Cruel Truth

"Did learning all this have any meaning?" Sasuke asked, but his tone was no longer so aggressive. He was merely asking.

"Of course it did. As far as I knew, there was a female Jonin skilled in Genjutsu among the Jonin," Naruto said. "There was a good chance she would be leading Team Eight."

"Genjutsu?" Sasuke frowned. "Based on what you said earlier, the higher-ups should have wanted to train Team Eight as a reconnaissance team. Why would they find a female Jonin skilled in Genjutsu to lead them?"

"Yeah, Genjutsu didn't seem very useful for reconnaissance, did it?" Sakura asked, looking equally confused.

"Hehe, Iruka-sensei will introduce our Leading Jonin teachers in the classroom this afternoon. But I snuck into the office and stole the team assignment sheet!!"

As he spoke, Naruto pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket.

It was clearly a roster listing the assignments for four ninja teams. At the head of Team Seven was a name: Kakashi Hatake.

"So he's our teacher?" Sakura stared curiously at the name. "I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder what kind of person he is."

Sasuke merely glanced at Team Seven before fixing his gaze on the name of Team Eight's teacher.

Kurenai Yuhi.

He had never heard that name before. It was utterly unfamiliar.

Konohagakure was home to countless large and small clans. Some were powerful, such as the Hyuga Clan and the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans. Others were lesser-known small clans, such as the Yamashiro Clan, Aoyama Clan, and Wildfire Clan.

Naruto did not respond to Sakura. Your future teacher is my cheap old man's disciple—the most reliable future Hokage, the Sixth Hokage, Copy Ninja Kakashi.

"Who is Kurenai Yuhi?" Sasuke asked.

"Asuma's girlfriend, the teacher leading Team 10." Naruto did not know whether the Third Hokage was watching him through a crystal ball while eating.

But he figured the Third Hokage was not that perverted, and since he did not sense anyone scrutinizing him, he did not dwell on it.

"Asuma?" Sakura was confused, but she quickly found the name on the roster. "Sarutobi Asuma? He has the same surname as Lord Hokage?"

"Right." Naruto's gaze swept over the two of them. "Team 10, led by Asuma, consists of the second generation of the village's three Ino-Shika-Cho clans: Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino."

"That meant the Hyuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi Clans were all disciples of Lord Hokage's family."

"And those six clans themselves were Lord Hokage's unwavering supporters, so this kind of team assignment was not strange."

"Naruto, how did you know so much?" Sakura looked at Naruto anxiously. Her first exposure to these adult matters left her at a loss.

Sasuke appeared far calmer. He had not forgotten their original purpose. He studied the sheet thoughtfully, then looked up at Naruto after a moment and asked,

"So you were saying there was another purpose behind putting us in the same team?"

"Congratulations, Sasuke. You got it right." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Nobles went into teams with nobles, and commoners naturally went into teams with commoners."

At those words, Sasuke's eyes darkened. He stared at Naruto and said,

"That's it?"

"Of course not." Naruto suddenly smiled.

Sasuke felt his scalp prickle beneath Naruto's gaze and asked irritably,

"What are you looking at me for?"

"Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto smiled. "The Uchiha Clan is extremely powerful in combat, and I just happen to be from the Uzumaki Clan."

"You might not have heard of us, but that's fine. You only needed to know that the Uzumaki Clan was also very strong."

"And—"

At that point, Naruto swept his gaze over the stunned Sakura and the wide-eyed Sasuke. After pausing for several seconds, he lowered his voice.

"Unfortunately, all my clansmen are dead."

"Our team was not called the commoner team, nor was it a team of fallen nobles. It was a team of rare bloodlines," Naruto said. "Well, except for Sakura."

He did not directly mention the Nine-Tails. It was not appropriate to reveal that now.

Sakura stood frozen in place, her hands resting on her thighs trembling slightly. She did not know what to do. She had originally believed that this team assignment was simply her own good fortune.

At the same time, she had her own small pride. Although her ninjutsu and combat scores were worse than Naruto's and Sasuke's, she ranked first in theory and third overall.

There was certainly a gap between her and the two of them, but as long as she worked harder, she definitely could...

But when the naked truth was laid before her, her self-respect and pride silently melted away.

So she was merely a foil, an ordinary person. In Team Seven, she was the one without any distinguishing trait. Whether it was Sasuke or Naruto, neither of them...

The immense sense of disparity left her without an appetite. Her entire body felt as though it had fallen into an ice cellar, and her stomach cramped as she fought the urge to vomit.

"Sakura."

Suddenly, a hand landed on Sakura's shoulder, yanking her out of her emotions.

She abruptly looked up. Sasuke and Naruto were looking at her, but for some reason, both of them were becoming increasingly blurry.

"I'm fine," Sakura said, but the tremor in her voice gave her away.

She could only force out a smile to conceal her embarrassment. She wanted to say something else, but was startled by the tears that fell onto the table.

An unexpected incident had occurred during the meal, and the information-sharing session came to an end.

After leaving the barbecue restaurant, Sakura had calmed down. She apologized to the two of them for losing control earlier. They said it was fine, and the relationship between the three of them grew a little closer.

"Let's make these information-sharing sessions a regular thing from now on. It'll benefit all of us," Naruto suggested. "But the contents must remain absolutely confidential from outsiders."

"I agree." Sakura raised her hand in agreement, her smile bright.

"Mm." Sasuke nodded, which counted as agreement.

This kind of information-sharing truly benefited them. It not only gave them a deeper understanding of the village, but also strengthened the three of them's sense of belonging to their little group.

Naruto felt that if the three of them could trust each other more and have fewer messy troubles, their days together in the future would be much smoother.

Just as Sakura turned to leave and head back to the classroom, Naruto suddenly called out to her after she had only taken a few steps.

"Sakura."

"Hm?" Sakura turned back to Naruto in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Naruto said nothing, merely gesturing with his chin toward Sasuke, who was as icy as a block of ice beside him.

"Young Master Sasuke has something to say to you."

Hearing Naruto call him "Young Master," Sasuke shot Naruto a cold glare.

"Sasuke?" Sakura immediately grew nervous.

Sasuke haughtily turned his face away. It took him a long time before he finally spoke.

"We are teammates."

Sakura stood there in a daze. It took her a while to understand, and her eyes immediately reddened again.

"Don't cry, Sakura." Naruto smiled and comforted her. "Young Master Sasuke is right. You aren't ordinary. You're our teammate."

"Actually, there was nothing bad about being ordinary. If we had a choice, both he and I would have wanted an ordinary life, but..."

As he spoke, Naruto spread his hands helplessly.

"You know, things never go the way we want."