Late? No! It's a Test!

The next morning.

The sky was barely beginning to lighten.

Team 7 had already set out.

Following Cangwu's instructions, they hadn't eaten a thing since yesterday noon.

All three looked a little worse for wear.

As for why they'd gathered so early...

It was simple. They'd woken up hungry.

"Morning, everyone..." Sakura rubbed her eyes and spoke weakly.

"Morning..." Naruto held his stomach with one hand and covered his eyes with the other.

Sasuke, at least, was still managing to look cool.

After the three met up, they stood together.

As time went by, Naruto sat on the ground and started nodding off. Sasuke folded his arms, while Sakura sat there with a woebegone little face, constantly looking around in the hope of spotting Cangwu.

The sun climbed high overhead.

Sakura sat down too.

"I'm so hungry... so sleepy... I feel awful. How much longer do we have to wait?"

Naruto's face crumpled into a ball.

He simply flopped onto the ground, his eyes bloodshot.

The three of them had gathered at six in the morning.

The sun hadn't even risen yet.

Now it was directly overhead.

"Teacher Cangwu is late again." Sakura hugged her knees and muttered with a pout.

Naruto weakly opened his mouth.

Then he turned his head and saw Sasuke still standing off to the side with his arms folded, putting on a show of being cool.

"Annoying show-off. He's still pretending to be cool at a time like this."

Sasuke glanced at him, his expression icy. "Idiot."

Naruto took a deep breath, ready to start yelling, but realized his mouth was too dry.

"We haven't even had a sip of water since yesterday..."

"Hmph. Pathetic." Sasuke sneered, looking down at Naruto.

"If you can't even handle this little hardship, hurry back to the Ninja Academy. Don't hold me back."

At that, a blazing fire lit in Naruto's eyes.

"You jerk, I... uh..."

Suddenly, Naruto's stomach let out a loud protest.

In an instant,

the atmosphere fell silent.

Naruto had no shame, so he clutched his stomach and complained loudly about how hungry he was.

But soon, another rumbling sound followed.

Naruto looked over.

Sasuke had his back turned to him.

Still, Naruto was certain the sound had come from Sasuke's stomach.

He was just about to laugh at him

when Sakura, sitting beside him, blushed.

"Grrrr..."

"Pfft—hahaha!" Naruto couldn't hold back his laughter.

Bam—

And got punched for it.

Damn it!

Teacher Cangwu was the worst!

How long had it been now?

They hadn't eaten a thing since yesterday...

Jerk!

"Hmph. What a waste of time." A faint flush still lingered on Sasuke's face.

His patience had run out completely.

"Keep waiting if you want. Someone like him can't give me strength."

With that, Sasuke turned to leave.

Sakura hurriedly said,

"Sasuke-kun, let's wait a little longer. Maybe this is Teacher Cangwu's first test?"

"Shut up, you stupid woman," Sasuke said with a cold snort.

"So what if we become ninja?"

"An instructor who's only a Genin can't give me strength. This is nothing but a waste of time. I don't have time to play house with you!"

"Stupid... stupid woman?" Sakura's eyes widened. Then her expression visibly darkened.

She clenched her fists, the corners of her eyes twitching.

Ino's recent changes had already left her unsettled, and she'd been holding back a lot of anger.

On top of their current predicament... her fury flared in an instant.

Just because you're handsome doesn't mean I won't hit you!

"Like this book? Add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time."

"Sasuke, you jerk! How can you talk about cute Sakura like that?!" Naruto got to his feet like a lovesick puppy and glared at Sasuke.

Sasuke ignored them both and thought it over carefully instead.

Could this be a test?

It's possible. Instructors always like doing these pointless things.

Since yesterday... this really has been a test.

Sasuke took a deep breath.

Then he went to a tree, leaned against the trunk, and closed his eyes to rest.

Seeing that, Naruto pointed at him and mocked, "Go on, then! You were going to leave, weren't you?!"

"'So what if we become ninja? If we can't gain strength, it's a waste of time!'" Naruto imitated Sasuke's tone from earlier.

Sasuke's eyes twitched as he rested with his eyes closed. In the end, he suppressed his anger and ignored Naruto.

This time, Sakura surprisingly didn't turn into a lovesick puppy and stop Naruto.

Still, Naruto really was annoying, chattering on and on.

Finally, Sakura couldn't take it anymore and punched him.

"Enough, Naruto. Wait patiently. Teacher Cangwu must be testing our patience. If you keep making a racket, maybe he'll show up even later!"

Hm?!

Sasuke glanced at Sakura.

Naruto rubbed his cheek with a bitter smile. "Is that so?"

"Fine!"

"It's just a matter of waiting quietly and patiently, right?"

"I'm not going to be like certain people, saying it's a waste of time. Hmph."

After making his declaration, Naruto dropped onto the ground, folded his arms, and closed his eyes.

Perhaps deliberately, perhaps not, Naruto and Sasuke were at it again.

They even began breathing in sync, gradually slowing their breaths.

Another half hour passed.

"Hey, good morning, everyone."

Suddenly, a voice rang out from between the three of them.

At the sound, all three opened their eyes at once.

Sakura's face lit up with joy.

I knew it! I was right!

As soon as we quieted down and waited patiently, Teacher Cangwu showed up.

Naruto stared at Cangwu with a deeply aggrieved expression. If Cangwu hadn't always treated him so well, Naruto would have cursed him out already.

Sasuke watched Cangwu with an unfriendly look. If Cangwu's strength didn't live up to his expectations, Sasuke would leave this team that was holding him back.

"Sorry, I had a lot of breakfast to make, so I'm a little late."

"Breakfast?!" All three of them exclaimed at once.

At Cangwu's answer, the anger they'd managed to suppress burst out all at once.

What did he mean?!

All three of them had been completely wrong!

This guy... wasn't giving them some kind of test. He was simply late!

So what was the point of sitting here like idiots and waiting for hours?

Seeing the anger on all three faces,

Cangwu cleared his throat twice.

"Good job. You passed the first test."

He said it without batting an eye.

Then he took out an alarm clock.

"Okay, I set the alarm for twelve."

"Don't change the subject! There was no test!" Naruto finally couldn't hold back and pointed at Cangwu.

"You jerk of a teacher!" Sasuke cursed too.

Sakura opened her mouth, but as she looked at Cangwu's handsome face, she ultimately stopped herself from swearing.

Cangwu's eyes darted around.

He couldn't help it. Ino had shown up first thing in the morning, bringing Hinata with her.

It seemed Hinata had been teased so much the day before

that even her pale eyes seemed to be giving off dark energy.

She was still very shy and spoke very softly,

but she'd come along with Ino to have Cangwu treat her.

There was nothing for it. Cangwu had to get up and make breakfast.

Those two girls had stuck around until late last night. After having dinner at Cangwu's place, they couldn't stop thinking about it.

It was like they'd discovered a whole new world. They hadn't expected Cangwu to be such an amazing cook.

The dishes he made were completely unfamiliar to them, and they tasted unbelievably good.

So, on the way home last night, the two of them had talked it over and decided to use "treatment" as an excuse to secure a long-term meal ticket.

As luck would have it, Anko and Yugao, who was on a few days' leave, had also come by.

After sending Hinata and Ino off to meet the others, Cangwu still had to go home and make breakfast for his two "big sisters."

Jingle, jingle—

Cangwu took out two bells and looked at the three of them with a smile.

"Your task today is to take these bells from me before noon."