Yesterday was a confession, today is holding hands.
Sakura Haruno felt this was going too far. She tapped on the System, “You know it’s illegal with minors, right? Sasuke Uchiha is still a child, just let him be.”
The System gasped in surprise, “How can your thoughts be so dirty, what are you thinking? The missions are all purely friendship-oriented. This is childhood innocence, pure and wholesome, uplifting, promoting…”
Sakura Haruno: “And the confession is also friendship-oriented?”
System: “When a little kid says ‘I like you,’ doesn’t it just mean they want to play with you? What else could it mean?”
Sakura Haruno: “…”
She once again doubted whether she was tainting such pure missions with her adult, dirty thoughts.
Then she thought back to her carefree childhood, where she had even done things like digging through the outhouse with her childhood friends.
Saying “I like you” or holding hands really wasn’t a big deal (the important thing was that it was clean—Sasuke definitely wouldn’t go dig through an outhouse with her).
Naruto tilted his head, observing Sakura beside him. Here we go again, here we go again. When Sakura’s eyes went vacant and her whole body entered a somewhat eerie state, it meant she was pondering something bizarre.
Remembering that last time she was thinking about “the super cool Ninjutsu of stuffing ramen into an enemy’s nostrils to suffocate them,” he shuddered and couldn’t help but scoot further away.
Then he saw Sakura think of something and flash a sinister smile, her gaze fixed intently in the direction of… that arrogant brat.
Naruto pursed his lips and scooted back toward Sakura until their shoulders were touching. Only then did he reveal a smug smile. Sakura was his friend, not that guy’s.
Sasuke Uchiha felt a sudden chill run down his spine. He remembered telling his brother yesterday when he got home that he had encountered a strange person who provoked him. After hearing the whole story, his brother laughed and flicked him on the forehead.
And told him that the kid just wanted to be friends with him.
Be friends?
Sasuke crossed his arms, covering the lower half of his face.
Friends? A friend who can smash a table with one slap… Rather than being friends, could he fight her instead?
Shikamaru, sitting to Naruto’s right, had already moved his chair to the very edge. His small face was full of weary exhaustion. Watching the strange, self-contained atmosphere between Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, he couldn’t help but sigh: “What a hassle.”
Can I switch seats?
He’d rather move to sit with Ino and Choji. He had a feeling everyone sitting around him was nothing but big trouble.
After a theoretical basics class and a demonstration on how to more skillfully refine Chakra, it was time for physical training. During a break, Sakura Haruno walked straight up to Sasuke. Sasuke, who was checking his Ninja Tools, immediately looked up warily, “What do you want?”
Sakura Haruno put on a gentle smile. After all, when asking a favor, it’s best to be amiable. Especially considering Sasuke was only six years old. No matter how much she disliked the character, she wasn’t so depraved that after transmigrating, she could bring herself to lay a hand on a six-year-old child.
“Let’s arm wrestle.”
She beamed a bright smile, extending her fair, slender hand, and stated directly.
Thinking of the table she smashed, Sasuke, who wanted to fight, fell silent. Wouldn’t she crush his hand?
At that thought, a surge of competitive spirit rose within him. So what? If he always avoided competing with stronger people, how could he ever earn the recognition of his brother and father?
But he couldn’t let the opponent dictate the pace. He stuffed the kunai into his bag and curled his lips into a provocative smirk. “Sure, as long as you beat me in the upcoming physical competition, I’ll arm wrestle you.”
Arm wrestling required hands to be tightly clasped together, and it could last as long as he wanted—a hundred times more intimate than holding hands. It would definitely exceed the mission requirements.
Sakura Haruno smiled confidently. “Then you just wait for me to take first place.”
Sasuke crossed his arms and slightly raised his chin, his young master’s arrogance on full display. “First place isn’t something you can just claim.”
“Hahaha, I’m gonna be number one! What’s wrong with you guys? Come catch me!” Naruto hopped and skipped through the obstacle course, gleefully taunting the “weaklings” behind him with a playful “nyah nyah nyah.”
Right behind him were Sasuke and Sakura, their expressions equally stiff. They were trying their best to keep up, but they just couldn’t catch him.
Damn it, she’d talked big, and now her face was getting slapped immediately.
Sakura Haruno finally remembered: under her supervision, Naruto had been eating well and training hard for the past two years, and she had inadvertently helped him unlock his stamina (his massive chakra reserves).
Even though his control was still the worst in the school due to Kurama’s interference, his stamina was no longer that of the malnourished, clueless dead-last he used to be.
He had now evolved into a dead-last with incredible stamina.
The two of them watched the monkey-like figure ahead, whose stamina seemed bottomless and who was having as much fun as if he were on a field trip. They exchanged a glance with the person beside them, their faces expressionless.
At the very least, they had to get second place—otherwise, it would be too embarrassing.
Then Sasuke sped up, and Sakura followed suit. Like two grasshoppers running side by side, they weaved through the obstacles neck and neck, refusing to give an inch on the stamina-draining long-distance track.
Sakura sneered, “Your stamina’s about to run out. Just admit defeat already.”
Sasuke scoffed, “I think you’re the one who can’t keep running. I won’t laugh at you—you’re a decent opponent, but this is as far as you go.”
