Early morning, by the river.
"Naruto, not yet?" Sakura urged from the side.
"Soon, soon, it's about to come up."
The two were fishing.
Sakura wanted to learn medical ninjutsu, which required teaching tools, namely live fish.
Naruto, who was max-level in fishing, volunteered to do the fishing.
It had to be said, the Land of Waves truly lived up to its name as a coastal country; its fishing resources were abundant.
Just look at their catch so far.
From a 1.5-meter fish, almost as tall as Naruto, to terrifying 10-meter giant fish.
They had everything.
But.
There were no small fish, the kind Sakura needed.
You're making things difficult for me, Pudge. (A reference to a popular meme)
Should've known better than to promise so grandiosely.
"Sakura, why did you choose to become a medical ninja?" Naruto asked curiously during a lull.
According to Sensei Panther's plan, Sakura was meant to specialize in the Super Strength Taijutsu style, primarily focusing on being aggressive.
If she trained to the later stages, she'd reach Naruto's current level, literally punching out opponents with a single blow.
No, one punch for a One-Tail.
The destructive power would be absolutely amazing.
However, after her conversation with Kakashi-sensei yesterday, Sakura was actually preparing to abandon specializing in taijutsu and instead wanted to focus on medical ninjutsu.
To bring her talent and energy to medical ninjutsu.
This was a change from a top-laner to a support.
"Nothing,"
Sakura cutely stuck out her tongue. "I just suddenly found medical ninjutsu very interesting."
"Oh."
Naruto nodded, not thinking much more of it.
Perhaps girls don't want to be too violent and prefer to be doctors who save lives?
As for Sakura.
Staring at Naruto's focused profile as he fished, she was lost in thought, reminiscing.
When they were first assigned to a team, Sakura didn't actually like Naruto.
During their academy days, Naruto was merely a dead last with unimpressive grades.
His academic scores were poor, and his combat lessons always ended in surrender. Many classmates at the time even mocked Naruto as a "Surrender Master."
They even maliciously speculated that Naruto would quickly surrender and even betray information when facing enemies in the future.
Sakura remembered that she too had once joined in the mockery.
Furthermore,
Naruto was always playing all sorts of pranks. Other kids found it funny, but she inwardly felt Naruto was a bit too hyperactive and unlikeable.
Until the team assignments later.
Three people per team, Sakura hoped her teammates would be as strong as possible. Sasuke's appearance made her very happy, but her other teammate turned out to be Naruto.
At the time, Sakura even believed that Naruto's contribution to the team was even less than hers.
Although she wasn't as good as Naruto in combat, she had far more knowledge than him, and would contribute more to the team.
However, everything began to change that afternoon.
Naruto's self-introduction, and his subsequent analysis, changed Sakura's preconceived notions.
Then came the second day's task test.
Sakura never expected Naruto's stamina to be even better than Sasuke's.
And then there was the bell test.
Sakura truly recognized Naruto for the first time—that person with the flamboyant and confident expression, skillfully using powerful ninjutsu.
He possessed a strength she couldn't even imagine.
Was that truly Naruto?
Sakura thought she had been mistaken about him all along.
In short, that day, she gained a new and profound understanding of Naruto.
He was a powerful and trustworthy teammate.
And then came their later experiences.
Sakura felt that she was the weakest link in the team. Even Naruto, who was previously considered a dead last, his Shadow Clones alone could take on ten of her.
And Sasuke?
He, who had always been hailed as a genius, was making even more terrifying progress in strength.
She wanted to catch up to their pace. She wanted to be useful to the team.
Therefore, she chose the path of a medical ninja.
While Xiaoyao Pills were useful, they had limitations.
They could only be used to treat external injuries and restore blood volume; they couldn't detoxify or cure other illnesses. And this would be her battlefield.
"Sakura? Sakura? Sakura-chan!"
A steadily growing voice pulled Sakura from her reminiscence.
"Huh?" Sakura finally snapped back to reality.
Naruto looked at her closely. "What's wrong? Do you have a cold?"
"No, maybe I didn't sleep well last night."
Naruto handed her a small fish. "Here, finally caught one. Didn't realize catching a small fish would be so hard."
Looking at the dozen or so various giant creatures beside them, Sakura wiped sweat from her brow in exasperation.
"Extra! The evil Gato has been killed!"
"Extra! The evil Gato has been killed!"
A shout suddenly came from the road behind them.
Naruto turned his head and saw a "newsboy" carrying a large stack of newspapers, running along the road.
Looking closely, wasn't that Inari, Tazuna's grandson?
"Hey, Inari, where are you coming from?" Naruto stopped him and asked.
"Oh, it's Big Brother Naruto."
Inari, who had been won over by Naruto's "sugar-coated bullets," was very happy to see Naruto. Then, looking to the side, he literally performed a jaw-drop.
"So... so... so many big fish." He was so shocked his mouth hung open.
How can there be such big fish? Are these the monster fish that Grandpa always talks about, the ones that eat children? So scary!
"Mom!"
Inari shrieked, then immediately ran off in fright.
Naruto, Sakura: -_-||
Naruto glanced at Sakura and asked, "Shall we go back?"
"Okay."
Naruto picked out the biggest fish and dragged it home.
No other reason, just because it was the biggest.
This time, Naruto didn't get lost.
Back at Tazuna's house, Inari had just finished his psychological counseling.
There are no such things as monster fish, no monster fish that eat children.
You're a brave little man now, you're going to be a hero, be brave...
After some counseling, Inari finally somewhat returned to normal.
But the moment he opened the door, he saw that terrifying big fish again, its mouth wide open, appearing before him.
The terrifying abyssal maw gaped open, revealing a bottomless black abyss within.
That terrifying giant mouth could swallow ten of him without even blinking.
Inari: Gasp~
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Naruto lifted the giant fish slightly and threw it aside, seeing Inari who had fainted at the doorstep.
After some commotion, Team Seven gathered again, and Kakashi held the new newspapers, analyzing the situation.
Inari was selling a total of three newspapers: the Land of Water Observer, the Ninja World Daily, and the Land of Waves Times.
Superficially, these three newspapers belonged to three independent companies.
As for the content.
The three newspapers leaned differently:
The Land of Water Observer primarily glorified "Hero of the Land of Waves, Zabuza," praising this hero born in the Land of Water.
The Ninja World Daily neutrally reported the event, referring to Zabuza as the "Hero of the Land of Waves," essentially making it a definitive statement.
The Land of Waves Times focused on describing Gato's wickedness and cruelty, while also praising the greatness of the "Hero of the Land of Waves, Zabuza."
Naruto's full-color, ultra-high-definition photo, taken earlier using his game function, was undoubtedly the front-page headline of all three newspapers!
Gato was indeed dead!
However,
At this very moment, Team Seven, except for Naruto, all wore strange expressions looking at these three newspapers.
This was Zabuza's doing?
Wasn't he hired to assassinate Tazuna, thereby disrupting bridge construction and destroying the Land of Waves?
How did he become the Hero of the Land of Waves?
Finally, Kakashi summarized with a complex expression.
"Zabuza's ambitions are truly grand!"