The four of them arrived on the rooftop.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura sat across from Kakashi.
“Well, let’s start with some introductions,” Kakashi said.
Sakura, ever the eager student, raised her hand.
“Sensei, what are we supposed to say about ourselves?”
Kakashi thought for a moment.
“Hmm… your interests, what you like, what you dislike, your dreams—that sort of thing.”
“Sensei, could you give us an example?” Sakura asked again.
Kakashi glanced at her before introducing himself.
“My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don’t feel like telling you what I like or dislike. As for my interests… I have a lot of them.”
Sakura immediately rolled her eyes.
What was that?
He basically only told us his name!
“Then we’ll start with you.”
Kakashi pointed at Naruto.
Naruto rolled his eyes at him.
We’ve met so many times already.
You practically know everything about me, and you still want me to introduce myself?
Of course, saying Kakashi knew everything about Naruto would be an exaggeration.
Over the past several months, Naruto had accompanied Kakashi on quite a few D-rank missions.
Kakashi’s final assessment of him was:
Strength comparable to an ordinary Chūnin.
Skilled in taijutsu and the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Somewhat aloof by nature, but not dark—just lazy.
And most importantly, Kakashi had discovered no contact between Naruto and any outside faction other than the Hyūga clan.
As for the Hyūga clan’s so-called “contact,” it was essentially Hinata’s “beauty trap.”
So while the Third Hokage had become somewhat suspicious of the Hyūga clan and issued them a warning, he had no intention of suppressing them.
“My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I don’t feel like telling you what I like or dislike. As for my interests… I have a lot of them.”
Sakura: “…”
Sasuke: “…”
Seeing Naruto introduce himself that way, Sakura was tempted to copy him.
Then she met Kakashi’s cold gaze.
Fine.
She’d better introduce herself properly.
“My name is Haruno Sakura. What I like is…”
Before long, Naruto finished listening to the introductions from the other two—introductions he had already heard countless times before.
“All right. Next, I have a mission for you three. Or rather, a test.”
The three of them looked at Kakashi, waiting for him to continue.
“This test will be a survival exercise. If you fail to earn my approval, you’ll be sent back to the academy for remedial training.”
“Oh, and only thirty percent of each year’s Ninja Academy graduates actually become full-fledged ninja.”
“So you’d better work hard.”
Sakura immediately became nervous when she heard that.
She had finally managed to graduate.
Was she seriously going to be sent back?
That would be way too embarrassing!
Ino would definitely laugh at her!
Sasuke, meanwhile, became serious.
His goal had always been to kill Itachi.
He had no intention of wasting any more time at the Ninja Academy.
As for Naruto?
His expression didn’t change at all.
He already knew the key to passing the test, so there was nothing to worry about.
“All right. Meet at Training Ground tomorrow morning at five.”
“And remember—don’t eat breakfast.”
“You’ll throw up!” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
After trying to scare the three of them like little children, Kakashi disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique.
Naruto yawned.
Then he also vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
Naruto’s instantaneous disappearance immediately caught Sasuke’s attention.
“How did that guy disappear?!”
Sasuke carefully scanned the surroundings.
There was no trace of Naruto anywhere.
“Sasuke-kun, what’s wrong?”
Seeing Sasuke looking around, Sakura asked in confusion.
“Did you see how Uzumaki Naruto disappeared?” Sasuke asked seriously.
Sakura froze for a moment before realizing Naruto was already gone.
“Huh? When did he leave?”
Then another thought occurred to her.
Naruto was gone.
That meant only she and Sasuke-kun were left.
Didn’t that mean she could take advantage of this perfect opportunity?
While Sakura was already fantasizing about watching the sunset together with Sasuke, she completely failed to notice the contempt in his eyes.
“What is this idiot woman thinking about now?”
Sasuke gritted his teeth.
“And what exactly is going on with Uzumaki Naruto?”
Unable to figure it out, Sasuke could only wait until tomorrow’s exercise to find his answer.
He had already begun to suspect that Naruto was hiding his true strength.
“Sasuke-kun…”
Sakura was just about to invite Sasuke to walk home with her when he suddenly flickered away as well.
On the vast rooftop of the academy building, only Sakura remained, standing alone in the cold wind.