"Yaaawn..."
Wearing a nightcap, Naruto rubbed his sleepy eyes and let out a lazy yawn.
"Mm... morning already?"
He gave his groggy head a good shake, crawled out of bed, conjured a water orb to splash his face, and then shuffled over to sit at his desk.
"Ugh... expired already?"
Naruto frowned at the sour-smelling milk carton in his hand. "Forget it. Guess I'll just grab some ramen at Ichiraku."
He tied his forehead protector on with a grin. He was a real ninja now, independent and ready to take on the world.
After slurping down a quick bowl of ramen at Ichiraku, Naruto sprinted off toward the ninja academy.
"Whew, there's a lot of people today."
As he stepped into the classroom, Naruto glanced around curiously, eyes darting in every direction.
"Hey, Naruto? What're you doing here? Today's the orientation for graduates, you know."
Kiba, with Akamaru perched on his head, walked over, looking confused.
"See this?" Naruto pointed at his forehead protector proudly.
"Wait, you actually graduated?"
Kiba's voice was laced with disbelief.
"Obviously."
Naruto huffed with irritation.
"Man... hard to believe."
Kiba looked at him like he'd just seen a ghost and wandered off muttering to himself.
"Tch, weirdo."
Naruto shot Kiba a look of disdain and randomly found a seat to plop down in.
"Hey, Naruto! That's my seat. Move it!"
Just as Naruto was starting to feel bored enough to doze off, a sharp yet sweet voice rang out.
"Huh? Sakura?"
Naruto blinked up at her pretty, mildly annoyed face. He was still trying to process how he'd managed to piss her off already.
"What are you staring at, idiot? Move!"
Sakura waved a dainty pink fist at him threateningly.
"What the, why should I move for you?"
Naruto bristled inside. What was her deal? Starting trouble with him first thing in the morning?
"Did you just talk back to me?"
Sakura's long pink hair practically bristled with rage.
"Tch, whatever."
A snide voice came from beside them, the kind that made you want to punch the speaker on instinct.
"Ah, Sasuke, it's not what it looks like! It was Naruto, he…"
Sakura suddenly became flustered as she looked toward a certain someone.
"Ohhh, so it's him, the brooding cool-guy type…"
Naruto finally got the picture.
"Sakura, you wanted this seat just because it's near Sasuke, didn't you?"
His voice had a hint of bitterness. "Look at me, handsome, stylish, deep. How could a poser like Sasuke possibly compare?"
"Naruto, are you trying to die right now? Talking about Sasuke like that…"
Sakura cracked her knuckles, glaring at him like she was about to explode.
"Ah, "
But before Naruto could finish, Sakura suddenly stumbled forward, right into him.
"Wait… Is she falling for my charm? Did my devilish good looks finally win her over?"
Naruto was getting carried away in his own fantasy.
"Ah… s-sorry…"
A soft voice mumbled an apology.
But in the very next second, both of them froze.
Their lips had touched.
The warmth. The softness. The faint scent of cherry blossoms. Her delicate face mere inches away. Naruto felt like he was floating and panicking at the same time.
"Oh no… once Sakura snaps out of it, she's gonna kill me."
"Better run. I did kind of knock her over..."
Meanwhile, behind Sakura, Ino silently tiptoed away and vanished into the crowd.
"Aaaaaaahhh!! NARUTO!!! MY FIRST KISS!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!"
Half a minute later, Sakura came to her senses, and her piercing shriek nearly blew the roof off.
"It wasn't my fault!!"
Naruto howled in terror and bolted for his life.
"Tch. Pathetic."
Sasuke remained unmoved, still wearing his signature "everyone owes me money" face.
"Ah, oof!"
A few minutes later, another shriek echoed through the classroom, followed by a loud thud.
Naruto found himself lying on the ground again, only this time with Sakura completely on top of him. Her soft body pressing into him from all sides made his brain short-circuit.
"Welp... I'm dead for real this time."
"Welcome, everyone, to the graduation orientation."
Iruka stood at the podium holding a paper listing the new team assignments.
"Ugh…"
Sporting two giant panda-eye bags, Naruto groaned lifelessly.
His whole body felt like it was falling apart.
"She may be violent, but man... what a body. Her skin's perfect too…"
Naruto had a dreamy look on his face.
"You really are a hopeless perv, kid…"
The mocking voice of Kurama rumbled in his mind.
"Says the single furball with zero love life."
Naruto shot back with disdain.
"WHAT?! Who says I don't have a love life? Listen here, kid! Someday I'm gonna build a giant harem, you hear me?!"
Kurama roared in fury, startling Naruto. "Whoa, don't tell me he's about to lose it in public…"
But the next second, Kurama' voice turned disturbingly smug.
"Back in the day, those foxy vixens… the way their tails swayed… that softness…"
"Wait, are you in heat, you damn fox?!"
Naruto shuddered at the image of Kurama acting like a drooling pervert and quickly shut the conversation down.
"…Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha…"
Iruka read off the names loudly.
"Oh, already my turn? That was fast."
Naruto yawned and stretched lazily.
"WHAT?! Why do I have to be in the same team as NARUTO?!"
Sakura exploded in outrage.
"I'm doomed…"
Naruto glanced nervously at her furious glare. His scalp tingled with fear.
"My future… it's gonna be hell."
Then again, a strange determination lit up in his heart.
"Looks like I've only got one choice… win Sakura's heart. This must be fate, destiny!"
He shamelessly justified his own delusions, eyes sparkling.
"One day, she'll be in my arms, whispering sweet nothings…"
And just like that, Naruto joined Kurama in happily daydreaming.
Sigh… truly, birds of a feather.
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The Mountain of Ice and Fire (GOT) – 56 advanced chapters!
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