for food on their own. But the lunch earlier already made the nearest wild animals consumed by the hundred people.

Sakura saved Naruto and Sasuke with a rough strip of smoked meat she prepared earlier as there's a lot of excess rats.

Tsuyu suddenly had a nice idea and went ahead to meet Naruto's group.

With a steaming hot ramen cup in her hands, she sat down alongside them.

"Ah…~ What a good smell~ mmh… smoked rat. Must be delicious~"

Tsuyu's hand holding the ramen cup hover over Naruto's nose intentionally. Naruto's fists were already clenching hard. His saliva gulped. He looked at the charred, foul smelling rat meat on a stick he had then at Tsuyu's cup of ramen. His stomach is grumbling.

It's so unfair… so unfair…

"Nii-san, do you want some?" Tsuyu kindly picked the noodles with her chopsticks and hovered it on Naruto's face.

He gulped his saliva again, and nodded with hope and expectation.

"It's easy. Just quit from this camp. Then you can even go get Ichiraku~"

"You…!"

His eyes almost turned bloodshot. As if Tsuyu had crossed his line. He stood up in injustice, pointing at her ramen cup.

"Tsu-chan! This is unfair! All of this is unfair! Why are you eating ramen, when everyone here, EVERYONE! Is eating rats or some crap! You don't even do anything! You only ever order us around! You say a shinobi has to endure. But you do NOTHING!"

It's as if all his grievances exploded. Everyone was almost shocked at Naruto's outburst. Even Tsuyu didn't expect Naruto to talk back to her. She underestimated the effect of hunger on Naruto out of all people.

Though, Tsuyu regained her composure.

"Brat, I am the leader here! All of you have no right to question me!" Tsuyu kicked Naruto's knees making him bent, and kicking him down to the dirt.

"Suggesting is one thing. But to question my authority! It's subordination!"

"So, all of you, are you guys dissatisfied that I am ordering you around like dogs? While I am not doing anything?"

Tsuyu turned her glare to everyone.

They can only remain quiet, silently looking down.

"Let me ask you. If one day you are placed under a squad you are unfamiliar with, with leaders and captains you never knew, heck even subordinates you don't know either, do you want them to do what they ask you to first before you can obey?!"

"You are a fool if you think your squad captain will remain the entire time. You are a fool if you think you will be working with someone you already trust and respect all the time!"

"Trust is a choice you give for ALL of Konoha Shinobi, for all of the leaders assigned to lead you! What next, you want the Hokage to go on the mission with you since she dared to assign them while she just sat there in her office doing nothing but paperwork!? Ha?! Tell me!? Isn't she doing 'nothing' as well? Do you guys dare to complain?"

She mocked all of them in long sentences. Even Naruto under her feet had to shut up. His face filled with indignation, and feeling of injustice. But her words weren't wrong… even the Hokage just sat there in her office most of the time…

"Hahaha… but fine… they say a leader leads by example. Your eyes tell me you people had grievances with me. Fine by me. Then I will follow along."

Tsuyu turned the ramen cup upside down, spilling it all on the ground. Naruto's eyes widened seeing her action.

In Naruto's and others' shock, she took a smoked piece of rat meat from the campfire and bit into it without any feelings, chewing them while looking down on Naruto.

You guys have 9 more minutes! Finish up your lunch quickly!"

Naruto looks at her with a complicated expression, even feeling shame and guilt seeing she agreed to do things with them. 

"Tsu-chan…" 

"We will work hard together from now on then, my foolish brother…" Tsuyu gave a nasty smile for him, but beneath that smile hides her anger for his daringness to question her.