Kakashi stroked his chin. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. As for my hobbies... I have quite a few. I don't have any particular ambitions. The rest is classified."
Haruno Sakura frowned, thinking, That's it? He only told us his name!
Her gaze drifted toward Naruto. Usually, he would have been the first to complain to her at a time like this, but today he just looked indifferent.
Kakashi said, "I'm done. Which of you two wants to go first?"
Unexpectedly, Sasuke spoke first. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I have no hobbies. As for my ambition... It's less an ambition and more something I have to do."
His gaze suddenly sharpened. "I'm going to restore the Uchiha Clan, and... kill that man!"
Kakashi froze, then glanced at Naruto.
Wasn't that a bit much? Were teenage boys and girls really this intense about love these days? He probably meant Itachi Uchiha, his older brother, right?
Haruno Sakura was deeply captivated by those words. Even with her heart broken, she still thought they were pretty cool.
"My name is Haruno Sakura. As for my hobbies—well, the person I like is..."
Her eyes slowly shifted toward Sasuke.
Kakashi perked up his ears.
But she stopped there. Thinking of how Sasuke had ignored her just now, and of Naruto's blunt confession and the way he'd stopped her, she lowered her head and fell silent.
Disappointed that he hadn't gotten an answer, Kakashi said seriously, "That's enough introductions. We'll start missions tomorrow. Meet at the east bank of the river by Kage Rock."
"Oh," Haruno Sakura replied, looking crestfallen.
Naruto asked, "What's the mission?"
"A test to weed out the unfit. Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine are qualified to become Genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy for more training."
Kakashi gave them a threatening look. "I'll be your opponent."
Haruno Sakura's face immediately darkened.
Sasuke broke into a sweat too—not because he was worried about failing, but because their opponent was an elite jonin.
Naruto, meanwhile, was simply excited.
He didn't know much about the shinobi world. Kakashi hadn't earned his respect yet, but Naruto had seen him kill Mizuki in an instant. That made Kakashi a good benchmark.
"Six in the morning. Don't eat breakfast, and don't be late." Kakashi set down three forms listing the specific requirements, swiftly formed Hand Seals, and vanished in a burst of white smoke.
Naruto picked up a form and glanced over it. Then he walked up to Haruno Sakura, who was half a head taller than him. "Little Sakura."
"Hmm?" Haruno Sakura looked up. There was something unusually calm in Naruto's expression and voice, utterly unlike the wildness he showed when fighting.
Naruto said, "Be my girlfriend."
Haruno Sakura's eyes widened.
He was so direct that she blushed, her heart pounding.
Naruto had confessed to her before, but this time it felt completely different.
She instinctively looked toward Sasuke, but Naruto raised a hand to block her view.
Their eyes met, and she found herself unable to refuse.
"You only have one chance. I'll give you time to think about it."
With that, Naruto left.
A first love was hard to let go of if you'd never had the chance to experience it.
Feelings were simple: you either liked someone or you didn't. You just had to say what you felt.
Sasuke didn't care in the least.
Naruto carried two large bags of groceries home, threw out the expired odds and ends, and restocked the fridge.
He was still growing, and he was shorter than most boys his age to begin with, so he needed to make sure he got enough nutrition.
After setting the ingredients on the cutting board, he turned his focus inward.
Chakra was formed by combining physical and Spiritual Energy. Shinobi controlled their Chakra, formed Hand Seals, and unleashed all kinds of strange ninjutsu.
The only techniques he knew were basic support ninjutsu with no offensive power, such as the Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, and Substitution Technique.
If he wanted to fight, he'd have to rely on martial arts.
He generated Chakra by stimulating his cells, channeled it into his palm, and extended it into a tangible blade of light. Then he practiced cutting potatoes into thin strips with sword energy.
Six o'clock the next morning.
Three people met by the river beneath a deep-blue sky veiled with clouds.
Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.
Seven o'clock, eight o'clock, nine o'clock, ten o'clock.
Kakashi finally showed up, long after the appointed time.
