"Does knowing all this even matter?" Sasuke asked. His tone had softened; he was just asking.
"Of course it matters. From what I know, there's a kunoichi among the jōnin who specializes in genjutsu," Naruto said. "There's a good chance she'll lead Team Eight."
"Genjutsu?" Sasuke frowned. "By your logic, the higher-ups want Team Eight trained as a scouting squad. Why pick a genjutsu specialist to lead them?"
"Right, genjutsu doesn't sound useful for scouting," Sakura said, confused.
"Heh, Iruka will introduce our squad leaders in class this afternoon. But I sneaked into the office and swiped the assignment sheet."
With that, Naruto pulled a form from his pocket.
It clearly listed the four squads and their members. In front of Team Seven was a name: Hatake Kakashi.
"So he's our teacher?" Sakura stared at the name with interest. "I'm excited. I wonder what kind of person he is."
Sasuke only glanced at Team Seven, then fixed his eyes on the name heading Team Eight.
Yūhi Kurenai.
A name he had never heard, completely unfamiliar.
Konoha was full of clans, large and small. Some had significant influence, like the Hyuga and the Ino–Shika–Cho trio. Others were rarely heard of, like Yamashiro, Aoyama, and Nohara.
Naruto didn't pick up Sakura's comment. He thought to himself that her future teacher was his cheap old man's student, the most reliable future Hokage, the Sixth, also known as Hatake Fifty-fifty.
"Who is Yūhi Kurenai?" Sasuke asked.
"Asuma of Team Ten's girlfriend," Naruto said, wondering if the Third was watching him through the crystal ball as entertainment.
Then he decided the Third wouldn't be that perverted, and since he didn't feel any prying gaze, he let it go.
"Asuma?" Sakura was puzzled, then quickly found the name on the sheet. "Sarutobi Asuma. Same surname as the Hokage?"
"Yes," Naruto said, glancing at the two of them. "Asuma leads Team Ten, which is the second generation of the village's Ino–Shika–Cho. That's Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino."
"In that case, Hyuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi are all students under the Hokage's family."
"And those six clans already stand firmly behind the Hokage, so this kind of team distribution isn't strange."
"Naruto, how do you know so much?" Sakura looked at him nervously. It was her first time touching on adult matters like this, and she felt out of her depth.
Sasuke remained much calmer. He hadn't forgotten his original aim. He studied the sheet, then looked up at Naruto.
"So you're saying there's another purpose to putting us in the same team?"
"Congratulations, Sasuke. Correct," Naruto said with a snap of his fingers. "Nobles with nobles. Commoners with commoners."
At that, Sasuke's eyes dimmed. He stared at Naruto.
"That's it?"
"Not only that." Naruto suddenly smiled.
Sasuke felt his scalp prickle under that look and asked, annoyed, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto said with a smile. "The Uchiha are all strong fighters. As it happens, I'm from the Uzumaki."
"You may not have heard much about them, and that's fine. All you need to know is that Uzumaki are strong too."
"And…"
At this point, Naruto glanced over the dazed Sakura and the wide-eyed Sasuke. After a brief pause, he lowered his voice.
"Unlucky for me, my clan is gone."
"Our team isn't a commoner team, and it isn't a fallen noble team. It's a rare bloodline team," Naruto said. "Of course, Sakura is the exception."
He didn't bring up the Nine Tails. It wasn't the right time.
Sakura froze. Her hands on her knees trembled. She suddenly felt lost. She had thought the team assignment was simple good luck.
She also had a bit of pride. Her ninjutsu and practical scores weren't as good as Naruto's and Sasuke's, but her theory score was first, and her overall was third.
There was a gap, but if she worked harder, she could surely catch up.
Faced with the naked truth, her self-respect and pride melted away without a sound.
So she was just a foil, an ordinary person. In Team Seven, she was the one without any special trait. Whether compared to Sasuke or Naruto, she was the one who lacked.
The gap crushed her appetite. A chill spread through her body as if she had fallen into an ice cave. Her stomach cramped and she felt like throwing up.
"Sakura."
A hand came down on her shoulder, snapping her out of it.
She jerked her head up. Naruto and Sasuke were both looking at her. For some reason, their faces blurred in her vision.
"I'm fine," Sakura said, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her.
She forced a smile to cover her embarrassment and tried to say more, but the tears that spattered on the table startled her.
The dinner went off-track, and the intel sharing stopped there.
Once they left the barbecue place, Sakura calmed down. She apologized for losing her composure. The two said it was fine, and the three of them drew a little closer.
"Let's make intel sharing a regular thing," Naruto suggested. "It benefits all of us. But the contents must remain absolutely secret to outsiders."
"I agree," Sakura said, raising her hand with a bright smile.
"Mm." Sasuke nodded, which counted as consent.
Sharing intel would indeed help them. It would deepen their understanding of the village and strengthen their sense of belonging to their small team.
Naruto felt that if they could build more trust and cut down on needless drama, working together from now on would go much more smoothly.
Just as Sakura turned to leave for the classroom, Naruto called out to her after a few steps.
"Sakura."
"Hm?" She looked back, puzzled. "What is it?"
Naruto didn't answer. He jerked his chin toward the ice block standing to the side.
"Master Sasuke has something to tell you."
Hearing Naruto call him master, Sasuke shot him a frosty glare.
"Sasuke?" Sakura tensed up at once.
Sasuke turned his face away in a huff. After a long moment, he finally spoke.
"We are teammates."
Sakura stared, stunned. It took her a while to process it, and then her eyes went red again.
"Don't cry, Sakura," Naruto said with a warm smile. "Master Sasuke is right. You are not ordinary. You are our teammate."
"Being ordinary isn't bad anyway. If we could choose, both of us would want an ordinary life, but…"
Naruto spread his hands helplessly.
"You know how it is. Life rarely goes the way you want."
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