Karin was simmering with pent-up anger. She grabbed a handful of crumpled waste paper and hurled it hard into Sasuke's trash bin.
"Why the hell do we have to do this kind of garbage work? Shouldn't ninjas be out cutting people down, carrying out missions that actually matter?"
Sasuke was not about to take that lying down. With a flick of his wrist, a pebble arced through the air and landed precisely in Karin's bin.
This was a little pastime Naruto had taught them—practicing their shuriken skills while doing odd jobs.
A sharp eagle cry suddenly rang out overhead, and Naruto raised his eyes, one brow lifting.
This was Hiruzen Sarutobi's summons for the Jonin to assemble.
He pulled out a scroll, crossed off the final D-rank mission, and called down to the two beneath the tree. "Once you've wrapped up the mission, you're dismissed. Meet at the Ninja Academy gates early tomorrow morning."
"Huh? What about the barbecue you promised us, Brother Naruto? Where are you rushing off to?"
"To put your names down for the Chunin Ninja Exams."
With that, Naruto vanished from the tree trunk in a Body Flicker.
At the mission handover counter, Naruto passed the scroll to Iruka Umino.
Iruka was now specifically responsible for reviewing the missions completed by the Genin Naruto had trained.
Iruka did not look pleased.
In this life, he and Naruto had barely crossed paths. Naruto had already graduated from the Ninja Academy before Iruka had even gotten the chance to stand behind a teacher's desk.
To Iruka, Naruto was the demon fox that had killed his parents.
But that was not the real reason for his grim expression. It was because Naruto had sent Sakura back to the Ninja Academy.
"Naruto... Genin, I still hope you'll reconsider Sakura becoming