Naruto said, "Kakashi-sensei, you told us not to be late. Is the first lesson you're teaching us that shinobi should break their promises?"
Kakashi had meant to brush it off as usual, but Naruto's words hit hard. He raised his eyes and replied seriously,
"I think I told you not to be late. I didn't say that about myself. All right, all right, don't look at me like that. This is part of the test too."
He took out a clock and set it on a tree stump, adjusting the alarm to noon. Then he pulled out two bells and shook them.
"Your mission is to take these bells before noon."
Haruno Sakura couldn't help asking, "Sensei, aren't you missing one?"
Kakashi shook his head. "No."
They didn't need an explanation to understand. He wanted them to compete against each other—to engage in cutthroat competition.
"Survival of the fittest?" Naruto smiled, stepped forward, and looked at Haruno Sakura. "Stick with me. If we get the bells, one's yours."
If shinobi had to fight among themselves like dogs just to stand out, then he'd already lost interest.
Naruto turned to Sasuke, who was frowning. "Don't worry. I'll only take one."
Haruno Sakura thought it over. She wasn't as skilled as Sasuke, and Naruto seemed stronger than her too. This looked like her best option.
Her determination not to be eliminated outweighed her girlish feelings, and she nodded, taking her place to Naruto's right.
Naruto laughed. "No wonder I picked you."
Haruno Sakura suddenly felt a little selfish. But if Naruto got eliminated, being alone with Sasuke would be the best outcome, wouldn't it?
She wanted to apologize, but then she caught sight of Naruto's confident profile and lost herself in the moment.
Just then, Sasuke suddenly stepped to Naruto's left. "Let's compete. Whoever gets one first wins."
Naruto readily agreed. "Haha! All right!"
Kakashi scratched his head.
The whole point of the team placement test was to teach them to work together—to put the team's goals ahead of their own interests.
Yet somehow these three had ended up on the same side, and for all the wrong reasons.
He said ominously, "Here's some bad news: no one has ever passed my test."
Naruto charged straight at him, laughing. "Then I'll be the first!"
Sasuke wasn't about to be outdone. He attacked from the left, six shuriken tucked between his fingers as he fired them toward Kakashi to block off his escape routes.
Haruno Sakura followed close behind, closing in from the right. Her high-slit qipao fluttered as her pale, toned legs moved swiftly.
Even as the three of them attacked, with shuriken flying toward him, Kakashi still looked utterly relaxed.
To an elite jonin like him, they were all too slow. There was no way they could take the bells.
The test had never really been about taking the bells.
Kakashi formed Hand Seals and burst into a cloud of smoke. He used Earth Release to burrow underground, escaping their encirclement.
He moved beneath Naruto and reached for his ankle, intending to drag underground the culprit who had thrown the situation into chaos.
But at that moment, Naruto suddenly kicked off the ground and pulled his leg away, then punched Kakashi's wrist.
The punch was so powerful that the back of Kakashi's hand went numb.
That brief numbness kept him from pulling back in time. When Sasuke's shuriken came flying at him again, he had no choice but to release the technique and leap into the air.
Kakashi was surprised that Naruto had been able to sense him. "Not bad."
Naruto had been born with the ability to distinguish good from evil and sense hostility and killing intent. The moment Kakashi attacked him, Naruto had sensed it.
Naruto leaped after him, pulled an iron rod from his trouser leg, and swung it down at Kakashi's head.
Weapons like kunai were too short. They didn't suit his style.
Kakashi drew a kunai with his other hand and brought it up to block the blow.
The two exchanged more than ten rapid strikes in midair. Kakashi's expression shifted from casual amusement to wariness.
Was Naruto using swordsmanship?
Every strike was fast, precise, and ruthless, aimed directly at Kakashi's joints and vital points.
Just then, behind Kakashi, Sasuke formed the "Horse" and "Tiger" seals and unleashed the Great Fireball Technique.
He circled his thumb and index finger, then blew out a stream of flames that spread into a blazing fireball several people tall.
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