The Man in Sasuke's Heart

"Did you know? That Sasuke, don't let his usual cold demeanor fool you..." Naruto said mysteriously. "Actually, Sasuke, he..."

"Mm-hmm." Sakura grew increasingly curious. She desperately wanted to know Sasuke better, so she gradually moved closer to Naruto, wanting him to tell her more.

"Actually, Sasuke..." Naruto said with a sly grin. "He's severely starved for love and attention. The reason he works so hard at ninjutsu is to get your attention, Sakura. Sasuke really hopes he can fight alongside you and go on missions with you."

Though Naruto said that aloud, he thought, The current Sasuke won't let anyone into his heart except that man. Sakura, you're still far too distant from Sasuke, but I'll keep helping you two get together.

Sakura's face darkened.

"Hm?" Naruto sensed that something was wrong and asked, "Sakura, what's wrong?"

"Naruto! Are you trying to fool me again?" Sakura threw a powerful punch. Naruto hurriedly dodged, and her fist missed, giving Sakura a strange feeling.

Naruto actually dodged my punch. All this time, my punches always hit Naruto. Why did he dodge?

Sakura felt as though she had lost something. The Naruto who avoided her punches seemed different from the annoying Naruto she had known before.

"I didn't lie to you, Sakura." Naruto spoke glibly. "Didn't Sasuke come looking for you yesterday? The first thing he asked when he found you was where I was. Then you hugged Sasuke, letting him feel long-lost love. Sasuke told me all of that."

"What?" Sakura had no choice but to believe him now. It sounded a little absurd, but when she thought about it carefully, it did not seem impossible. Sasuke liking her seemed perfectly reasonable.

In truth, it was merely Sakura's love-struck wishful thinking. She had fooled herself, but the feeling was wonderfully blissful, and she was immersed in joy.

"Oh no." Knowing he had successfully deceived Sakura, Naruto quickly said, "Sasuke is in danger. He's at a disadvantage in his fight with Kakashi. Let's go help him. The three of us are on the same team."

"Okay." Sakura agreed readily, looking sweet and obedient, as though she was quite willing to follow Naruto's lead.

Sasuke was indeed at a disadvantage, but he was not in danger. Still, he was unwilling to accept it. He had long sworn that he would kill that man. The driving force of his entire life was to personally kill that man.

That man had not yet been killed, so how could he linger here for long? Sasuke wanted to grow stronger, to move forward, to stand before that man and personally end his life.

"I will defeat Kakashi." Sasuke said with absolute conviction. "I'll get the bells. I'll become a ninja!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Sasuke rapidly formed hand seals, took a deep breath, raised his right hand to his mouth, and exhaled in one burst. A huge flame erupted from his mouth and shot toward Kakashi.

Kakashi was startled. He had not expected a rookie fresh out of the Ninja Academy to have mastered such a high-level offensive ninjutsu.

The flames Sasuke breathed out swiftly expanded, eventually forming a massive fireball three meters in diameter that scorched the ground where Kakashi had been standing into blackened earth.

As the flames shrank, the fireball dispersed as well. A deep crater had appeared in the ground burned by the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, with thick smoke billowing straight upward.

"He's gone!" Now Sasuke was the one who was stunned. Lacking combat experience, he fell into disarray.

"Where did Kakashi go? Did he get behind me? No!" Sasuke looked around frantically, checking left and right. At last, he thought of a possibility and hurriedly looked up. "Did he go above me?"

"Wrong. Below you!" Kakashi's voice came from the earth. Sasuke immediately sensed danger, but it was already too late to react.

The ground split open, and a hand reached out. The hand emerging from the soil grabbed Sasuke by the ankle and yanked him into the ground. Most of Sasuke's body was buried, leaving only his head exposed.

Kakashi emerged from the earth and looked coldly at Sasuke. His expression seemed to say, You think you can beat me? You're at least a dozen years too early.

Kakashi crouched down and sighed. "Sigh... At your current level, you should go back to the Ninja Academy. Don't become a ninja."

Just then, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air. Kakashi quickly dodged, and several shuriken embedded themselves where he had been crouching.

"Who was that?" Kakashi looked in the direction the shuriken had come from and saw Naruto standing proudly atop a tree, wearing a smug expression.

"Another useless one." Kakashi flashed behind Naruto, grabbed the back of his collar with one hand, and tried to throw him away. Suddenly, white smoke burst from Naruto's body, and he vanished into thin air.

"Shadow Clone Technique!" Kakashi had not expected to be tricked, yet he felt greatly gratified inside.

"Sasuke, I'm coming to save you!" Sakura rushed out and charged toward Sasuke.

"Don't even think about it." Kakashi rushed forward as well, intending to stop Sakura, but several dark figures suddenly appeared in the air, forcing him to halt. Looking up, he saw more than a dozen Narutos leaping down from above.

"Ah... ah... aahhh..." More than a dozen Narutos shouted chaotically as they attacked Kakashi together.

Kakashi did not fight back, allowing Naruto's clones to latch onto him while the other dozen or so Naruto clones swarmed forward, intending to gang up on him.

The dozen Naruto clones turned the scene into complete chaos, while Kakashi had vanished without a trace, as though he had disappeared into thin air.

"Sasuke! Sakura!" Naruto dispelled the Shadow Clone Technique and shouted at the same time, "Kakashi is hiding nearby. The three of us can only deal with him if we work together."

Because Naruto had held Kakashi off, Sakura successfully rescued Sasuke. Kakashi, hidden nearby, was deeply shocked that Sakura had actually joined forces with Naruto to save Sasuke.

Hiding in the shadows, Kakashi watched Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stand back-to-back in a triangular defensive formation. He could not help saying excitedly, "The three of them are natural-born ninjas!"

"Why did you come back to save me?" Sasuke asked.

"Don't say something so stupid." Naruto said, "We're Team Seven. The three of us advance and retreat as one, because we're comrades." Naruto wore a bright, sunny smile, but thought, You think I wanted to come back and save you? How else could we pass this test...?

Sakura secretly looked at Sasuke and thought, Sasuke... he's so handsome...

"Even if you three join forces, you still won't get the bells. You're destined to fail at becoming ninjas." Kakashi stepped out openly and walked straight toward them.

Sasuke and Sakura faced him as though confronting a great enemy, their faces tense.

Naruto shouted, "The three of us are one! There's nothing we can't do!"

Kakashi said viciously, "Give up! You can't succeed!"

Naruto shouted even louder, "Sasuke! Sakura! Tell him! The three of us are united, and we'll never give up!"

Sasuke shouted, "The three of us will fight side by side."

Sakura smiled and nodded.

"Congratulations! You've passed the test!" Kakashi's expression changed, and his face filled with joy. He thought, How many years has it been? How many years has it been already? And now, I've finally encountered such outstanding Genin...