Sakura glanced down. “Oh, your legs are already shaking, and you’re still talking big, kid.”
Sasuke shot her a sidelong glance. “Aren’t your feet trembling too? Don’t push yourself too hard, or you won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow.”
Sakura grinned. “Speaking from experience, huh? Looks like you’ve spent plenty of time crying for your mom and dad while paralyzed in bed.”
Sasuke: “You!” A vein bulged on his forehead. “There’s no way I’m losing to you.”
Just as Sakura was about to fire back with another taunt, she heard Naruto, who was hanging from a tree up ahead, happily shout, “Sakura, you’re so slow! First place is mine!”
Naruto’s signature face-slapping came fast and fierce.
Sasuke and Sakura glared fiercely at each other before turning their vicious gazes toward the smug guy ahead. “Don’t get too cocky, Naruto (I won’t lose)! Just you wait!”
The three of them, in a state of rapid progress, relentless pursuit, and mutual refusal to back down, brutally turned an ordinary competition into a terrifying marathon sprint.
The other students and the teacher stood on the sidelines, utterly bewildered as they watched these stamina-monster classmates.
“So… they’re not tired?” Kiba Inuzuka and his dog stared wide-eyed. “This is insane. How many laps have they run now?”
It was supposed to be just one lap, but the three of them were still running without stopping. Anyone who had tried to compete with them was completely intimidated.
Shino Aburame adjusted his small sunglasses and said with a profound expression, “Perhaps… our class might produce a few geniuses.”
Iruka raised a megaphone and shouted, “Alright, stop, everyone stop! Training is over, did you hear me?”
The conclusion was that no one heard him. Iruka had already yelled several times earlier, thinking they had plenty of energy to burn off first. But now the three of them had started tripping each other and pulling hair in the hallway—this was a full-on brawl while running.
Iruka clutched his forehead with a pained expression. The next moment, he appeared behind the little troublemakers, his face dark and menacing as he said, “It’s over.”
In the next instant, the three snarling beasts, still fighting for first place and nearly tearing each other’s clothes off, were scooped up by the teacher, tied up, and hung upside down from a tree to swing like pendulums.
Naruto protested loudly, “Sensei, I was first! Why are you tying me up?”
Iruka delivered a few knuckle raps to his head. “What were you doing to Uchiha just now? Using a rope to trip him up? Is that kind of cheating, endangering your comrades, acceptable?”
Naruto, seeing stars from the hits, hung his head and muttered dejectedly, “I just wanted to help Sakura win.”
Then he and Sakura would be tied for first place, basking in everyone’s admiring praise, hehehe.
Sasuke glanced at them sideways, a look of disdain just beginning to surface when a knuckle rap arrived right on schedule. “You too. Are you happy fighting with your own comrades?”
Sasuke sucked in a sharp breath from the pain but didn’t dare complain further.
Sakura, ever pragmatic, bowed her head in repentance and said pitifully, “Sensei, I was wrong.”
Faced with her watery, shimmering green eyes, Iruka couldn’t bring himself to hit her. He softened his tone and said, “Don’t be so impulsive next time. You’ve only just started extracting Chakra—you can practice, but don’t overdo it.”
Such high-intensity obstacle running could easily damage one’s foundation without special physical conditioning or proper training.
Naruto Uzumaki… well, let’s not even go there.
Sasuke Uchiha was a child from the Uchiha clan, having already received formal ninja training. His family’s various secret techniques and resources far surpassed what the academy offered.
Only Sakura Haruno had nothing—a civilian background, no systematic training. If she wore her body out too early, it would be difficult to recover later.
The other two stared in shock at Sakura Haruno being comforted by the teacher. They had all done the same thing, so why was she completely off the hook?
Naruto: Sakura is amazing at everything, as expected.
Sasuke: …Is that even allowed?
And so, the three of them hung from the tree until the break bell rang for the class.
During that time, they engaged in several rounds of “friendly” conversation.
“Hey, you smug brat, you were just a tiny bit behind Sakura. I saw it.”
“It seems your eyes aren’t very good. We were clearly side by side, and my toes were a centimeter ahead of hers.”
“Ha…” Sakura Haruno, tied up like a dumpling, yawned.
“Are you saying you’re stronger than Sakura?” Naruto glared at him fiercely.
“I’m just stating the facts, idiot.” At this age, Sasuke still had a mouth on him—not yet the aloofness of later years. Provoked, he too began arguing, his face flushed red.
…Sakura Haruno’s eyes grew vacant as she started drifting into a drowsy state.
Occasionally snapping awake, she saw the two dumplings, Sasuke and Naruto, still verbally tearing into each other. Boys really had too much energy—weren’t they tired? Ah, wait… Had she accidentally triggered the bond between Sasuke and Naruto ahead of time?
Sakura Haruno made a disgusted face and was about to turn away.
Sasuke suddenly turned to look at her, “Yesterday you…”
Sakura Haruno lowered her eyelids, looking at him in confusion, “Huh?”
Sasuke’s face flushed slightly, “…Never mind.” He turned back around.
Sakura Haruno: “?”