Atop the water tower, Naruto sat alone, looking utterly dejected and heartbroken.
He muttered under his breath, “Damn it, this isn’t fun at all.
I finally ended up in the same class as Sakura, but couldn’t something good happen for once?”
Unlike his complaints in the real world, his thoughts were completely different.
Good.
Without disrupting the original team assignments, I’ve found another reason to stop liking Sakura.
After all, when a boy sincerely invites a girl to eat with him only to be coldly rejected, there’ll naturally be some reaction.
Even though children in the shinobi world mature earlier, they’re still only eleven or twelve.
Now I just need to find another girl to shift my attention toward.
That way, I can distance myself from Sakura without making the Third suspect anything…
Hinata, then!
They’re destined to be together anyway, and she already likes Naruto.
I just need to find the right opportunity…
Heh heh.
While plotting out his plans, Naruto suddenly lowered his head and spotted Sasuke Uchiha eating rice balls in the room below.
Am I supposed to beat him up now?
The thought had barely appeared before he dismissed it.
There was no point.
He no longer liked Sakura, so her usefulness for the time being was basically over.
All he needed to do now was wait until she became Tsunade’s apprentice and eventually grew into a reliable companion.
Realizing that his thoughts had completely gone off track, Naruto simply jumped down from the water tower and headed toward Ichiraku Ramen.
After all, he’d prepared quite a bit of money today in case Sakura agreed to eat with him.
Since he was celebrating the fact that Sakura would finally be free from his pestering from today onward, he might as well treat himself.
That’s right.
Today, he wasn’t eating cup noodles.
He was eating ramen.
“Listen.
Since we’re in the same team, you all have to follow my instructions.”
On the rooftop, Ino Yamanaka was eating a rice ball while speaking to Shikamaru and Choji.
Shikamaru nodded perfunctorily.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Arguing with Ino would just be troublesome.
“Let’s all go eat barbecue together next time!” Choji suggested, seeing that the atmosphere between the three teammates was fairly harmonious.
“Honestly…” Ino helplessly rubbed her forehead.
“What kind of teammates did I end up with?”
“Was that Naruto who just jumped down?”
Shikamaru had glanced toward the street below and pointed toward Naruto’s departing figure.
“Seems like it.”
Choji continued eating his rice ball as he spoke.
“What’s wrong with him?” Ino asked indifferently.
She wasn’t particularly familiar with Naruto anyway.
“I feel like Naruto’s been a little different lately.”
After finishing the two bites left in his rice ball, Shikamaru rubbed his chin.
“But I can’t really put my finger on what changed…”
Ino interrupted his train of thought.
“We’re about to become shinobi.
Of course he’s changed a little.
Let’s just think about who our jonin instructor will be this afternoon.”
Shikamaru abandoned the thought, though he continued watching Naruto’s retreating figure thoughtfully.
“I hope our teacher likes eating.
I’d love it if he took us out for barbecue on the first day!”
Choji excitedly grabbed a bag of chips before glancing downward again.
“Hmm?
Is that…
That guy?”
Ino looked down.
She immediately spotted Sasuke leaning against the window.
“Wow!
Sasuke!”
Ino exclaimed, instantly falling into another round of self-inflicted daydreaming.
Shikamaru glanced at Sasuke, then at Ino.
Women.
So troublesome.
By the roadside, Sakura was holding a lunchbox.
She had searched for Sasuke for quite some time but still couldn’t find him, so she could only sit alone on a bench and console herself.
Don’t worry.
From now on, Sasuke and I will be in the same class anyway.
This time, there was no Naruto pestering her.
That afternoon, Naruto pretended to be lying on his desk with his eyes closed, but his consciousness had already entered his Memory Space.
As the shadow clones inside the space dispersed one after another, all their memories flowed back into him.
Naruto calmly absorbed the countless experiences from his shadow clones.
He knew Kakashi would be late, so there was no reason to hurry.
He only needed to start acting once Kakashi was about to arrive.
Before long, nearly all the newly graduated genin in the classroom had been taken away by their respective jonin instructors.
Only Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke remained, waiting.
At that moment, Naruto returned from his Memory Space and immediately began his impromptu performance.
“So slow!”
Naruto complained after waking up, as though the boy who had been lying there moments ago had been someone else entirely.
He began pacing around impatiently, looking as restless as ever.
“Naruto, sit still!” Sakura finally couldn’t take it anymore and shouted from her seat behind him.
“But why is our teacher the only one who’s this slow?!
Even Iruka has already gone home!”
Naruto complained with a dark expression.
“How should I know?!
Besides, weren’t you sleeping just now?”
Sakura replied irritably, seemingly surrounded by a dark aura.
“I didn’t expect that after waking up from a nap, we’d still be the unwanted team…”
Naruto answered despairingly before beginning his prank.
“Hey!
What are you doing, Naruto?!”
Sakura cried out when she saw Naruto placing an eraser above the classroom door, turning it into a trap.
Even Sasuke was drawn to Sakura’s shout and turned around.
His attention was immediately captured by Naruto’s actions.
“It’s his own fault for being late.”
Sakura walked over with her hands on her hips.
“Seriously.
I’m not getting involved anymore!”
On the surface, she sounded completely serious.
But another voice inside her was cheering.
Actually, I kind of like this.
“There’s no way a jonin would fall for such an obvious trap.”
Sasuke sat with his arms crossed, speaking with absolute certainty.
“Exactly!
Naruto really is an idiot.”
Sakura immediately agreed, especially after hearing Sasuke speak.
Hmph.
He might avoid other traps, but this one definitely works.
Even though he already noticed it…
Naruto thought disdainfully while maintaining a completely innocent expression.
“Creak…”
The door opened.
A white-haired man poked his head through the doorway.
“Plop!”
The eraser landed perfectly on his head.
The classroom instantly fell silent.
“Ha…
haha!
You fell for it!
You actually fell for it!”
Naruto’s laughter finally shattered the frozen atmosphere.
“S-Sorry, Sensei!
I tried to stop him.
Naruto insisted on doing it himself.”
Sakura immediately shifted the blame completely onto Naruto.
Inside, Inner Sakura excitedly waved her arms and gave a thumbs-up.
OK!
Seriously?
He’s actually a jonin?
Sasuke thought to himself, his legs already starting to go numb.
Kakashi bent down and picked up the eraser from the floor, examining it for a moment.
Then he rubbed his chin.
“Well…
how should I put this?
My first impression of you three…”
He paused.
“All right.
You’re pretty annoying.”
The three of them were instantly struck by the words.
Their expressions darkened simultaneously.
“Want access to 99+ chapters?”.