The Three from the Sand Village

Naruto walked down the street alone. With Awen's memories, he knew he had to perform well in this Chunin Ninja Exams. He also had to stay on guard against Orochimaru.

Suddenly, Naruto whipped his head around. A square rock was moving along behind him, with two holes exposed in it. The clumsy disguise made the corners of Naruto's mouth curl upward.

Naruto smiled. "Come out, Konohamaru. Your disguise is really terrible."

"Hehehe, just as expected of Boss Naruto! No wonder you're the man I picked!"

Three children climbed out of the square rock: Konohamaru and his two companions, Moegi and Udon. Like Naruto, they wore goggles on their heads.

"Did you need something?" Naruto asked blandly.

Konohamaru pointed at Naruto, looking deeply dissatisfied. "Isn't it because you've become so cold lately, Naruto? You promised today that you'd play ninja games with us!"

Naruto gently shook his head. "Sorry, Konohamaru. I'm afraid I won't be able to play with you for a while. The Chunin Ninja Exams are coming up, and I need to prepare for them."

"The Chunin Ninja Exams!" Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon's eyes lit up. What ninja game could possibly be more interesting than becoming Chunin?

"That's right. Judging by the timing, it's about time. Kakashi-sensei just left too. Maybe we can take part this year as well!" Naruto said happily.

Moegi said excitedly, "When the Chunin Ninja Exams begin, Boss will definitely become a Chunin! You'll be the brightest star in the whole exam!"

"Yo, a little runt and three brats aren't off playing ninja games? What a joke. Konoha's Genin sure look childish."

A boy in black clothes mocked them. He wore a Sand Village forehead protector, purple face paint, and carried something wrapped in bandages on his back.

Beside the boy in black stood a blonde girl with four locks of hair framing her face. A huge iron fan was strapped to her back, and she wore a Sand Village forehead protector around her neck.

Kankuro and Temari. Naruto was no stranger to either of them.

Faced with Kankuro's mockery, Naruto neither got angry nor annoyed. He merely smiled. "You're from Sand Village to take part in the Chunin Ninja Exams, right? To prepare for the exams, I looked into Sand Village's ninja a little. That face-painted guy who looks like Kiba is a puppeteer, while the Iron Fan Princess is a ninja skilled in Wind Release, right?"

Kankuro and Temari's expressions changed. They had intended to provoke him and pry out some useful information, but at first glance, he had already laid out their abilities.

This guy is definitely not an ordinary Genin!

The same thought flashed through both their minds. Kankuro's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Yo, looks like Konoha's ninja know quite a lot. Little runt, since you know all that, you're pretty confident, huh? Ninja battles aren't some childish game. Be careful not to run into us during the exams..."

Naruto said nothing. With a serious expression, he walked forward.

"W-what? What are you doing?" Kankuro and Temari acted as if facing a great enemy, quietly placing their hands behind their backs, ready to strike at any moment.

When Naruto was about five or six meters away, he held out a hand and measured his own height, then measured Kankuro's. A smug smile appeared on his face.

Over the past year, Naruto had grown quite a bit. He was about as tall as Sasuke and taller than Kankuro, though still shorter than Sakura and Temari. But in another two or three years, that might not be the case.

"Hehe... looks like you're the little runt. I'm the tall runt!" Naruto said with a grin.

Temari could not hold it in and burst out laughing. But when she saw Kankuro glaring at her with a livid face, she hurriedly covered her mouth and apologized, though she still could not stop herself from laughing.

"Sorry, I really couldn't help it!"

Kankuro stared at Naruto, a vicious glint flashing through his eyes. With a light curl of his finger, a thin chakra thread wrapped around Naruto's leg, ready to teach him a lesson.

Whoosh!

Naruto instantly severed the chakra thread with Wind-nature chakra. His expression did not change as he smiled. "Just like you said, ninja battles aren't some childish game. Be careful not to run into us during the exams..."

Naruto threw Kankuro's own words right back at him, leaving Kankuro unable to save face. He had only wanted to gather some information at first, yet he had ended up humiliated.

"Face-painted guy, you brought this embarrassment on yourself. You can't blame anyone else. And you over there, radiating killing intent—stop hiding and come out!"

Naruto shifted his gaze toward a large tree nearby. A boy carrying a huge gourd stood on it, with heavy black circles around his eyes and the bright red character for love on his forehead.

"Gaara!" Kankuro and Temari's faces turned pale in fright.

"Shut up. You're too noisy." Gaara's cold, utterly emotionless words made the two of them tremble and freeze in place.

Gaara turned into a stream of sand and arrived before Naruto. His indifferent eyes carried a hatred for the world. "I'm very interested in you. Your name."

"Uzumaki Naruto, the man who will become Hokage in the future. And you?" Naruto stared at Gaara.

"Gaara of the Sand Waterfall. I hope I meet you in the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams." Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro left.

Konohamaru's trio looked at Naruto with faces full of admiration.

Konohamaru said excitedly, "Wow, Naruto! You were so cool just now!"

Moegi said, "Boss, you threw that face-painted guy's words right back at him! That was amazing! I admire you so much!"

Udon said, "Yeah, yeah!"

Naruto returned to his usual self, scratching the back of his head and laughing. "Really? Was I really that cool just now?"

"Cool! You were unbelievably cool! Totally awesome! There aren't even words for it!" Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon cheered in unison, making Naruto feel a little embarrassed.

Naruto smiled. "Sorry, I can't play ninja games with you today. I'll treat you to lunch today. Konohamaru, what do you want to eat?"

"Hooray! Long live Naruto!" Konohamaru shouted.

Moegi cried out, "Boss, you're even cooler than before!"

Udon said, "Yeah, yeah!"

"So treating you to food makes me cool? Come on, let's go!" Naruto left with Konohamaru's trio.

At the street corner, however, Gaara's Sand Village trio had not left right away. Gaara stood at the corner, secretly watching the backs of Naruto and the others as they departed. Naruto's laughter and cheerful conversation with Konohamaru's group especially grated on his eyes.

"Killing you will definitely be worthwhile, Uzumaki Naruto!" Gaara radiated killing intent, his eyes filled with frenzied savagery. Temari and Kankuro swallowed nervously, trembling as they looked at him, not daring to say a single word.