So Creepy

In the stands.

Everyone who saw this scene was utterly stunned.

Naruto, sitting among them, broke out in goosebumps all over and could not help wrapping his arms around himself.

"Th-That's way too weird! I actually look like that in Sasuke's dream??"

His eyes widened in disbelief and disgust. Twisting uncomfortably, he looked as though ants were crawling all over him.

"So creepy!"

Naruto's scalp tingled with revulsion.

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Naruto Uzumaki! Emotion Points +300!]

Sakura was equally dumbfounded, completely speechless for a moment.

The Naruto on the screen had a handsome face and a gentle, cheerful smile. His words and manners were polite and refined, and the aura he gave off was as warm as the winter sun.

The Naruto in the dream gave her a feeling she had never experienced before.

He was the very picture of a sunny, handsome young man!

Sakura could not help rubbing her eyes, afraid she had seen wrong.

Yet the sight of Naruto gently and thoughtfully asking Sasuke about his condition was undeniably real.

Sakura shuddered as an absurd thought flashed through her mind.

According to her earlier theory, what one thought of by day, one dreamed of by night...

Could it be that Sasuke liked boys, and that the one he liked was Naruto?

Otherwise, she truly could not understand why Naruto had become like this in Sasuke's dream.

Gentle and outstanding, so much so that even she, a girl, felt a little moved!

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Sakura Haruno! Emotion Points +500!]

Kakashi was the only one in the stands who remained fairly calm. Looking at the warm and courteous Naruto on the screen, his expression grew increasingly certain.

It seemed his deduction had been correct.

The world constructed by this dream did not operate entirely according to Sasuke's or Naruto's subjective wishes. It had its own independent system of logic.

The Naruto on the screen was worlds apart from the real Naruto. They were not merely somewhat different—they had absolutely nothing in common.

Yet Kakashi did not find the dream Naruto unfamiliar.

On the contrary, the more he watched, the more warm and familiar he found him.

His speech and mannerisms reminded Kakashi of his former teacher, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

He was clearly a miniature copy of Minato-sensei.

In the dream.

Sasuke remained frozen where he stood, his mind a complete mess.

Only after quite a while did he barely manage to come back to his senses.

Seeing Naruto's concerned expression so close at hand, Sasuke took a deep breath and tried to adjust to this abnormal version of Naruto.

"I..."

Sasuke opened his mouth, intending to say, "I'm fine," but the words would not come out properly.

He truly was not used to Naruto treating him with such gentleness. For a moment, he was even at a loss, and could only turn his gaze away rather than look directly into Naruto's sincerely concerned eyes.

He raised a hand and waved it, striving to remain calm as he said, "Ahem, it was just a minor issue. I got better a long time ago."

"Are you really okay? If you're still feeling unwell, you have to tell me." Seeing Sasuke insist that he was fine, Naruto did not press him further, merely smiling faintly.

"I was worried that if you weren't feeling well, we might have to postpone today's mission."

Sasuke felt another strange sensation in his heart at those words.

It was clearly heartfelt concern, yet it made his scalp tingle. He could not tell whether he was touched or horrified.

"Ahem, I said I'm not—" Sasuke hurriedly cut off his chaotic thoughts and replied with feigned calm.

But faced with Naruto's warm and considerate manner, he had no way to lose his temper and could only swallow the rest of his words dryly.

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Sasuke Uchiha! Emotion Points +200!]

Sasuke awkwardly looked away, trying to escape the embarrassing atmosphere. Then he cleared his throat and attempted to change the subject. "Ahem... Where is Kakashi-sensei? Didn't we agree to gather at dawn and set off? What time is it now? Why hasn't he arrived yet?"

At the mention of that, Sakura immediately puffed out her cheeks and complained unhappily, "Exactly! Kakashi-sensei is late again! We agreed to leave the village together for a mission, but he's made us wait this long, and there's still no sign of him!"

With her hands on her hips, Sakura was quite dissatisfied with Kakashi's tardiness. "Honestly, he's late every time we gather. That's just outrageous!"

"Kakashi-sensei... might have run into something important." Naruto actually defended their absent team leader, still speaking in that understanding tone. "Maybe some urgent matter delayed him on the way. Let's wait a little longer."

"Naruto, you're way too good at making excuses for him!" Sakura rolled her eyes and complained helplessly. "You're the only one who would believe Kakashi-sensei's ridiculous excuses! Getting lost in front of a memorial stone, helping an old lady find her lost cat... His reasons are absurd every single time!"

Sasuke could not help snorting either. Crossing his arms, he said, "Hmph. Can't Kakashi fix that bad habit of his?"

Why was he late even in a dream?

Was there really no problem with that guy being a teacher?

In the stands.

Seeing this, Kakashi could not help blushing in embarrassment and rubbing the back of his head. "Ahaha... Is it really that bad?"

Watching his students complain about his lateness in the dream, Kakashi did not know whether to laugh or cry.

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Kakashi Hatake! Emotion Points +300!]

Hearing Kakashi's embarrassed words, Sakura and Naruto both turned to look at him and nodded vigorously.

"Kakashi-sensei, you really are super late all the time!"

Sakura mercilessly exposed him.

Naruto could not help chiming in as well. "Exactly!"

Having his embarrassing past exposed so bluntly by his two students, Kakashi felt even more awkward and could only laugh dryly to brush it off.

In the dream.

Kakashi still had not arrived, so the three could only continue waiting at the village entrance.

Time passed second by second. The slanting morning sunlight fell over them, warm and pleasant.

After waiting for a while, Sasuke impatiently looked around.

Then he froze again.

Naruto had somehow already leaned against a large tree, a book in hand as he quietly read with his head lowered.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he watched Naruto absorbed in his book, a sense of absurdity flashing through his heart.

As expected of a dream. Everything really could only be explained by calling it a dream!

After all, the Naruto in reality was someone who could never sit still. Whenever he opened a book in class, he would start nodding off within three seconds.

Yet Naruto in this dream was actually leaning against a tree and reading by himself. He even seemed deeply interested, completely engrossed in it.

This was far too dreamlike.

[Ding! Emotional fluctuation detected from Sasuke Uchiha! Emotion Points +200!]

Sasuke stared at Naruto reading in disbelief.

After a while, he could not help stepping closer, wanting to see what book Naruto was reading.

Noticing Sasuke's gaze, Naruto closed the book and looked up, giving him an apologetic smile. "You didn't seem like you wanted to talk just now, so I thought I'd read for a while to pass the time."

As he spoke, he raised the book in his hand and introduced it. "This is Tales of a Gutsy Ninja, written by Jiraiya-senpai. It's really interesting. My father recommended it to me, and I like it a lot too."

"Hmph, I'm not interested in that stuff." Seeing the carelessly scrawled title on the cover, Sasuke waved a hand coldly.

To him, things like novels were boring.

Yet Naruto did not mind at all. Still smiling gently, he carefully put the book away. "All right. Everyone has different interests. But if you change your mind and want to read it, you can borrow it from me anytime."

Sasuke paused, saying nothing.

He watched Naruto place the book into his ninja tool pouch, once again rendered speechless by this dream version of Naruto.

Then a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

The real Naruto should also be in the stands watching the screen right now, shouldn't he?

At that thought, a mischievous smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of Sasuke's lips.

If that idiot Naruto in reality sees himself like this in the dream, what kind of wonderful expression will he make?

The more Sasuke thought about it, the more amusing it became, and much of his earlier discomfort faded away.

This dream was strange, but it was not entirely without entertainment.