Graduation Groups

Naruto had plagiarized Itachi Uchiha's words and deeply shaken Konohamaru. A few more days passed, and finally, it was time to be assigned to teams.

When he got up that morning, he naturally didn't drink the expired milk like he had in Awen's memories. He had thrown it out long ago and bought fresh milk instead.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Naruto nodded in satisfaction. He was still wearing that orange tracksuit, but the zipper was open, revealing a black shirt underneath.

"Today's the team assignment day. According to Awen's memories, it'll be me, Sakura, and that stuck-up Sasuke." Naruto locked the door behind him and headed out.

When he arrived at the classroom and took his seat, one of the students stared at him in shock and demanded, "Naruto, what are you doing here? Isn't today's briefing only for people who passed the graduation exam?"

"What do you think this forehead protector on my head is for?" Naruto pointed at his forehead and replied.

The student returned to his seat, full of curiosity. Naruto lay sprawled over his desk, and everything felt just as it always had.

"Oh, right, Hinata!" Naruto turned around and looked toward the back row. Hinata Hyuga sat there with cute short hair. Her pale eyes looked a little intimidating, but her timid, lovable appearance made her seem especially adorable.

"Naruto!" Noticing his gaze, Hinata shyly turned her head away, her thoughts running wild.

"W-What is it... Naruto is looking at me. Did he notice me? If he finds out I've always been secretly watching him, what will he think? Does Naruto know how I feel? Will he think I..."

A storm of emotions raged within Hinata. Naruto withdrew his gaze as well and thought, According to Awen's memories, I'll become the Seventh Hokage in the future, marry Hinata, and have a son and a daughter.

"Get out of the way!"

Just as Naruto was contemplating the future, someone suddenly grabbed his arm and flung him aside with force. Her tone was rough and left no room for refusal.

Naruto looked up and saw Sakura staring at Sasuke with a lovestruck expression, completely unlike the way she had just treated him. "Morning, Sasuke!"

Sasuke sat silently in his seat, too lazy even to acknowledge Sakura. Perhaps remembering what she had said on the day of the graduation exam, his gaze turned even colder, and he felt an inexplicable disgust toward her.

Ino came over as well. She first glanced at Naruto, then snorted when she noticed his gaze and joined the battle over who would get to sit beside Sasuke.

What the hell? Going by Awen's memories, Ino is basically the blonde loser girl's supporting character, right? But this Sasuke...

Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared at Sasuke in annoyance. This guy was way too popular with girls!

Just as Naruto was about to do something, he suddenly froze, his heart jolting. Wait. According to Awen's memories, my first kiss...

Naruto sucked in a sharp breath, stood up, and quietly backed away several steps. Based on Awen's memories, in this situation, I should follow what some novel protagonist did: furrow my brow and silently retreat behind everyone else.

He acted at once. Naruto copied that novel protagonist, quietly moved away, and changed seats. Aside from Hinata, who had been watching him all along, there was also a group of Jonin observing the classroom through Hiruzen Sarutobi's crystal ball.

Iruka soon entered and finalized the team assignments.

"Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha!"

The moment Sakura heard she was on the same team as Naruto, she was instantly disappointed. But when she heard Sasuke was on the team too, she happily jumped up and turned to flash Ino a victorious gesture.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto in the back row and thought, Strange. This dead last seems different from before.

After the assignments were over, it was nearly noon. Naruto took the lunchbox he had prepared and went to the school rooftop. After eating, he washed his lunchbox and returned to the classroom without causing any mischief.

"So boring!" Naruto thought for a moment, then closed his eyes and lay on his desk, looking as though he had fallen asleep. In reality, his consciousness entered his inner space.

"Kurama, I came to see you." Naruto could now enter whenever he wanted.

The Nine-Tails ignored Naruto. At the moment, he had used Chakra to conjure a screen displaying images that amazed Naruto so much that he immediately slipped through the gap in the iron gate.

Naruto's eyes lit up with delight. "This is a movie! Kurama, you're watching a movie?"

The Nine-Tails replied flatly, "Yeah. The entertainment industry in Awen's world was highly developed. I created this Projection Jutsu to kill time."

Naruto leaned against the Nine-Tails' fluffy body, found himself a comfortable position, and smiled. "Wow, what is this?"

The Nine-Tails had begun to acknowledge Naruto and no longer used his Chakra to interfere with him. "It's called Ultraman Tiga. It seems pretty good."

"He's so cool! A real hero!" Naruto suddenly thought of something and hurriedly asked, "Wait, Kurama, can you play Naruto?"

"No!" The Nine-Tails refused without hesitation.

"Naruto, the consequences would create a sense of disconnect and make it hard for you to distinguish reality."

"Fine." Naruto said nothing more and obediently watched with the Nine-Tails, discussing the plot as they went.

"Wow... Hey, Kurama, in Awen's world, Naruto is us. Do you think we might also be in other worlds? Like Ultraman or Dragon Ball?" Naruto suddenly asked.

"I don't know." The Nine-Tails rolled his eyes at Naruto. "Instead of thinking about that, you should focus on getting stronger. You saw the future crisis in Awen's memories too, didn't you?"

"I know. I've been using Shadow Clones to assist my training and have started practicing Wind-Nature Chakra transformation. I can't learn the Rasengan yet. The moment I do, Grandpa Hokage and the others will definitely notice something is wrong. Next, I'm thinking about how to get Kakashi-sensei to teach me the Rasengan. Kakashi-sensei knows that jutsu too." Naruto pondered carefully.

The Nine-Tails suddenly said, "That Kakashi brat you mentioned is here!"

"Huh? Already? Isn't he the king of lateness? I just got to the part where Shinjo and Daigo crash into the sea! Kurama, can you pause it? We can watch it together when I get back! This is way more interesting than Princess Gale!" Naruto pleaded.

"You wish. Get out, get out, get out! Hurry up and move your potatoes, scram!" Using the phrases he had learned from Awen's memories, the Nine-Tails impatiently kicked Naruto out.

"So unfair!" Naruto's final voice echoed through the inner space.

His consciousness awakened, and Naruto raised his head, looking resentfully at the masked figure in the doorway: Kakashi Hatake, the Jonin instructor of Team 7.

"You're too slow!" Sakura was furious after waiting so long.

Sasuke did not look much better either. Only Naruto had passed the time quickly by watching movies with the Nine-Tails in his inner space.

Kakashi looked lazily at the three of them and said, "How should I put this? My first impression of you three is that I really don't like you."

Sakura and Sasuke both looked as though black lines had appeared across their faces. Naruto also had a stomach full of complaints, but he held them back.