Honor and Disgrace Together

"It seems we only know his name," Sakura Haruno muttered softly.

Naruto nodded in agreement.

Kakashi-sensei really is a Jonin.

After a round of self-introductions, he hadn't revealed any information beyond his name.

If this were my past life, even registering for countless apps wouldn't have let me leak personal info like that.

His ability to keep secrets is Max.

My Eastern Depot needs talent like him!

If I could poach him, it would at least reduce the national scam rate by five points.

"Next up is you guys, who wants to go first?" Kakashi tossed the question to the three in front of him.

"I'll go first," Naruto said.

Naruto raised his hand, mostly because he was on the far right.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm going to be Hokage, and I like the things I like, and I hate the things I hate."

Naruto deeply embodied the philosophy of "pointless speech," adding, "As for my hobbies, my favorite is painting on the Hokage Rock. That's all."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly.

This kid, why do I find him a little annoying?

This isn't like you at all, Minato-sensei.

But he could only nod helplessly; after all, he had set a bad example himself.

"Okay, next."

"My name is Sakura Haruno."

Sakura blushed, speaking shyly, "As for what I like, it's more like... the person I like... My hobbies are... My dream is... Ahhh!!!"

Whatever lewd thoughts flashed through her little brain, she suddenly cried out in embarrassment, then buried her head deeply in her arms, too ashamed to face anyone.

During her introduction, she glanced at Sasuke ten times for every sentence, her intentions clear.

Naruto and Kakashi's gazes simultaneously shifted to the person in question.

Sasuke: Not relevant.

They both looked away. Naruto's teeth ached watching Sakura's earlier display.

Oh.

In that instant, Naruto suddenly realized.

He'd already passed the age of getting embarrassed.

A girl obsessed with love? Kakashi's gaze shifted to Sasuke. "Last one."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke, introduced last, said, "I don't have anything I like. I have many things I hate. My dream, or rather my ambition, is to revive the Uchiha clan, and I must personally kill a certain man."

That man? Could it be Itachi?

Naruto suddenly remembered the killer of the Uchiha clan massacre.

I wonder who's stronger, 'Uchiha beats seven' or 'Uzumaki beats seven'?

"Very good, all three of you have very distinct personalities, very interesting."

One with personality, one chasing love, one seeking revenge. This team configuration made Kakashi foresee the kind of days ahead, and he felt a headache coming on.

He had originally planned to play a dark trick to scare them, but now he didn't even have the mood for that.

So, Kakashi said directly, "Then we'll start missions tomorrow. The first mission is a survival exercise."

"This year, 30 graduates will complete their training at the Ninja Academy, but there are only 9 spots to officially become Genin. Everyone else will be sent back to the school.

This is the difficulty of your test tomorrow. Be prepared. We gather at 5 AM tomorrow morning at Training Ground 3."

"Now, dismissed!"

With that, Kakashi stretched his body, preparing to leave.

"Oh, right. Remember not to eat breakfast. I'm afraid you might throw up," Kakashi added suddenly before disappearing.

He then vanished with a swish.

Truly a Jonin, his movements are much faster than the usual Chunin teachers.

And that sharp, unfettered coolness, is that the confidence that comes with strength?

So cool!

Someone this cool must have a girlfriend, right?

Naruto's thoughts returned to Kakashi's parting 'words of wisdom,' and he mumbled again.

'Only 9 spots?'

He wasn't worried about graduating at all.

If he couldn't graduate, then no one in this school could.

However, this number, 9 people?

Was it a coincidence?

Recalling this, Naruto looked at his future teammates. Sasuke was still the same, frowning and lost in thought.

As for Sakura Haruno, well, he'd call her Sakura for now.

As for Sakura, her hands trembled. She probably felt she was on shaky ground. If she couldn't graduate, her beloved Sasuke would probably leave her.

Seeing this, Naruto started a topic: "Did you guys notice?"

"Hm?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked over. Sakura also looked up blankly.

Their gazes fixed on Naruto.

Naruto brought back the intelligence he hadn't used much in the past 12 years and began to explain his analysis and findings: "Only 9 people passed, exactly three teams. This shouldn't be a coincidence, right?"

"You mean tomorrow is a team project?"

"Not necessarily." Naruto shook his head, negating Sakura's guess.

"I mean, if there's elimination, the whole team might be eliminated together."

"Are you kidding me?"

Sakura couldn't believe Naruto's guess. How could such a rule exist?

"Perhaps because unity is strength! This strength is iron, this strength is..."

Seeing their increasingly confused expressions, Naruto stopped singing with a sense of boredom.

It would be great if there was a transmigrator here to play along.

And to exchange secret passwords or something.

Like, "What changes, what stays the same. eBay bar eBay."

Seeing that they still didn't understand his meaning, Naruto added, "Haven't you heard of the Sannin?"

"What are you trying to say?"

Sasuke seemed a little impatient and urged Naruto to get to the point.

"The Sannin's lead teachers were the current Hokage. All three of them were in the same team from childhood to adulthood."

Upon hearing this, Sasuke immediately understood, but Sakura still hadn't grasped the connection.

She asked, "What do you mean, Naruto? What does this have to do with now?"

She can't even figure this out?

Naruto frowned. If Sakura had put even a fraction of the effort she put into Sasuke into thinking, she wouldn't be so clueless.

Although he hadn't guessed this before the team assignments today, as soon as the three-person team was formed after the assignments, he had immediately figured it out.

Three-person team + lead ninja. This was probably the training and succession model for Konoha, and even the entire ninja world.

This team configuration would continue until they failed the assessment or until there was a loss within the three.

This meant that Naruto and the other two were bound together until death.

"It means we share honor and disgrace, at least until we fail the assessment," Sasuke finally explained.

"Sasuke is still the smart one," Naruto praised him generously.

Share honor and disgrace? Me and Sasuke-kun?

I'm willing!

Sakura's face flushed again. For a moment, she had even thought of names for their future children.

"Hey, hey, hey! Snap out of it!"

Naruto interrupted Sakura's pink bubble fantasy. "Although I don't know what tomorrow's assessment will be, it's definitely not wrong for us to be united. Trust me, the first litmus test for any team is unity."

Sakura looked at Naruto, who was speaking eloquently, with disbelief. Was this still the dead last she knew?

Sasuke thought, What's the big deal? Although Naruto's grades were dead last, in his impression, Naruto was quite reliable in other aspects.

"So, to pass tomorrow, we need to make some preparations."

"Like what?" Sasuke wanted to hear Naruto's analysis.

"Like information."

Ninja intelligence work had always been a priority.

Speaking of which, Naruto stared at Sakura and instructed, "Go back and gather more information about Kakashi-sensei."

"What about you guys?"

"We two will conserve our energy and perform tomorrow."

"You?"

Sakura's tone was filled with an overwhelming amount of disbelief.

You doubt my strength?

Naruto didn't even bother to look at her. "Then let's call it a day for now. We'll play it by ear tomorrow."

Who knew what tomorrow's mission would actually be?

"Disperse."

Naruto, imitating Kakashi, struck a cool pose and vanished with a swish.

Thank you to the eternal emperor, Emperor Ming of Sui, Yang Baiwan, for the two monthly ticket supports.