Unofficial Member of Team Eight

In the cramped duty room, moths flew around on the lampshade.

Naruto trembled and he almost knocked over the two Takoyaki, but luckily Sakura caught them in time, thus avoiding the miserable fate of being forced to mop the floor.

"Thank goodness." Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, her chest heaving slightly.

"Ah, sorry." Naruto's back was covered in cold sweat, but he quickly calmed down after a moment.

Being a ninja is indeed a high-risk profession; it's too easy to become obsessed.

He sat in the chair, watching Sakura eat Takoyaki with a serious expression, and after thinking for a moment, pushed his own portion over to her as well.

Aren't you hungry?

"I'm not very hungry. Are you going to continue your shift?"

"That's true, but you should eat a little bit," Sakura said somewhat shyly. "Otherwise, it would feel a little strange if I ate it all by myself."

Naruto really wanted to complain, "You're acting really weird right now."

But based on his limited experience dealing with Temari's sudden change in temperament last time, he placed a Takoyaki on his plate, looked at Sakura, and asked tentatively.

Do you still remember Kakashi-sensei?

"What are you talking about? How could I forget that?" Sakura complained, her cheeks puffing out as she swallowed the Takoyaki.

"Then let me ask you, how many people are in Team Seven?"

"It's definitely four." Sakura paused halfway through her sentence, then lowered her head to count on her fingers. "Kakashi-sensei, me, Naruto, that's three people in total."

"Where is the other person?"

Naruto didn't speak, intending to ask others first. He had waited ten days before contacting Sakura. He had initially thought Sakura had calmed down, but now it seemed...

It wasn't just calm, it was like the computer case had been submerged in water.

Adhering to the principle of avoiding troublesome matters, Naruto changed the subject by interrupting Sasuke.

Do you have to work tomorrow too?

"Yes, tomorrow is the annual Fireworks Festival." Sakura stopped dwelling on Sasuke and complained as she ate, "But, Senior Yu asked me to cover his shift."

"He said things like his happiness depended on this day, and if he couldn't meet his future girlfriend, he should just die."

"I had no choice. Seeing how pitiful my senior was, I had no choice but to agree."

"That's a real shame," Naruto chimed in.

"Yeah." Sakura ate while picking up a document and reading it as she ate. "We can't wear Yukata this year. But Yu-senpai is really something, I just couldn't refuse a dogeza (a deep bow)."

After chatting for a while in the duty room, and watching Sakura finish all the Takoyaki, Naruto made an excuse to leave.

Suddenly, the duty room fell silent again, with only the rustling sound of pages turning.

Under the light, Sakura Haruno stopped turning the pages and pulled a thin Medical Record from the inner compartment of the file, on which was written the name Sasuke Uchiha.

"Ha~"

Suppressed excitement escaped from Sakura Haruno's throat; she seemed like a completely different person, her eyes fixed on the photo of Sasuke Uchiha.

Slender, fair fingers traced across the face in the photo, accompanied by the sound of a sickly breath.

How can I reunite with my loved one?

"Of course, we'll cut it into pieces and reunite them. Naruto should support me too, he seems to care a lot about Sasuke."

"If he's going to stop me too, Naruto won't stop me, right? He definitely won't." Sakura Haruno's chest heaved, her right hand stroking her face, her eyes already glazed over.

"Hide your other self well, I'll find Sasuke for you, hee hee hee." Sakura Haruno, whose attribute was unknown, said this as her right pinky finger was already wrapped around the edge of her lips.

After leaving Konoha Hospital, Naruto bought two more Takoyaki and ate them as he walked.

Sakura's symptoms are rather strange; let's wait and see. Perhaps it's similar to Temari's —the brain's self-defense mechanism has kicked in, and she'll get better in a couple of days.

However, it would be good if things continued like this, as it would save a lot of trouble.

Sasuke's purpose in life is revenge, Naruto has absolutely no interest in trying to awaken Sasuke's emotions. Let Sasuke do whatever he wants; it's none of Naruto's business.

We'll talk about the future later. In short, although they were comrades, he didn't really care that much about Sasuke.

The next day.

"What? You actually want to go on a mission? And with Team Eight?" Tsunade frowned, looking like she'd seen a ghost, the fabric stretched to its limit from the shaking.

"Well, I also want to help the village, what's so strange about that?" Naruto said somewhat awkwardly.

"Share the burden?" Tsunade glanced disdainfully at Naruto, who was staring into the abyss, and said without any politeness, "Last time I gave you a mission, you said you had to go home to take care of a sick stray dog."

"Later I found out that you just bought a Stray Dog Plushie from a gift shop and insisted that it was sick."

"I have serious doubts about your mental state, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Um, this time it's for real, I really want to do a mission." Naruto said sincerely, "Team Seven has been inactive for a long time, I can't just stay idle like this forever."

"Is that so?" Tsunade's beautiful eyes narrowed as she stared at Naruto. "Let me see your sincerity."

Snap.

Naruto placed two boxes of expensive desserts on Tsunade's desk, and she opened her eyes.

"I agree."

After leaving the Hokage Building, Naruto felt utterly bored. Tsunade was truly shameless, just like him. She'd been bought off with a simple dessert; the Hokage was utterly despicable.

Just as he was mentally complaining, he suddenly looked up and saw Hinata standing helplessly by the roadside. When she realized he had spotted her, her face immediately turned red.

"Hinata-chan." Naruto waved to her, and she responded timidly.

"Naruto".

"No need for such formality, just call me Naruto from now on." He walked up to Hinata and said casually.

"Okay." Hinata seemed to never refuse his requests, and blushed as she agreed.

"Naruto."

"I'll be going on a mission with you guys the day after tomorrow."

"Us?"

"That's right, Team Eight, I've already convinced Lord Tsunade." He said proudly, "Now I should be considered an unofficial member of Team Eight, probably like a temporary worker."

"Ah, the day after tomorrow?" Hinata was a little flustered. Her shoulder-length blue hair made her face look extremely small and cute, like a piece of milky white pudding.

Naruto's hands were behind his back, but he couldn't resist reaching out and squeezing them.

"Huh?"

When Hinata realized that Naruto was pinching her cheek with one hand, her face instantly turned red to her ears. Perhaps due to excessive tension, she collapsed to the ground.

Realizing he had messed up, Naruto almost instinctively caught Hinata, hurriedly carrying Hinata into a shady alley.