Three People and a Dog

(There's a bit of nonsense up ahead. Feel free to skip it if you don't like it, QAQ.)

To the people of the village:

Now that I've signed a contract, the process may have been full of hardships, but I still want to thank everyone. (Maybe no one's even reading mine—maybe it's all the White Zetsu Army or Kun Kun...)

Anyway, thank you all first. See ya~

Little~Cat

Here, I'd like to talk to everyone about why I started writing and share a few of my own stories.

Let me state that I am an adult, a heterosexual woman, and a positive young person of the twenty-first century.

So, why did I write this Naruto fanfic?

First of all, I've read no fewer than five thousand novels on Tomato. Naruto has also been a masterpiece that's been with me since childhood. Even now, there aren't many anime of the same genre that can rival Naruto.

I still remembered many of Naruto's iconic scenes. They recorded my youth...

I also loved reading Naruto fanfics on Tomato. There were masterpieces, but at the same time, there were also some pretty bizarre works.

I explained this in the earlier chapters as well.

Things like making a choice and instantly being given Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, a Sage Body, and later even opening up a harem. It was as if all the female characters in Naruto had collectively lost their intelligence—utterly ridiculous.

And then there were those stories where someone awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan at six, became the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki at seven, and reached the Six Paths at eight. Those were simply absurd. The plot formula was basically always the same: the protagonist didn't need to make any effort whatsoever, just relied on some dog of a system.

It gave readers aesthetic fatigue, to the point where they couldn't even find a book to read. Why?

Because every story followed the same formula. Novels had now entered the fast-food era, and I thought it was only normal for this to happen.

But was that really all there was to it? Were future Naruto fanfics just going to keep becoming fast food like this?

I was the first to disagree.

So, an idea I had been developing in my mind for a long time became the foundation of this fanfic. I wanted to write a time-traveling Naruto fanfic centered entirely around Naruto's worldbuilding—no cheats, no system, a pure and authentic Naruto fanfic!

Maybe there would be many problems. Maybe there would be plenty of discordant voices. Maybe no one would care. But just as Kafka said in Honkai: Star Rail, when we made the right choice, we shouldn't let ourselves regret it, right?

There were also plenty of people who liked starting out with an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan or going straight to the Six Paths. That was perfectly normal. After all, everyone had their own preferences.

So if you saw this article, just pretend I didn't say anything. The choice was in your own hands, wasn't it?

(Armor stacked... I don't mind comments or rebuttals, but don't be sarcastic or foul-mouthed. Thank you.)

Back to Konoha Village in our Naruto world.

Sakura watched as Naruto wolfed down every last rice ball in one go, and rage surged in her heart!

"Damn it, Naruto."

Sakura said viciously.

At this moment, Naruto protested indignantly, "What's wrong? Why did you hit me for no reason?"

After saying that, he poked his fingers together in grievance.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him and punched him in the head again.

"Idiot, those were for Sasuke! I only had Josuke take them!"

Hearing Sakura's words, Naruto finally realized what had happened. He scratched his head awkwardly, but then another thought occurred to him and he asked,

"Huh? You didn't save any for me?"

"For you..."

Sakura didn't know how to explain it, but at that moment, a man's voice interrupted the scene.

"Oh? So it's you guys?"

The man's voice was lazy, and he looked like he had no energy at all, as though he had just woken up.

Josuke looked toward the man. Silver hair, a black mask, a tight black combat suit, and green jonin armor over it.

Wasn't this his future teacher, the legendary Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake?

Naruto was the first to speak to Kakashi.

Naruto pointed at Kakashi and asked,

"Why are you so late?"

Kakashi didn't say much. He merely smiled faintly.

Then he looked at the three people and one dog—ptui, ptui, ptui—four people.

"Nice to meet you. Introduce yourselves first. You go first."

Kakashi looked at Naruto beside him.

Naruto thought for a moment, then revealed his classic smile.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, but what I like even more is Ichiraku Ramen when Iruka-sensei treats me. What I hate is waiting the three minutes for instant ramen to be ready.

My hobby is tasting and comparing all kinds of ramen, and my dream for the future is to surpass the Hokage. I'm going to make everyone in the village acknowledge my existence!"

Sakura Haruno slowly stood up, then glanced shyly at Sasuke.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like training with everyone. My hobby and dream are to become stronger, and then..."

At this point, Sakura Haruno looked at Sasuke once again, but there were some things she didn't dare say aloud.

"As for what I hate, it's probably Naruto."

Her disdainful gaze swept over Naruto. Sakura Haruno was truly helpless.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are many things I hate, and nothing I particularly like. Also, I have an ambition that is more than just a dream: to revive the Uchiha clan."

Then Sasuke paused.

"I'm going to kill that man!"

His voice was cold, frightening Naruto beside him until he trembled. He couldn't be talking about me, could he?

Kakashi Hatake's eye flickered slightly. He knew some of the details behind what had happened back then, but even now, he didn't know why Itachi had massacred the clan...

Then came the last one, their heavyweight contestant—Josuke!

"My name is Uchiha Josuke. As for what I hate, it's probably being too weak. As for what I like... there are quite a few things. Likewise, I hope to use my own strength to protect the people around me."

Kakashi looked at Josuke. He had said something like that once too, hadn't he? As he spoke, Kakashi unconsciously touched his left eye, only coming back to himself after a while.

"Mm, I see... Then I'll introduce myself. My name is Kakashi Hatake. What I like and dislike... I don't want to tell you. As for my dream for the future... I have all sorts of hobbies."

Just like that, Kakashi became acquainted with the four of them.

As he spoke, Kakashi took three bells from his pocket and said,

"Of the four of you, only three can become genin. To qualify, you must take these three bells from me."

The three of them looked tense. Only Josuke, who knew the details, wasn't nervous. Whether he got a bell or not didn't really matter. This test was meant to assess the four of them's ability to work as a team.

But the other three didn't know the truth. They surely thought that if they failed to get a bell, would they be eliminated?

Josuke could only say that Kakashi really was a sly old fox, deceiving innocent youths like this. Truly despicable.