"Yo, Sakura."
Under the morning sun, the Blond-haired Blue-eyed Youth jogged toward the Pink-haired Girl outside the small grove, his face beaming with joy.
"Naruto..."
However, the girl's response to the boy's cheerful smile was far from enthusiastic. She even seemed utterly lifeless.
"Gah!"
Just then, the Blond-haired Blue-eyed Youth—Uzumaki Naruto—was so startled that he practically hopped half a step backward.
At that moment, the girl he loved looked nothing like her usual cute and pretty self. Not only was her cuteness gone, but her face practically had the words "I'm so tired, I want to sleep" written all over it.
The dark circles beneath her eyes and her sunken eye sockets were also accusing their owner of neglecting sleep lately.
"Y-you... What happened to you, Sakura?"
Almost instinctively, Uzumaki Naruto widened his eyes and asked with a worried expression.
"N-no, it's nothing. Where's Sasuke?"
Hearing Naruto's words, the Pink-haired Girl—Haruno Sakura—shook her head. After glancing around, she asked.
"I don't know. He isn't here yet?"
At the mention of that annoying guy by the girl he loved, Uzumaki Naruto's face immediately darkened.
"Let's go."
The instant he finished speaking, a familiar voice came from within the grove.
Then, a figure quietly emerged from behind Haruno Sakura. It was Second Pillar.
It seemed that, compared to the two of them, he had been waiting here for quite some time.
"Let's go..."
At that moment, Haruno Sakura, looking like she might float away at any second, had no mind left to fawn over the boy she loved. After hearing that, she instinctively called to Uzumaki Naruto, turned around, and walked into the grove with drooping shoulders, swaying with every step.
As she passed Second Pillar, even the cold-faced handsome boy was startled enough to lose his composure, shock and bewilderment appearing