Samui's POV (Contestant Section of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)
Samui scowled as she saw the screen as something occurred to her.
"Naruto, is your teammate not coming today?" Samui asked with a raised brow. It wouldn't be cool if she missed out on her match. "I promise not to be too rough with her." She teased.
"I haven't seen her," Naruto replied honestly. "We're kinda… in a fight. She hasn't enjoyed the rep that comes with being associated with me. She and I haven't talked since she told me that."
Samui felt a spark of emotion fire through her. But she tempered it for now; losing her head over someone she had just met was uncool. Yet Samui felt earnest annoyance for Naruto. As a student of a jinchuriki, she knew the burden they carried as well as the burden their loved one ended up carrying as well. But Samui had never blamed Bee sensei for such; he needed support, not judgment. Perhaps that's why she felt so protective of Naruto. It was uncool to not back up your friends after all.
She shouldn't get involved…
"I hope your teammate shows up, Naruto. I look forward to our battle." Samui replied earnestly.
She then proceeded to the hall that would take her into the courtyard. As she marched, she thought it over more. Something about Naruto she had found engaging from the very start. It wasn't a physical attraction thing; the man looked fine enough. No, it was something about the way he acted. No airs were being put up, no hidden intentions or malice; hell, he had barely even stared at her… assets. That bar was a desperately high one…
He was just who he was—caring, silly, and brave. In many ways, he reminded Samui of a cooler Bee. He was certainly not nearly as knowledgeable or powerful but not nearly as strange. He was as fun as her own team but didn't grate on her nerves as they often did. She enjoyed his company…..
…..She was losing her cool. She needed to win this for her village. She was the last Cloud Genin to take the exams. She needed to do well for her village. Not beat up some hussy for hurting her friends. Though she supposed being efficient and doing both would be alright…
Samui supposed it was her time…
Ino's POV (Entryway to Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)
Ino had not enjoyed hiding from her friends. It was lovely to reconnect with Sakura. She had grown to miss the days they had spent gossiping and hanging out in the past. But she felt bad for not showing herself to Naruto. She had wanted nothing more than to talk things through. But she had been worried about distracting Naruto. He was the type to drop everything to help a friend and certainly didn't need the distraction. But if she was sincere, she held back because talking things through would've been too easy. Naruto would forgive her instantly; he likely didn't even realize he should be angry with her.
But I didn't want things to work out smoothly; she felt she had to earn Naruto's forgiveness. Maybe, truthfully, it was for herself; perhaps she just wanted to prove to herself that the mistake didn't define her. Ino had gone through much during her difficult training with Anko. She had become confident in her abilities and knew she could be more than before.
Kakashi had suggested she pick up a support role early on in forming Team Seven. He had explained that both Naruto and Neji were natural frontline combatants and that it would be helpful if she could further her support skills to ensure their team was adaptive. At first, Ino had been OK with this; she did not love training, and truthfully, before, she had never seen a reality where she could stand beside her powerful teammates. But over time, she had hated being behind them. Being helpless, if she hadn't gotten lucky, she wouldn't even be here…
No more. Ino had become a true kunoichi. Anko had told her a kunoichi was a merciless, intelligent woman willing to do whatever was necessary to fulfill her goals. Ino wasn't sure about that definition. But she was sure a kunoichi must be as equally graceful as she was powerful. She needed to stand firm to her ideals. She stands proud whenever it's needed. Ino would become a true kunoichi.
It was her time…