"Team 7—Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke!"
Hearing the team assignment, Naruto's gaze shifted slightly. He looked toward the boy in front wearing a blue shirt, with the red-and-white Uchiha fan crest printed on the back.
By the way the girls in class usually talked, there was only one word for him:
Handsome.
But from Naruto's perspective as a guy, he had a different one-word evaluation—
Smug.
For girls their age, that cold, aloof vibe was practically a lethal weapon. Needless to say, Sasuke—while being the top student of their year—also enjoyed the title of "school heartthrob."
"Yesss!"
Getting placed in the same team as the boy she liked, Sakura slammed her hands on the desk and sprang up, joy written all over her face.
"Why?!"
In stark contrast, Ino looked like she'd been struck by lightning. She glanced at her teammates—one asleep with his face on the desk, the other eating like a man possessed—then dropped her forehead onto the tabletop in despair, mourning a romance that had ended before it even began.
All in all, the class assignments were a mix of happiness and misery.
After that came the waiting—each team would remain until their jōnin instructor arrived to take them away for real ninja training.
"Why isn't our teacher here yet?!"
Sakura complained out loud, but inside she was secretly thrilled, stealing glance after glance at Sasuke across the desk.
Then she turned toward the back row.
"Naruto, do you think our teacher got lost?"
Naruto, who was meditating in the last row, gave a slight shake of his head.
"…No idea."
"Uh…" Sakura's mouth twitched.
They'd known each other for a while now, but she still couldn't quite get used to his personality.
If you said he didn't care about anything, then he was the most enthusiastic person during group hangouts.
But if you said he was enthusiastic, then he'd act like he didn't care about anything—like right now.
A walking contradiction.
That was her verdict.
After a long while—just as Sakura was desperately trying to think of ways to start a conversation with Sasuke—
The long-awaited sound of a door opening finally echoed through the room.
"Yo. I got lost on the road of life for a bit."
A silver-haired man in a jōnin uniform walked in and greeted the three of them.
Sasuke: "..."
Naruto: "..."
Sakura forced a polite smile—courteous, but unmistakably awkward.
"Hello, Sensei!"
'So he's the source of that feeling…'
Naruto studied the man as he kept apologizing.
At the same time, the silver-haired jōnin was also observing the three of them. He sighed inwardly.
Looks like a bunch of un-cute students.
---
Ninja Academy Rooftop
'This bargain-bin teacher showed up this late… don't tell me it was just so he could make a rooftop entrance.'
Naruto made the guess without any real malice.
"Since we'll be working together from now on, let's do introductions," the silver-haired man said. "Name, likes, dreams—anything."
The three of them: "..."
"Ahem. I'll go first."
He cleared his throat.
I take it back, he thought. This is a VERY un-cute bunch.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi—"
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto cut in.
"Uh…"
Kakashi had a thousand things to say, but for a moment he honestly didn't know where to start.
"Sensei, please continue," Sakura said with a polite smile. "Naruto's always like this."
Inside, though, she was giving Naruto a silent thumbs-up.
Nice one, Naruto!
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke's voice was cold, saturated with killing intent.
"My hobby is none. My dream is to kill a certain man."
That should've been an intimidating, stay-away-at-all-costs moment.
Unfortunately, Sasuke's icy coolness hit a young girl's heart like a meteor.
'So cool!!'
Kakashi lightly covered the small portion of his face that wasn't masked.
We've got a lot of problem children…
"My turn."
Sakura sat up straight. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like—"
"My hobbies are— My dream is—"
As she spoke, her eyes kept drifting toward the cool boy beside her, and her cheeks turned red for no obvious reason—like she'd wandered off into some dangerous daydream.
Kakashi pressed his palm to his face a bit harder.
All of them. Problem children. Every last one.
"Meet at Training Ground Seven tomorrow morning," Kakashi said, standing up.
Before his words even finished falling, he was already gone.
"Sasuke, do you want to—"
Sakura turned shyly toward him, feeling her chance had finally come.
"Ah, one more thing," Kakashi's voice cut in—
He popped back into existence.
"Don't eat breakfast."
If cracking could make a sound, Sakura's would've been loud.
---
The Next Day
Dawn had barely broken. Night fog still drifted faintly through the streets.
After a quick wash, Naruto reached under his bed and pulled out a long object wrapped in black cloth. He untied it and revealed a sheathed long sword.
With a slight push of his left thumb, the pale blade slid out inch by inch.
Its name was Kusabimaru.
Both the name and the design were modeled after the sword he carried in his previous life.
Originally, according to his plan, he would've used his ninja status after graduation to earn money for forging a blade.
But on October 10th last year, the old man who occasionally dropped off his living stipend suddenly asked him if there was anything he wanted.
Naruto had mentioned a sword offhand—
and to his surprise, the old man actually had a Kusabimaru forged for him.
It was strange, but with his current age, many things weren't easy to dig into.
---
Training Ground Seven
The fog here was even heavier than in the village.
When Naruto arrived, the training ground was still empty—no sign of anyone.
'Am I early…?'
He thought so, but it didn't matter. This was his usual time for morning training anyway. The only difference was the location.
And "training" wasn't quite accurate.
For him, it was more like review.
His swordsmanship had been taught by his adoptive father Owl, and refined under Isshin Ashina. What both men taught him had benefited him greatly.
Especially Ashina Style—its philosophy of absorbing the strengths of many schools helped him develop his own path:
Piercing-Heart Style.
Piercing-Heart Style began with the sword—
but it did not end with the sword.
He had also incorporated the martial arts of Senpou Temple.
"Piercing the heart" meant following his own intent. Anything he judged useful could be taken in and made his own.
After a long time, the boy who had been swinging his blade without pause finally exhaled faint heat through his cheeks. Moisture clung to his forehead—whether from the fog or from exertion, it was hard to tell.
"Naruto, how long have you been here?"
Naruto stopped, sheathed his sword, and turned.
Seeing Sakura and Sasuke approaching together, his expression became a little strange.
Kids in this world really mature fast…
If he remembered right, they were about the same age as him.
"Not long."
Sakura nodded, then turned her face toward the boy she liked.
"Sasuke, let's go rest over there."
"No." Sasuke walked off to the side and began his own morning training.
In theory, he'd never beaten Sakura.
In practical training, he'd never beaten Naruto either.
Being outmatched wasn't scary. What was scary was being outmatched and still making excuses.
Sasuke glanced toward a patch of wet ground not far away.
Maybe Naruto had started training the moment he stepped outside his door.
Sasuke was proud—he had every right to be. The pride of the Uchiha, the top student of the year—those were real sources of confidence.
But pride was not the same as arrogance.
If you worked just as hard and still lost, you could blame talent.
But if you didn't work as hard and lost—
then that was only natural.
Before, after losing to Naruto again and again, he'd once believed Naruto was simply more gifted.
Now he understood.
He just… hadn't worked hard enough.
'Damn it…'
Watching both boys slip into training mode, Sakura didn't know whether to sit or stand.
She had worked so hard getting ready all morning—waiting along Sasuke's usual route—just to walk to the training ground together.
Sure, the whole way there she'd been the one talking, but at least it felt like progress.
So why did the atmosphere change the moment they arrived?
Looking at the two of them training seriously, she suddenly felt like an outsider.
She wanted to train with Sasuke too.
But she worried he'd dislike the smell of sweat—and if her makeup ran, she wouldn't look pretty anymore.