The End of the Land of Waves

Kakashi looked at Haruno Sakura walking ahead of him, his gaze growing somewhat complicated.

He wanted to say something, but he did not know how to begin.

After all, Sakura's actions had been entirely from the perspective of the Land of Fire and Konoha.

"What are you thinking about, Kakashi-senpai?"

With no one around at the moment, Sakura naturally did not need to call Kakashi "teacher."

"Sakura..."

Kakashi's exposed black eye lowered slightly.

"Tazuna is old..."

Sakura looked at a pond by the edge of the woods. The calm surface reflected the bright moon in the sky, as well as Sakura herself.

"So what?"

Sakura looked at Kakashi, one of her fine pink brows lifting slightly.

"If we let Tazuna set this precedent, do you know what will happen once word gets out?"

"The problem is not scarcity, but inequality."

"Kakashi, you should understand that."

Kakashi fell silent. Looking at the pink-haired girl with her single ponytail before him, he still tried to speak, wanting to save Tazuna's life.

"As long as we make it clear to him and have him keep his mouth shut, this won't happen."

Sakura laughed upon hearing that, her smile filled with mockery.

She was not laughing at Kakashi before her, but at that idiot Tazuna.

"So?"

"Kakashi, are you asking a drunkard who can take everyone's pooled money to buy alcohol to keep his mouth shut?"

Sakura's words left Kakashi speechless.

When Sakura and Kakashi returned to Tazuna's house, everyone was already asleep. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke had been assigned to the same room.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a bed, while Sakura slept alone because she was a girl.

Looking at Sasuke sleeping quietly over there, and Naruto practically plastered against him, Sakura could not help but reveal a mischievous smile.

If she had a camera on her right now, Sakura would definitely take a picture of this scene, frame it, and place one by Naruto's bed and one by Sasuke's bed to prove how unbreakable their bond was~~~

The next morning

When the first ray of sunlight shone upon the Black-haired Youth's closed eyes, Sasuke's eyelids twitched.

He felt something heavy on him, and Sasuke instinctively rolled over.

Then, in the next instant, his eyes widened as though he had discovered something terrifying!

"Naruto!!!!"

At this moment, Sasuke's face turned bright red. Like a little wife who had suffered an enormous grievance, he instantly flung away Naruto's paw wrapped around his waist and scrambled off the bed in a panic.

"Eh?"

"Who called me?"

Because Sasuke's cry had been so miserable, Blondie rubbed his eyes and sat up from the bed, still half-asleep.

"Naruto!!"

"You bastard!!!"

"You actually hugged me while you slept!!!"

Sasuke looked at the still-not-awake Blondie before him with an embarrassed, furious expression.

"Eh?"

Naruto woke up a little, but he was still not fully awake. With drooping eyelids, he looked at Sasuke, who for some inexplicable reason seemed to be holding something back.

"No, it's nothing..."

Sasuke clenched his teeth tightly, but in the end, he could not say it.

As long as no one knew, then it had never happened!

"You two are so noisy..."

Sakura sat up from her bed, her long pink hair hanging loose as she looked speechlessly at the two of them showing off their bond first thing in the morning.

"Hehehe, morning, Sakura..."

"It's all Sasuke's fault. He's causing trouble so early in the morning."

When Naruto saw Sakura sit up, his eyes immediately lit up. He hurriedly moved closer to her and began complaining about Sasuke.

Hehehe, Sakura's sleepy face after waking up...

Sakura looked so pretty with her hair down~~~

"You blondie, go find your Uchiha Sasuke~~~"

Sakura lowered her eyelids and shoved Naruto back down.

Naruto blinked.

Blondie?

Was she talking about him?

Meanwhile, Sasuke also froze for a moment.

Uchiha Sasuke?

Him?

Then who was the Big Pillar?

"Gana!"

Two more days passed. Great Naruto Bridge had been completed, and Team 7's mission could be considered a complete success.

Naruto waved goodbye to the people of the Land of Waves, then immediately ran after Kakashi and the others, who had already gone ahead.

Sakura turned back, her emerald eyes briefly falling on Tazuna amid the crowd before she turned away and set off down the road back to Konoha.

Kakashi glanced at Sakura, who looked as though nothing had happened, then at Tazuna, who was smiling as he saw them off, and finally at Naruto and Sasuke, who knew nothing at all. He could not help but sigh inwardly.

At that moment, he thought of his father, the legendary Konoha's White Fang.

Sakura had done the right thing.

No matter what, Konoha's interests could not be compromised...

Then Kakashi unconsciously slipped back into his usual lazy demeanor, unwilling to concern himself with anything...

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Uzumaki Naruto is back!"

Seeing the familiar Konoha Gate before him, Blondie cheered and charged inside.

The perennial gate guard, Izumo Kamizuki, immediately stopped Naruto and held out a hand.

"Eh?"

Naruto stared blankly at the chunin in front of him.

Sakura instinctively wanted to pull out a kunai along with her pass and throw them at the gate, but before her hand could even reach into her ninja tool pouch, she forcibly restrained herself.

She was no longer Anbu...

Kakashi noticed Sakura's little movement. Having spent a full ten years in Anbu, how could he not know about Anbu's glorious tradition?

Kakashi then approached Izumo Kamizuki with a lazy smile and handed him the pass.

"Eh? It's Kakashi-senpai. This mission actually took so long."

Izumo Kamizuki clearly knew Kakashi. After glancing at the pass, he laughed and let them through.

"What a stuck-up jerk. Just like Sasuke."

As he left, Naruto made a face at Izumo Kamizuki.

"Naruto, don't be rude."

"Izumo Kamizuki is just doing his duty."

Kakashi smacked Naruto on the head.

"Tch... idiot."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Blondie. He had the feeling that ever since being placed in the same team as Naruto, he had been rolling his eyes more and more. At this rate, he would practically become a member of the Hyuga Clan.

Kakashi looked toward Hokage Rock in the distance and pressed his lips together.

With the Land of Waves mission over, it would soon be time for the Chunin Exams...

This Chunin Exams would be jointly held with Iwagakure of the Land of Earth and Sunagakure of the Land of Wind. It was an unprecedented event in the history of the shinobi world.

The Land of Wind was one thing, since they were allies in name, but the Land of Earth had joined because of resources...

Kakashi could not help but think deeply about it.

But after glancing at the pink-haired girl beside him, he relaxed again. He felt that with this girl around, Naruto and Sasuke would at least be safe...