The azure river babbled past the sturdy bridge piers, flowing all the way toward Konoha's outer district. Beneath the bright sunlight, ripples of light shimmered across its surface.
"Heh..."
On the jade-green bridge, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Second Pillar leaned lightly against the railing, seemingly waiting for someone. At the same time, a sigh slowly drifted from among the three of them.
"Argh! I've had enough!"
Then, after that sigh, Haruno Sakura finally seemed unable to bear it any longer. She abruptly straightened up and stomped her feet twice, voicing the irritation in her heart.
"Why is it that whenever that guy calls people out, he always makes everyone else wait?!"
As those irritated, dissatisfied words left her mouth, the vein at Haruno Sakura's temple bulged completely, forming a cross shape as it throbbed on her forehead. Furious, she stomped twice more.
It had already been over two hours.
They were already two hours past the expected meeting time.
She had waited until she was fed up.
No! She was fed up with waiting at every single gathering.
Every time, every single time, it was like this!
That guy they called Teacher always summoned them out early, yet every time, he made them wait until late morning before finally showing up. Not once had he ever been on time!
And being late would have been one thing, but every excuse he gave for his lateness, along with that careless tone of his, practically said, "Yeah, I'm late. I did it on purpose."
Every time, it nearly drove her crazy.
This time, she really had gone crazy.
"Exactly!"
Her words immediately received Uzumaki Naruto's enthusiastic support.
"What about the feelings of a girl who accidentally overslept and didn't even have time to fix her hair?!"
Perhaps because she felt supported,