The next morning.
"Naruto-kun, we'll be going now."
"Darling~ I don't want to be apart from you... Mm, got it. I'll come find you after the mission."
"..."
Since they had only just become ninja, they did not need to leave the village for missions yet.
That morning, Naruto still had them come over for breakfast.
After breakfast, he rested for a while before continuing his meditation.
As for the Field Survival Exercise?
Kakashi-sensei had said it was best not to eat, or they would throw up.
He had not said breakfast was strictly forbidden.
Elsewhere.
Pink Hair, who had gotten up early to prepare, ran into Uchiha Sasuke.
"Morning, Sasuke-kun. Are you here to scout the terrain and gather intelligence too?"
Pink Hair greeted him.
Uchiha Sasuke's gaze was icy. He did not even seem inclined to respond and simply walked past her.
Pink Hair was left standing there awkwardly.
In the end, she sighed and followed him to the training ground.
After looking around for quite some time, she discovered... the training ground was only this big. It took no more than a few minutes to gather all the information.
For a moment, neither of them had anything to do.
Uchiha Sasuke sat down right where he was and forced himself to calm down and meditate.
"Huh? Ino~ Hinata~!"
Pink Hair had intended to share her information with Uchiha Sasuke, but seeing his frosty expression...
"Forget it. No need to press my warm face against his cold ass."
When she turned around, she spotted Ino and Hinata, who had just finished breakfast at Naruto's house.
She jogged over, and Ino and Hinata looked at her in confusion.
"Sakura, why did you come so early?"
"Didn't Naruto say it starts at noon?"
"Oh~ So Sasuke is here too."
Hinata, meanwhile, praised her.
"Sakura, you're so diligent."
"You aren't in the same class. Why did you leave together?"
Hearing that, Pink Hair felt somewhat awkward and could only change the subject.
"We just came from Naruto's house."
Pink Hair let out a startled cry. One look told them she had misunderstood.
"N-No... Sakura, don't misunderstand... We went there for breakfast... Really!"
"That's right. Hinata, saying that while blushing makes it really easy for people to get the wrong idea~"
Ino took Hinata's little hand and teased her with a smile.
Only then did Sakura remember that back at the Ninja Academy, Ino and the others seemed to go to Naruto's house every day.
Once, when she had forgotten to bring her bento, Ino had even brought one back for her.
It had been delicious, even better than her mother's cooking!
At the thought of food, Pink Hair's stomach let out a rumbling wail.
"Remember, don't eat breakfast tomorrow, or you'll definitely throw up."
Kakashi's words from yesterday still echoed in her ears.
"Sakura... you?"
After years of being nourished by nutrients, Ino and Hinata's five senses were far sharper than in the original story.
Besides, Pink Hair had made quite a bit of noise.
For a moment, Pink Hair's face turned red.
"I've been dieting lately, haha~"
The moment she finished speaking.
A rumbling sound came from nearby.
All three of them turned around together.
???
Even Uchiha Sasuke's cheeks reddened for once. He snorted and turned his head away.
Uchiha Sasuke at this point was not much different from the original story.
Naruto had left him some assets, enough for him to live exactly as he had in the original story.
"Oh no, it's time. We'll be going first, Sakura. Good luck~"
Afraid she would feel embarrassed, Ino hurriedly left with Hinata.
The training ground instantly fell silent.
Pink Hair's toes were practically digging out a three-bedroom apartment.
Uchiha Sasuke had his back to her.
"I can't take it anymore... I didn't feel hungry at first, but Naruto is still resting at home... and he even ate breakfast... I should go eat too. It doesn't start until noon anyway. So what if I throw up? Nobody pays attention to my image anyway."
Sakura-bro counseled her internally.
Pink Hair pursed her lips. "But thinking about it carefully, Ino invited me back then... If I go back now, they'll definitely ask questions. Such a hassle... But we're going to be teammates from now on, so it should be fine, right..."
Pink Hair had just raised her foot to head home when she changed direction and walked toward the way Ino and Hinata had come from.
"Right, I almost forgot."
"Sasuke, I'm going to share some information with Naruto, and grab breakfast while I'm at it. We'll come back at noon. Want to come?"
"Hmph."
Uchiha Sasuke responded to her, but true to form, he forced himself not to speak or move.
"Rumble rumble—"
"If you aren't coming, I'm going by myself. I'll trade information for breakfast... I heard Naruto's cooking is really good!"
Pink Hair's cheeks flushed slightly. Scrounge a meal... Pah! I'm sharing information with Naruto and telling him I haven't had breakfast.
Since I'm already here.
He probably won't refuse to host me, right?
We're classmates and teammates, after all, and Ino and I are close too.
