After so many days of preparation, the Chunin Exams were just around the corner.
Over the past few days, Josuke had gone over the plot again. Once he'd settled a few details, he no longer had much to worry about.
At last, the day had arrived.
That morning began just like any other.
Team 7 gathered on a street and waited for Kakashi to show up.
Just like in the original, Konohamaru turned up too, and Naruto saw right through his lousy disguise.
So Konohamaru was there with Otsutsuki Moegi—no, wait, Moegi. (Commentary: I'm only half-familiar with Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, though I've watched plenty of explainers. Can someone tell me what's up with Moegi? Why can she use Wood Release?)
Another background character made an appearance. Just like in the original, the only difference was that Josuke was now there in the same place.
Josuke couldn't help thinking, As expected of Konohamaru.
Kakashi had just arrived and told everyone to prepare for the Chunin Exams. Then Naruto invited Sakura to practice Ninjutsu with him.
Sakura responded with a string of cutting remarks.
Sakura herself went off to fawn over Sasuke.
"Instead of wasting time here, you'd be better off practicing some more Ninjutsu," Sasuke said coolly.
His words dealt a hundred thousand points of critical damage to Sakura's fragile heart. As luck would have it, Konohamaru pointed at Sakura and Naruto and cheekily asked, "Is that woman your girlfriend, big bro?"
Test
Naruto was taken aback, but after thinking it over, he eventually talked himself into it—only to get beaten up by Sakura, who sent him flying with a single punch.
Our Konohamaru didn't fare any better. Sakura punched him too.
He ran, she chased; he had nowhere to hide.
Naruto and Konohamaru were chased by Sakura all the way into an alley. Josuke knew they were headed there, so he followed behind.
Sure enough, Josuke saw Konohamaru struggling as Kankuro gripped him by the collar. Naruto charged in to rescue him, only to trip over a puppet string.
Kankuro couldn't resist taunting them. "What's this? Is this what Konoha Ninja are like?"
Josuke, hidden nearby, just smiled. Kid, give it a few episodes and you won't be laughing anymore.
Just then, at the critical moment, the show-off Sasuke made his entrance. He hurled a stone at Kankuro's arm, drawing blood.
Kankuro had no choice but to release Konohamaru, wincing in pain. Sasuke struck a pose on a tree branch. "What are you doing in someone else's village?"
Josuke snickered. That punk never misses a chance to show off, even in a situation like this. Impressive. At the same time, Sasuke's words and handsome looks made Temari blush. (Not necessarily because she liked him; it was just a normal reaction to seeing a handsome guy.)
"Damn it!" Kankuro growled. He reached behind himself, about to pull something out, but was stopped.
"Kankuro, stop."
At the sound of the voice, Kankuro broke into a cold sweat. Sasuke was startled too.
He realized the owner of that voice had crept up behind him without making a sound!
Had this happened on a battlefield, that last move would have been enough to kill him.
Josuke stepped in too, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan activated. He leaped down from a tree and landed between the two sides. Without offering any explanation, he used Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Three identical clones appeared, making for an impressive display.
Kankuro and Temari were stunned by the dazzling eyes beneath the sunlight. "The Sharingan?"
Josuke nodded.
"That's right. The Sharingan."
Then Josuke deactivated his eyes and grumbled inwardly, The Sharingan really does use up a lot of Chakra. I've barely activated it a few times and already burned through quite a bit.
"I hope you don't mean us any harm," Josuke added.
Gaara climbed down from a tree and coldly watched Team 7, but made no move.
Then Temari took out a pass.
"This is our pass. We've come to take part in the Chunin Exams."
"The Chunin Exams?"
Naruto was surprised, then happily asked himself, "Does that mean we can take the exam too?"
Temari rolled her eyes at Naruto, who didn't seem to have much going on upstairs. Josuke dismissed his Shadow Clones, and the group from Sunagakure left without lingering.
As they left,
Sasuke, still showing off, coolly exchanged names with Gaara. Josuke thought to himself, Just wait until Shukaku utterly trounces you.
The four of them and Konohamaru's group didn't linger either, and soon left. Josuke knew that everything they'd done had been watched by Old Six.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Josuke accepted an invitation to Ino's family flower shop.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw the small figure bustling about. Josuke watched quietly. The setting sun and the busy girl in the flower shop formed a beautiful picture.
Only after working for a while did Ino feel that someone seemed to be watching her from behind. It was as if she'd already guessed who it was.
Ino set down the spray bottle and tidied her hair before turning to face the person who'd been waiting for her.
"Josuke, sorry to keep you waiting."
There was a playful note in Ino's voice, as if she were both chiding him and glad he was there.
Josuke nodded.
"Ino-chan, where are you inviting me today?"
A few days earlier, Ino had come to Team 7 and told Josuke to stop by her family's flower shop that afternoon. She'd invited him out.
Of course Josuke had accepted an invitation from a pretty girl. But he didn't accept every girl's invitation. Plenty of girls at school had confessed to him, too.
In fact, he was just as popular as Sasuke, if not more so. After all, who could turn down a sunny, gentle boy?
Back to the point: in the eyes of outsiders, Josuke and Ino were already a sure thing. Even Choji, who only cared about snacks, approved of them. That showed just how close they were.
All Josuke could say was, Ha! You're reading way too much into it. We haven't even held hands. And a sure thing...? What are you all thinking? We're just friends. Really.
(A while ago, I searched Baidu for the normal age to start dating in Japan, and it said fourteen or fifteen. I don't know if that's actually true, though.)
Whether in the past or now, Josuke had always been jealous of some nobody named Sai. Why, Kishimoto? That's obviously the take of someone who only knows Naruto from the internet.
All right, back to the point. Josuke looked at Ino, puzzled.
Only then did Ino speak.
"Look, the Chunin Exams are coming up soon. How about we go out to eat? We probably won't have time once the exams are over."
Ino looked at Josuke expectantly, making his old face turn red.
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