Hatake Kakashi

"Our team's instructor is so slow. Did he get the time wrong? Is he not coming at all today?"

Sakura Haruno, already nearing her limit, spoke with a hint of faint impatience. She seemed to be using the topic to break the current stiff atmosphere. Sakura no longer harbored hopes of the harmonious scene she had initially imagined, where she would receive the dual attention of Sasuke and Naruto. Now, she just wanted to engage in the bare minimum of communication with her two teammates, if only to shatter this silence.

We're teammates, aren't we?

We're classmates who studied together for six years, right?

Could you not be so cold?

Sakura desperately hoped that Sasuke and Naruto would respond to her, if only to make the air in the classroom feel less icy and heavy.

Sakura felt her request wasn't exactly unreasonable, was it?

However, Sakura was destined to be disappointed.

Sasuke, sitting in the front left seat, didn't even change his expression, let alone move. He didn't even spare a glance in Sakura's direction. He remained with his hands clasped together, resting against his chin, his gaze cold as he stared ahead, still lost in his own thoughts.

If Naruto could pique even a sliver of Sasuke's interest, it was only due to Naruto's performance at the Ninja Academy and the treatment he had received within the village.

As for Sakura's existence?

Sorry!

From Sasuke's perspective.

She was nothing more than a buzzing, annoying fly.

Would you waste energy on a fly?

The answer was undoubtedly no.

And if the "fly" became too noisy, it would simply be swatted to death.

Sasuke's cold, indifferent expression only made Sakura's own expression stiffen further.

Fortunately, Naruto reacted slightly. Perhaps he didn't want to be as cold as Sasuke, or at least he was willing to go through the motions, just as he had at the Ninja Academy.

"Maybe he's been delayed by something. We have nothing else to do, so let's just wait patiently."

Naruto smiled calmly and said softly.

Of course, this was clearly just a polite remark, but it gave Sakura a relatively graceful way out.

It kept her from falling into an overly awkward situation.

"Ahaha, you're right. Let's wait a bit longer, just a bit longer..."

A smile that was awkward but polite appeared on Sakura's face. She nodded stiffly and replied. Then, she bit her lower lip, turned her head away, and stopped talking. Her first attempt had ended in a crushing defeat. If Naruto hadn't given even a slight response, and both of them had just left her in the cold, Sakura would have wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. At least now, the thin veneer of her composure hadn't completely shattered, though she would have to remain silent from here on out.

Sakura lacked the courage to speak again.

It was better to maintain her image as a well-behaved girl.

At least on the surface.

Deep in her heart.

The naturally volatile Sakura was throwing a massive tantrum.

And the target of her ire.

Naturally, it wasn't Sasuke or Naruto.

The former was her crush, and the latter had at least helped her out of a tight spot. Most importantly, Naruto had left a very good impression on Sakura over the past six years.

At this moment, the person Sakura was cursing in her heart was the late Hatake Kakashi.

From Sakura's perspective.

If it weren't for this damn instructor being late, she never would have ended up in such an embarrassing position.

"Tick, tock, tick, tock..."

The clock in the classroom continued to swing steadily and rhythmically.

The slowly passing time.

It was almost exactly as Naruto had anticipated.

It really was three hours later.

"Creak..."

With a sound.

The classroom door was finally pushed open once again.

Attracting everyone's attention.

A tall, slender figure walked straight into the line of sight of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

The standard Konoha Ninja uniform, that bright and soft white hair, and most importantly, the familiar look of a forehead protector tilted to deliberately cover his left eye, combined with that signature lazy expression.

The person who had arrived was the one Naruto was most familiar with and had the most complex feelings for, based on the original work from his past life—the elite Konoha Jonin, Hatake Kakashi!

And the moment they saw Kakashi's figure.

The three people in the classroom each revealed a different expression.

Naruto wore a calm and indifferent expression.

Sasuke, however, furrowed his brows slightly, eyeing Kakashi with a look of scrutiny and suspicion; this lazy, listless appearance made it truly difficult for Sasuke to feel any sense of trust.

Of course, from Naruto's perspective, he could catch a faint whiff of danger emanating from Kakashi.

It was, in particular, that cold and biting killing intent.

To Naruto, it felt incredibly chilling.

This was undoubtedly something only a Ninja who had waded through mountains of corpses and seas of blood could possess.

Naturally, Kakashi had completely restrained his killing intent; the only reason Naruto could sense a trace of it was due to his life-or-death struggle with Mizuki, and more importantly, the fact that it was Naruto's first time killing someone.

Sakura Haruno simply breathed a sigh of relief.

She could finally escape this endless, suffocating silence.

Over the past three hours, Sakura had countless times wanted to flee this classroom.

Fortunately, just as she reached her limit of patience, their instructor had finally arrived.

This awkward and heavy atmosphere could finally be broken.

For Sakura, this was the most joyous thing that could have happened right now.

Observing the expressions of the three subordinates in the squad he was about to lead, Kakashi guessed their respective emotions almost instantly. As he swept his gaze over the three of them with an air of casual indifference, he inadvertently let his eyes linger on Naruto for an extra half-second.

It was a very brief interval, yet Naruto still caught it.

Is it probably because of my identity? Whether it's being the orphan of the Fourth Hokage or the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki...

Naruto's expression remained unchanged, though he thought to himself.

However, this time, Naruto had guessed Kakashi's thoughts wrong.

The reason Kakashi lingered on Naruto for that extra half-second was because of the battle between Naruto and Mizuki three days ago. Kakashi had originally thought he would need to intervene, but he hadn't expected Naruto to successfully turn the tables and kill his opponent.

It wasn't just the result, but the process itself.

The clumsiness of his first battle, the suppressed power, and even the way his body had trembled at the start—Kakashi had seen it all clearly.

Yet, even under those circumstances, Naruto had managed to find that single sliver of an opening to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Especially that decisive posture when he finally killed Mizuki.

That was the reason Kakashi paid extra attention to Naruto.