Early the next morning.
Inside the Ninja Academy.
A drowsy Sakura leaned on Ino's shoulder, while the curious girl poked Sakura's cheek with her finger.
"Mom, stop it... let me sleep for half a day more..."
"Who's your mom?!"
Ino was both amused and exasperated by her state, but she still thoughtfully adjusted her position, supporting Sakura to let her rest her head on Ino's lap.
The classroom door was slid open with force. An orange figure appeared before everyone.
"Naruto? You, didn't you fail..."
Kiba blurted out, his eyes wide.
"Hehe!"
Naruto proudly rubbed his nose, lifting his thumb to push up the forehead protector on his head.
"Hmph, that dead-last."
Sasuke, surrounded by a group of girls, snorted coldly.
Yet even such a faint sound was heard by Naruto from afar. He then leaped and landed crouching on Sasuke's desk.
"You bastard, are you looking for a fight?!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, his deep blue eyes locking with Sasuke's.
"Tch, dea..."
Before Sasuke could finish his sentence, a student horsing around behind Naruto stood up and bumped into Naruto's back.
Thus, the little blond and the little raven-haired boy found themselves lip-to-lip, kissing right in front of the astonished eyes of the girls surrounding Sasuke.
Cold sweat trickled down their foreheads. In this moment, it felt like an eternity~
Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other in disbelief, then almost perfectly synchronized in turning their heads away to retch.
"Naruto, you bastard, I'm going to kill you!"
Sasuke frantically wiped the saliva from his mouth while glaring fiercely at Naruto.
He didn't even dare to imagine what kind of thunderstruck expression his mother would have when the news reached the Uchiha Clan's compound.
"Me too! Blergh~, my mouth's going to rot!"
Naruto made a pained face, clutching his own neck.
However, the horde of Sasuke's fangirls behind him had already surrounded him, raining down punches and kicks.
"Huh? What's going on?"
The noisy commotion made Sakura mumble, her eyes half-closed. She had no idea what she had just missed.
"It's nothing, go back to sleep."
Ino gently smoothed Sakura's disheveled hair, her slender fingers softly covering Sakura's ears.
The scene in the classroom was clearly observed by the Third Hokage and a group of Jonin Instructors located in the Hokage Building.
"That Naruto, he's always at the center of trouble, no matter when!"
Hiruzen sighed, then shifted the crystal ball, switching the view to Sakura.
Sakura, who was resting on Ino's lap, suddenly opened her eyes and lifted her head towards their viewing angle.
In that instant, their gazes met.
Hiruzen: "…"
Jonin Instructors: "..."
"This technique isn't two-way, right?"
A certain white-haired man holding a book that covered his face completely scratched his head.
"This child's strength... is probably not low."
The female Ninja with red pupils looked at the white-haired Ninja with a gloating look.
"Old man, if she's this strong, why keep her in a Genin Team? And..."
A man smoking a cigarette spoke up, but before he could finish, Hiruzen raised his hand to stop him.
"The Joint Chunin Exams with the four nations are coming up soon, and you all know about the matter of the Scroll of Seals."
Hiruzen took a deep breath of the pungent tobacco. Beneath the smoke, the old man's sharp eyes were revealed.
"Someone is coveting the village, so we must show them that Konoha is still that Konoha! Understood?!"
Hiruzen's voice boomed, invigorating the Jonin Instructors around him.
"The team assignment list has been sent to you. Go and prepare now. Also, Kakashi, come with me."
"Yes!"
The Jonin nodded in unison and disappeared from the office using the Body Flicker Technique.
Hiruzen then took Kakashi and left the office, heading straight for Naruto's home.
...
In the Ninja Academy's classroom.
After Iruka announced the team assignments, the surrounding students were taken away one by one by their Jonin Instructors.
Soon, only the three members of Team 7 remained in the classroom, still waiting anxiously for their Jonin Instructor.
"Seriously, why hasn't he come yet? Even Iruka-sensei has gone back!"
Naruto stuffed his head through the door crack, constantly scanning the corridor outside the classroom.
Seeing no one coming, he simply moved a chair, placed the chalkboard eraser on the sliding door, and set up a simple trap.
"Haruno Sakura!"
Sasuke, still pretending to be deep and brooding, turned his gaze towards the girl he hadn't seen in years.
'Compared to four years ago, she seemed more mature, and somehow even more... charming?'
"About my clan's matter... thank you. Also, my mom told me to tell you that if there's a chance, she'd like to invite you to have our family's cooking again!"
Forcing out these words, Sasuke's face flushed slightly red. He turned away, not daring to look at Sakura.
But... immediately he heard the girl's even breathing. Leaning closer, he realized she had been sleeping the entire time!
"Haruno Sakura, you..."
Sasuke instantly flushed with anger.
