Your votes keep this climbing.
Thanks!
The summer sun blazed down on Konoha’s streets, bright and relentless.
A and Uzuki Yugao walked side by side through the midday bustle: villagers chatting, vendors calling out their wares, children shrieking and chasing each other down the lane.
All of it wove together into the loose, living texture of an ordinary afternoon.
A had both hands laced behind his head, humming a cartoon theme song, pausing now and then to eye the little knickknacks displayed at the roadside stalls.
Yugao walked beside him in silence.
She kept a precise distance, not close enough to invite familiarity, not far enough to seem rude.
Polite.
Detached.
“Come on, relax already.” A turned his head toward her and grinned.
“Take the mask off.
Think of this as a paid vacation.
You’re out and about, and you’re still hiding your face, where’s the fun in that?”
Yugao kept walking, pretending she hadn’t heard a word.
Vacation.
If Lord Hokage hadn’t assigned her to shadow this Fourth Raikage from Kumogakure, she wouldn’t be wasting a single second of her time out here.
When she gave no response, A didn’t miss a beat.
“Come on.
You don’t have to be this cold all the time, do you?
You’re keeping me company on a shopping trip.
Making me stare at a cat face the whole time, isn’t that kind of weird?”
Yugao’s stride hitched, almost imperceptibly, then smoothed back out.
“Lord Raikage, I’m quite ugly.
Taking the mask off would only frighten you.” That ought to shut him up.
Right?
A’s eyes narrowed, his voice dropping a degree.
“I’ve been in your Konoha for a while now.
Of everyone here, you and I have had the most contact.
We may not be friends, but we’re hardly strangers.”
“It’s one small request.
You really won’t grant it — Yu.
Ga.
O?”
Yugao stopped.
She turned toward him, a flicker of hesitation crossing her eyes.
Then, slowly, she reached up and pulled off the cat-face mask.
The face beneath it was stunning.
Set against her violet hair, she looked cold and striking all at once, like a rose with thorns: beautiful in a way that made you instinctively keep your distance.
“You’ve done your homework on me, Lord Raikage.” Her voice stayed cool, but there was a sharp edge underneath.
No girl appreciated being looked up without her permission.
(Girls, you know the type, some guy goes digging through everything, and then, )
“Heh.” A stroked his beard, a flicker of genuine appreciation passing through his eyes.
“I did mention I’d be bringing you back to Kumo…”
“Stop right there, Lord Raikage.
I don’t think the two of us are a good match.” Yugao moved to put the mask back on.
“Besides, my heart already belongs to someone else.
Go chase someone else.”
SNAP!
The instant the mask neared her face, A’s hand shot out and caught her wrist.
Before the surprise and anger had fully registered on her face, he’d already plucked the mask clean out of her grip and shoved it into his belt.
He looked at her frowning face and gave a satisfied nod.
“Once it’s off, it stays off.
It kills the mood otherwise.
As for your someone else…” He let that hang in the air with a quiet, unhurried laugh.
He gave her shoulder a light pat, a slow smile spreading across his face, the kind loaded with something he wasn’t saying.
“I wish you both a very long and happy life together.”
Then he turned around like nothing had happened.
“I heard Ichiraku Ramen is incredible.
Come on, let’s go see what all the fuss is about.”
He set off without waiting for her answer.
Yugao watched his retreating back, her expression unreadable.
She let out a quiet breath, then followed.
On one of Konoha’s small bridges, Haruno Sakura was spinning around in frustration, her chubby cheeks flushed with righteous indignation.
“Ugh, why does that guy always call people out and then make everyone stand around waiting?!
Do you have any idea how unfair that is?!
I accidentally overslept and didn’t even get to fix my hair!” She stamped her foot, both hands planted on her hips, practically vibrating.
Standing beside her, Naruto’s blond hair was sticking up in every direction.
He hadn’t stopped yawning.
“Right, right!
I didn’t wash my face or brush my teeth!” He opened his mouth wide, apparently to prove it.
Sakura took several rapid steps back, face twisting in revulsion.
“Eww, you’re disgusting.”
Sasuke leaned against the bridge railing with a stiff expression, pressed a hand to his forehead, and exhaled.
“Seriously, how are these two this loud at this hour?”
With a BOOM, a cloud of white smoke burst into existence on the railing, and Hatake Kakashi materialized out of it, silver hair disheveled, his one visible eye drooping with its usual dead-fish energy. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Ohayo.” He gave the three of them a half-hearted wave.
“Sorry about that.
I got a little lost on the road of life…”
“YOU’VE USED THAT EXCUSE TEN THOUSAND TIMES!” Naruto and Sakura bellowed in perfect unison.
He can’t even be bothered to invent something new anymore?
Kakashi scratched the back of his head and hopped lightly down from the railing.
“Right.
Anyway, a bit sudden, I know, but I’ve put your names in for the Chunin Selection Exams.” He fished three application forms from his vest and held them up.
“Here are the forms.”
He paused, eye drifting half shut.
“I should mention, this isn’t mandatory.
Whether or not you want to participate is entirely your, ”
“YES!
Kakashi-sensei, you’re the absolute best!” Naruto launched himself at Kakashi before the man could finish the sentence, clamping both arms around his neck and shouting loud enough to rattle the railings.
“Gkk— get off me—” Kakashi’s face went red.
He coughed violently several times, then pried Naruto off his neck like a barnacle and dropped him back on the ground.
After issuing a firm warning to the hyperactive blond, Kakashi smoothed down his rumpled vest and continued.
“Anyone who wants in, sign your form.
Five days from now, three in the afternoon, Ninja Academy, Classroom 301.”
“The Chunin Exams, hehe~” Naruto was not listening to a single word.
He’d already checked out completely, drifting somewhere deep in his own head, playing out his glorious future in vivid detail.
First: completely destroying Kankuro and Uchiha Sasuke in front of everyone.
Then, as the crowd went wild, taking Sakura’s hand and charging all the way to the top, inheriting Old Man Hokage’s position, going down in history as the greatest ninja Konoha had ever produced.
“Hehehe~” The laugh bubbled out of him, eyes glazed, a thin string of drool threatening his dignity.
“What’s his problem now?” Sakura watched him with resigned exasperation.
Her chest felt a little tight.
The Chunin Exams…
I can’t do it.
I’m too weak…
Beside her, Sasuke’s lips curled into a slow, quiet smile.
His eyes were burning.
“Interesting.
Gaara of the Desert…
I’ll be waiting for you at the Exams.”
➤ Next: Tenten, the Lovely Bun-Haired Girl
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✨ 4 new chapters released every single day.