Leo Sasuke (Seeking Reads)

"You little brat." Kakashi didn't get angry at Naruto's words—instead, he smiled. "Then you'll have to go back to the Ninja Academy."

"Fine by me. I'm so strong anyway, I'd still be top of my grade." Naruto said nonchalantly, resting his head on his arms.

"No way! He can't go back!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, stepped in front of Kakashi, and held out his bell. "I'll give him mine!"

"No, Sasuke, neither you nor Naruto can go back!" Sakura handed over the bell she'd just gotten. "Kakashi-sensei, I'll give mine to Naruto."

"I haven't been much help anyway. It's always been Naruto and Sasuke doing the work."

"Everyone passes." Kakashi said suddenly.

"Huh?" Sakura froze, and the bell slipped from her hand onto the grass.

"Jingle!"

"Pass?" Sasuke was stunned.

"Pass. Everyone passes!" Kakashi reiterated.

Hokage Building.

"That's how it went, Lord Hokage." Kakashi placed three ninja files on the desk in front of the Third Hokage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't speak. His eyes fixed on the file on top—Naruto's—as he puffed on his pipe, drawing slow, deep breaths.

After a long moment, Hiruzen set down his pipe and asked.

"Kakashi, what do you think?"

"Lord Hokage, the three of them performed well today. Among the genin teams I've seen, they're the best."

Kakashi stood with his hands behind his back in front of the Third Hokage's desk, speaking without emotion.

"Naruto seems able to use a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra. Sasuke Uchiha has mastered Fire Style Ninjutsu and has strong chakra control. Sakura has talent in Genjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu."

"So I'm requesting additional personnel from you, Lord Hokage, to speed up Team Seven's training so they can stand on their own sooner."

"Kakashi, you're too impatient." The Third Hokage gently refused Kakashi's request. "One is the Uchiha child, the other is the village's Jinchuriki."

"Sasuke and Naruto are both important comrades for the village's future. More than rushing them to independence, what matters is fostering their bonds with the village."

When the Third Hokage said this, Kakashi understood his meaning and said nothing more.

"Understood, Lord Hokage."

The Third Hokage watched Kakashi slowly withdraw from the office until the door closed, then let out a slow sigh. He flipped his hand and picked up the three files again, examining them closely.

Elsewhere, Naruto lay on his bed, shaking a bell in his hand. Kakashi had given it to him later as a keepsake, more or less.

A gentle breeze blew in through the window, and the bell in Naruto's hand jingled, echoing in pitch with the larger bell hanging outside the balcony.

In life, a single tree cannot make a forest.

From now on, Naruto would inevitably have to carry out missions with Sasuke and Sakura, and bonds would inevitably form. He also wanted Sasuke and Sakura to get stronger—that way, missions would be easier.

But as for this village... Naruto had no real attachment to it. Being a ninja was just a job. Working hard was just to eat.

Clink. Naruto caught the bell and set it casually on the headboard.

Thinking too much wouldn't help. He'd take things one step at a time. At least earn enough to eat first, and figure out the rest as it came.

With that thought, Naruto closed his eyes.

Time passed quickly. The three of them went through their usual tree-climbing and water-walking practice. Since the chaos in Naruto's chakra had been resolved, everything went smoothly.

They trained together from dawn to dusk, losing track of time. Occasionally, they'd take on D-rank Missions in between—a hard rule from Konoha.

Before a genin team could take on C-rank missions or higher, they had to complete a certain number of D-rank Missions. It was something like grinding for experience.

D-rank Missions were simple, but the pay was thin. The actual money they got wasn't much. And with the constant training, Naruto's appetite had skyrocketed.

As for tree-climbing and water-walking techniques, Naruto hadn't thought of relying on the system. Some basics were worth putting in the hard work for.

Through the system, he'd already gained part of the Nine-Tails' power, the Four-Tails Lava Release, and the Max-level Fishing Skill. Even though he'd given up Multiple Shadow Clone, he wasn't in a rush.

That jutsu—he could ask the village for it later when he was stronger. At worst, he could learn a regular Shadow Clone later; that would be enough.

Hinata seemed to be in training too. He hadn't run into her in a long time. Even if he wanted to grind some mission progress, there wasn't much he could do.

July.

Half-asleep and groggy, Naruto vaguely heard a knocking sound. He blinked awake, and the knocking grew clearer.

Someone was really knocking. Who would come at this hour?

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Urgent knocking rang out, along with a girl's voice.

"Hey! Naruto! Open up!"

"I knew you'd forget! We clearly agreed! You promised!"

Still drowsy, Naruto stumbled to the door and opened it. Seeing who it was, he couldn't help but look confused.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?"

"Ah!" Sakura was about to explode. "You promised me just a few days ago! I reminded you yesterday, and you forgot again!"

"Yesterday?" Naruto really couldn't remember anything. Only after carefully thinking back did he recall, and he asked tentatively, "Sasuke's birthday?"

"Yeah." Sakura turned her head away, looking a bit awkward.

"Good thing you can remember Young Master Sasuke's birthday." Naruto yawned.

"It's all in the files!" Sakura said, standing at the corridor entrance. "Sasuke-kun is July twenty-third, Leo. You're October tenth, Naruto, Libra."

"Uh." Naruto was a little surprised that Sakura actually remembered his birthday, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

"See? Easy to remember, right?" Sakura asked.

"Then what about your birthday, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"March twenty-eighth, Aries. It's already passed." Sakura said. "But guys probably don't care about that stuff anyway."

"Fine. I wouldn't have agreed if I'd known." Naruto said casually. "Training's been so hard, and today's a rare day off."

"Alright, hurry up and come with me to pick a gift for Sasuke-kun. I can't decide what to get alone." Sakura urged. "As a reward, I'll treat you to grilled meat."

"Fine." Hearing there was food, Naruto forced himself to perk up and went back to his room to change clothes.

Team Seven's training had come to a temporary end. The three of them had performed decently. Kakashi had submitted a request to the village higher-ups to take on a C-rank mission, but the review would take two days.

As a result, Team Seven had, for the first time in a month and a half, been granted two rare days off. Barring any surprises, once the two-day break was over, they'd be back to take on a mission.

Around this time, the bridge-building expert from the Land of Waves, the drunken Tazuna, should have already arrived at Konoha Village.

Trying to get on the new book rankings. Please keep reading and drop some recommendation tickets.