Feeling somewhat nervous, Pink Hair completely failed to notice that Uchiha Sasuke had already stood up.
By the time she noticed, Uchiha Sasuke had already passed her.
"Huh? Sasuke, why are you..."
"Quit yapping! If we're going to fight together, we can't let that idiot who knows nothing hold us back. We need to make tactics in advance!"
"Uh... no, I meant to say that you're going the wrong way. Naruto's house is over there."
Uchiha Sasuke: "..."
Thus, when Naruto opened the door.
He found the two of them standing outside his house.
It smells so good!!! x2
The lingering aroma flooded Uchiha Sasuke and Pink Hair's nostrils.
They were instantly overwhelmed.
So Ino and the others normally ate this well.
"Um... Naruto, we just came back from the training ground and gathered quite a bit of information. We were planning to share it with you..."
Before Pink Hair could organize her words, Uchiha Sasuke's stomach protested again.
Seeing that, how could Naruto fail to understand what they wanted?
"Come in. I made Jianbing Guozi and Soup Dumplings today. Have you eaten breakfast?"
The two of them shook their heads in unison.
Especially after hearing the names of breakfasts they had never even heard of.
They moved with astonishing speed, taking off their shoes, entering the house, and sitting beside the dining table in one smooth sequence.
Naruto shook his head with a smile.
In truth, he did not have much dislike for Pink Hair.
Leaving aside how the Naruto from the original story managed his own image.
The first time he saw Sakura, he had practically already thought of names for their children.
Pink Hair had devoted all her attention to Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto came bothering her every day. How could she not be annoyed?
Looking at it that way, Pink Hair had actually been fairly gentle in the original story. She had not beaten Naruto to death outright.
Although she had said some thoughtless things, then even pua... Uh, fine. Let the professionals whitewash her.
"Want some Hulatang?"
Naruto poked his head out from the kitchen.
The two exchanged a glance, then nodded in unison again.
They had already smelled the fragrance, and this time it was even richer.
Before long, Naruto sat to the side, watching the two of them go from eating somewhat daintily at first to completely disregarding their image as they stuffed themselves. The corners of his lips curved upward.
No one could refuse delicious food.
Especially children like them, who had never tasted real Fine Bran.
After eating their fill, they saw Naruto looking at them with a smile.
Pink Hair was fine. She had already thrown caution to the wind, so she was no longer as afraid.
"Right, Naruto. This is the information I wrote down just now. Take a look."
Uchiha Sasuke turned his head away. "I... How much? I brought money."
By then, Uchiha Sasuke had realized why Kakashi had told them it was best not to eat breakfast.
There was definitely something fishy going on.
All one could say was that he was worthy of being Uchiha Sasuke, whom Orochimaru had been obsessed with for so long.
"It wasn't much. If you really want to pay me back, then when we do some easy missions later, just let me rest for a while."
Naruto smiled as he cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.
He silently added, Thanks to the generous Uchiha Clan for treating me.
Pink Hair hurried over to help.
Uchiha Sasuke sat there alone.
Only then did he take a proper look around Naruto's home.
It was small, but very clean.
The moment that thought arose, he noticed the bedroom door had not been shut. Inside, it was all pink and girly...
"Naruto-kun, we ate too much... At noon, will it be like what Kakashi-sensei said..."
Being alone with Naruto already made her heart race. At the thought of certain scenes, her face immediately turned red.
"No. Relax."
"Your theory and intelligence analysis grades have always been first in the class."
"You just let your emotions affect you too easily. If you think carefully, you'll find there are plenty of holes in this."
"If the opponent is Kakashi-sensei... a Field Survival Exercise..."
After Naruto pointed it out, Pink Hair also noticed what was wrong.
"Such an obvious misdirection... Ah, I can't believe I only thought of it now. But Naruto-kun, you're amazing. You found the contradiction so quickly."
Sakura-bro: Heh, where's your Sasuke-kun now?
"No wonder Sasuke said when he arrived that we needed to formulate tactics in advance. He must have noticed something was off this morning too. This test will most likely assess teamwork."
"Three people who aren't in sync, aren't united, and aren't willing to cooperate can't possibly pass."
"No, I didn't. That's not it."
Uchiha Sasuke had somehow appeared at the kitchen entrance.
"I did notice that something was wrong, but I didn't analyze it so thoroughly."
"Naruto, you're strong. You fully deserve to have been the top student for six years."
At that moment, Uchiha Sasuke truly noticed that Naruto carried an aura that felt incomparably familiar to him.
It was warm, making people unable to resist drawing close.
And that familiar, intimate feeling... was a lot like Father...
Before you continue