With his little brother Konohamaru in tow, Naruto spent a pleasant afternoon.
Naruto took Konohamaru gathering material on the streets, then at the bookstore, and finally to the bathhouse to gather material firsthand.
Ahem, scratch that, scratch that. The last one had been purely accidental.
In any case, Naruto's Sexy Jutsu lessons had gone fairly well.
Naruto the great artist's aesthetic sense was no joke. Under his guidance, Konohamaru's Sexy Jutsu made Ebisu—Konohamaru's private tutor—spurt nosebleeds wildly, nearly dying from excessive loss of... essence.
The next day, on the way to the orientation meeting.
Just like yesterday, Naruto ran into Konohamaru, who had ambushed him again. Unfortunately, his disguise was terrible, and Naruto had no interest in playing along, so he saw through it at a glance.
"Konohamaru, time to check your homework. Show me again."
"Okay, Big Boss!"
Poof~
After a burst of smoke, a black-haired beauty appeared.
Not bad. He had already mastered thirty percent of Naruto's skill.
Naruto used both hands to draw a curvy S shape in the air, continuing to impart the essence of the jutsu. "Curves. You must remember, the curves have to be beautiful."
"That's enough for today. I've got something to do." Naruto turned to leave after speaking.
"Boss, what are you going to do?"
Naruto turned and pointed at his forehead protector. "See this? I'm already a ninja. I don't have time to play house with you anymore."
"That's amazing, Aniki!"
That was amazing too?
This guy was practically maxed out on emotional support.
When he arrived at the academy, Naruto found that nearly everyone in the class had already gathered.
Before he could exchange more than a few pleasantries with the others, Iruka entered and announced the rules.
"Congratulations. Starting today, you are ninjas capable of standing on your own. But remember, you are still only rookie Genin. The real hardship is only just beginning." Iruka swept his gaze over the students, a trace of reminiscence flashing through his eyes.
Every one of these students was the result of his diligent efforts over the past six years. He worried that they would not make it far, and worried even more that they would face danger.
After all, being a ninja was an extremely dangerous profession.
But he could not stop them. He could only hope everything went well for them.
"From now on, each of you will be placed into a team of three and carry out missions under the guidance of a Jonin teacher."
Oh?
Naruto perked up. Teams of three?
He had thought they would be trained individually by senior ninja.
Then again, there were only so many Jonin, while the academy graduated students every year.
"To ensure every team has balanced strength, the teachers will decide the groupings. Team 1..."
Until—
"Next is Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto: Seven? I like that number.
As for who his teammates would be, he did not care. No matter who they were, they would not be stronger than him.
Still, it would be even better if they were people he could get along with.
"Sakura Haruno."
Sakura Haruno shot Naruto a disgusted look. Aside from that Uzumaki the One-Man-Army incident in their first year six years ago, Naruto had always performed ordinarily, and his test scores had consistently ranked at the bottom.
Becoming a ninja meant carrying out dangerous missions. She wanted her teammates to be as strong as possible.
Sakura Haruno: Why do I have to be in the same team as him?
Naruto: Sakura Haruno? I don't think we've talked much. She seems to be one of Sasuke's admirers?
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Uchiha Sasuke: Naruto?
Sakura Haruno: Great!
Naruto: Sasuke, huh? At least we can talk.
If they used a scale from zero to ten—
Zero was bad, ten was good, and five meant strangers.
Then his relationship with Sasuke was probably around a six or seven. They were neither close nor strangers, but at least they could chat.
Ever since the Uchiha Clan Downfall, Sasuke had been shrouded in Itachi Uchiha's shadow. He trained bitterly every day and rarely took part in group activities, so the two of them had barely interacted outside class.
Naruto had not expected to be assigned to the same team as Sasuke.
He had originally been thinking that if they were separated because of the team assignments, he would no longer be able to observe up close how the protagonist grew stronger.
This team arrangement was truly perfect.
Thinking that, Naruto glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke happened to look over as well, and the two seemed to share an unspoken understanding.
Naruto flashed a V sign, signaling that he looked forward to working together.
Sasuke gave no response, merely withdrawing his gaze.
Naruto was not discouraged. It was already rare enough for this guy to turn around and look at him.
"That concludes the team assignments. This afternoon, your Jonin team leader teachers will be introduced to you. You may disperse until then."
At noon.
Naruto wanted to invite Shikamaru and Choji to eat, but the two had already gone off somewhere with Ino.
In the end, Naruto found Sasuke, and the two sat at the edge of the rooftop to eat.
"From now on, we'll be eating from the same bowl. I'll take good care of you."
"Try taking care of yourself first, dead last."
Hahaha. Naruto smiled.
He knew exactly how to make the quiet Sasuke talk more.
However, noticing that Sasuke could only eat rice balls for lunch, Naruto made sure to eat his own three dishes and soup extra loudly.
Before long, Sakura Haruno appeared from who knew where and joined the two of them in the corner for lunch.
Afternoon arrived. Inside the classroom.
"So slow."
Naruto leaned back and stared at the ceiling, making an impatient sound.
Every other team had already been taken away by their respective Jonin teachers. Only Team 7 remained in the classroom.
Why had their Jonin teacher still not come? He was waiting to complete the main quest quickly and become a Genin as soon as possible.
Only after becoming a Genin could he use the Duel Arena.
The system had been loading for nine years, nearly ten, and he still had not gotten to experience the Duel Arena. He had waited so long the flowers had withered.
But who would their Jonin team leader teacher be?
If it was a gorgeous, mature woman like the teachers assigned to Kiba, Hinata, and the others, that would be even better.
He took the chance to glance at Sasuke.
Just like him, Sasuke sat in his seat. He looked calm on the surface, but Naruto could not guess what was going through his mind.
As for Sakura Haruno, whom Naruto did not know very well, she had long since been unable to sit still. She paced back and forth at the front of the classroom, clearly impatient too.
"Hello, everyone."
A white-haired man walked in from outside, greeting them as he entered.
All three turned their eyes toward the newcomer.
White hair, a gray mask covering his entire face except for his eyes, and a forehead protector obscuring his left eye. Was he blind?
He looked so strange and completely listless.
Give me back my beautiful mature woman!
"Sorry I'm late. Follow me now."
The rooftop.
The three sat facing their white-haired teacher.
"Let's start with introductions."
"How should we introduce ourselves? Teacher, why don't you start?" Naruto asked curiously.
Ever since he was little, whenever Naruto looked at someone, he paid attention to their eyes.
Hatred, disgust, coldness, curses—Naruto could tell at a glance.
But this white-haired teacher's eyes were different.
This was the first time Naruto had vividly understood the phrase "dead fish eyes" when looking at someone.
They were lifeless eyes. There was no light left in them.
Some people are still alive, yet they are already dead.
Nothing could describe this white-haired teacher more accurately than that sentence.
Yet Naruto's senses told him that this white-haired teacher was actually a decent person.
What had this guy experienced?
"Me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't feel like telling you what I like or dislike. As for dreams... I have many interests..."
Naruto, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke: ...
It felt like he had not said anything at all.
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