And Naruto, having just finished setting up the trap and turning back, happened to see the flushed Sasuke about to roar at Sakura.
"You bastard, get away from Sakura!"
Yelling at the top of his lungs, Naruto rushed forward and started pushing and pulling at Sasuke.
But in the midst of their scuffle, they woke up Sakura, who had been sleeping soundly.
'Even though I possessed a physique rivaling giants and could go ten days and nights without sleep, sleep was incredibly important for someone like me who was still growing! Do you two little brats have any idea?!'
'What if it affects my development and causes me to regret it for the rest of my life?'
'Didn't they know that size was as important to women as length was to men?!'
"You two, shut up!"
Her emerald-green eyes radiated an intangible aura.
In that brief instant, it was as if lightning had transformed into phantom black light, using the void as a curtain, wildly meandering and darting.
Both Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously experienced that suffocating sense of pressure. Sharing a similar feeling was Kakashi, who had just pushed the door open.
Caught off guard by a face-full of Conqueror's Haki, a dazed Kakashi was hit by the falling chalkboard eraser, covering his white hair in chalk dust.
"Anyway, that was quite an impactful welcome ceremony. Follow me to the rooftop."
Kakashi raised a finger and pointed towards the rooftop.
Going up the stairs, the three followed Kakashi to the academy rooftop. Kakashi found a comfortable railing and sat on it.
"Right, first, let's all do some self-introductions."
Kakashi spread his hands, looking at the three before him.
"How should we introduce ourselves?"
Naruto tilted his head, looking at Kakashi.
"Hmm, introduce things like your name, hobbies, favorite foods, dreams... anything about yourselves is fine."
As he spoke, he pointed a finger at himself.
"For example, me..."
Sakura, knowing this guy intended to be perfunctory, spoke up before he could.
"Name: Hatake Kakashi. Age: 27. Student of the deceased Fourth Hokage. Graduated from the Ninja Academy at age 5. Became a Chunin at 6. Became a Jonin at 12. Experience with 42 S-Rank Missions. Masters over a thousand Ninjutsu. Known as the Copy Ninja and Konoha's Technician. Proficient in all Five Chakra Attributes. Hobby is reading Jiraiya-sensei's..."
'Whoa! What the?! Leaking my information?!'
Kakashi's expression under his mask changed drastically. He quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of Sakura to stop her.
"You! You stole a look at my files back in the Anbu, didn't you?!"
A voice full of helpless exhaustion sounded as Kakashi looked hopelessly at the girl before him.
"Anbu! Sakura's so awesome!"
Naruto was pumped, looking like he desperately wanted to compete with Sakura.
"Tch, I'm this far behind her?"
Sasuke propped his chin on his hand, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
Kakashi took in the reactions of the other two, silently evaluating: 'Hoh, seems like a team with a very upward-striving atmosphere.'
"Alright, since my info's already been exposed by you, it's your turn to introduce yourself next!"
Kakashi shot Sakura a threatening look, 'Come on, let's mutually destroy each other!'
Sakura wasn't afraid of him. She stood up and cleared her throat.
"Haruno Sakura, twelve years old, roughly."
"Favorite food is grilled sea creatures' meat. Proficient in Earth Release, Water Release, Sealing Techniques, and Medical Ninjutsu."
"As for dreams... To fight all the strong people in the world, to see the view from the peak one day, and then to travel the world finding friends to throw banquets with!"
Sakura raised both her hands, her emerald-green eyes full of yearning.
The spirit condensed from pure desire declared her will, making Sakura the center of the world at that moment.
Whether it was Naruto, Sasuke, or Kakashi, none could tear their eyes away from such a dazzling girl.
After a long while, Kakashi was the first to break free, coughing to snap the other two out of it.
"Cough, how about you two?"
"Me, me!" Naruto raised his hand, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Things I like are ramen, and also..."
As he spoke, Naruto's gaze flickered sideways towards the girl next to him, but noticing she was just calmly watching him, a trace of dejection flashed through him.
"Things I hate are having to wait three minutes for instant ramen. My dream is to surpass the Hokage and make everyone acknowledge me!"
After listening, Sasuke snorted coldly and began his own introduction.
"I am Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I hate, and not many things I like."
"If you want to talk about dreams, it's more like an ambition. I will personally wipe away the shame of the Uchiha Clan, and then make the Uchiha Clan great again!"
Kakashi, sitting on the railing, let out a sigh.
'Three students, three troublemakers, each with their own difficulties. Landing this class was truly my 'luck'.'
"Alright, anyway, all three of you have very distinct personalities."
"Starting tomorrow, we will begin carrying out missions."
He took an address from his Jonin Vest's pocket and handed it to the three of them.
"Tomorrow morning at 5 a.m., a mission for the four of us… Survival Exercise!"
"Remember not to eat breakfast, or you'll vomit~"