Gathering, Chūnin Exams

Sakura and Sasuke walked toward the bridge along the riverside path, one after the other.

Sakura walked half a step behind and to Sasuke's left, tilting her head as she spoke to him. She wore a carefully composed smile, but the faint dark circles beneath her eyes showed that she had not slept well the night before.

She had probably spent half the night overthinking all sorts of things about Sasuke.

Sasuke had both hands in his shorts pockets, staring straight ahead without expression. His mind was not on what Sakura was saying.

When they reached the bridgehead and saw Naruto already waiting by the bridge, both of them paused.

Sakura's mouth parted slightly as she instinctively glanced at the sky. The sun had only risen not long ago; it was not even eight yet.

Naruto, who usually arrived right on time, was actually waiting for them early today.

Naruto raised a hand and nodded at them in greeting.

The greeting was so brief that it did not contain a single word, yet his expression was natural. He was not deliberately snubbing anyone, nor did he show any trace of the blushing, racing-heart reaction he used to have around Sakura.

Naruto was not trying to act cool. He simply could not tell what he was supposed to say so early in the morning. In the Land of Waves, he could use their mission status as an excuse, but now that they were back in the village, all that remained when they met again was simple calmness.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, his gaze lingering briefly on the beads of sweat not yet fully wiped from Naruto's forehead.

This guy trained on his own again.

Sasuke thought to himself. Without saying anything more, he gave a slight nod in return.

Then he walked past Naruto to the other side of the bridge, leaned against the railing, and continued watching the river as he waited for Kakashi.

Sakura stood where she was, looking at Naruto's calm expression as an unheard monologue began in her heart.

Hmph, so what if you came early? Don't expect me to take the initiative and talk to you...

I still remember your attitude back in the Land of Waves!

This is the last time!

Listen to that tone.

But Naruto didn't seem to look at me much today either. Is he deliberately avoiding looking at me?

Back at the Ninja Academy, he would blush even if I merely walked past him.

Forget it, forget it. I won't speak first anyway. Not even if it kills me.

Sakura turned her head away, lifted her chin high, flicked her hair, then quickly walked over to stand beside Sasuke. In a sweet voice, she resumed the topic she had left unfinished.

Naruto leaned back against the bridge railing without a care, his eyes half-closed and his breathing even.

An hour later

"Hey, morning, everyone!"

As the three waited, a voice suddenly rang out without warning. Kakashi's figure immediately appeared out of thin air atop the railing at the bridgehead.

He crouched leisurely on the railing, his eyes curved into two upside-down crescents.

"I got lost on the road of life today."

"You're lying!"

Sakura's furious shout exploded almost the instant Kakashi finished speaking.

She took a big step forward, her clenched fist cracking at the knuckles while the veins on her forehead throbbed visibly. "Kakashi-sensei, you use that excuse to brush us off every single time!"

"You got lost last time, you got lost the time before that, and you got lost the time before that too! Just how many turns have you taken on the road of life?!"

"Now, now, Sakura, don't get so worked up."

Kakashi jumped down from the railing without changing expression, his movements unhurried, as though he had not just been exposed by his student:

"The road of life is full of twists and turns. It's perfectly normal to lose your way from time to time."

Kakashi cleared his throat, his tone taking on a hint of seriousness. "Although this is rather sudden, I've recommended the three of you for the Chūnin Exams."

As he spoke, he pulled three application forms from his ninja tool pouch and handed them to the three of them.

"The Chūnin Exams?"

Sakura accepted the form and looked down at it, her eyes widening slightly in surprise.

"Mm."

Kakashi nodded, his gaze sweeping over the three of them. "A lot of ninja from other villages have arrived in the village recently. You should have noticed them on the streets these past few days, right?"

Sasuke leaned against the bridge railing, his brows drawing together slightly.

Naruto also took an application form and glanced over its contents in silence, his expression calm.

"One thing first..."

Kakashi raised a finger. His tone returned to its usual lazy drawl, though his eyes held a trace of seriousness. "This recommendation is not mandatory."

"The Chūnin Exams are a selection process where you gamble with your lives, not a graduation test at the academy."

"Whether you participate or not is entirely up to you."

After saying that, Kakashi put his hands back into his pockets and tilted his head slightly, his exposed right eye beneath his forehead protector moving over their faces.

"If you want to participate, sign your name on the application. Be at Room 301 of the Ninja Academy at three in the afternoon five days from now."

After a brief pause, Kakashi's tone suddenly became casual, as though he were merely mentioning it in passing. "That's all. Dismissed."

As soon as the words fell, Kakashi vanished into thin air again without even leaving behind a single leaf.

Only the three of them remained on the bridge.

Silence spread between them. Sasuke looked down at the application form in his hand, his eyes falling on the line for his name.

He was thinking about the Chūnin Exams.

The Chūnin Exams would gather genin from every village for multiple rounds of selection. Without exception, those who made it to the end were the elites of their respective villages.

That meant he would have many opportunities to fight truly powerful opponents.

Especially that Sunagakure ninja named Gaara. Just the aura he gave off put him on a completely different level from ordinary genin.

Fighting someone like that would be the best test of his own strength.

He needed to grow stronger, and he needed to do so quickly. Nothing stimulated the growth of one's strength more than actual combat.

At that thought, Sasuke's fingers tightened slightly, pressing several shallow creases into the paper.

Naruto, meanwhile, opened the signature section of the form and wrote the four characters of "Naruto Uzumaki."

After signing it, he folded the application form in half and tucked it into his ninja tool pouch.

His thoughts could not help drifting to the storyline of the Chūnin Exams.

Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, the Konoha Crush Plan a month later, and the Third Hokage's death.

As he thought, Naruto's mind turned to the Flying Raijin.

Right, ninja tools.

He had to get Flying Raijin Kunai forged from chakra-conductive metal as soon as possible. The formula carved onto ordinary kunai would blur and fail after a few days due to chakra dissipating. He did not want to teleport during battle only to discover that his destination had long since vanished.

Sakura read through the application form once, then raised her head and secretly glanced at Sasuke.

Sasuke's expression was focused, and something seemed to be weighing down the depths of his eyes. She did not need anyone to tell her that Sasuke was thinking about how to become stronger.

Then she secretly glanced at Naruto as well.