Chapter 43: Game Over
Just as Naruto was feeling down and dejected, a figure burst out from the mission office and ran toward them.
"Sakura!"
Sakura was suddenly embraced by a flash of beige as the familiar scent of flowers filled the air.
It was Ino. She threw her arms around Sakura, beaming with excitement.
"Sakura! What have you been up to lately?"
"You haven't come to see me at all~~"
Sakura gently patted Ino's back and chuckled softly.
"Ah, sorry. I've just been really busy lately~~"
On the other side, Asuma—leader of Team 10—was handing over a mission report to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
It was a recently completed C-rank mission.
Naruto's eyes immediately lit up with interest and jealousy. He couldn't hold himself back and exclaimed:
"A C-rank mission?!"
Ino, hearing this, promptly pulled away from Sakura and stood tall, pride radiating from her face.
"That's right~~"
"It was a C-rank mission."
"Well? Jealous yet?"
She strode over to Naruto, poking him in the forehead with an annoyingly smug look.
Naruto frowned, annoyed by her teasing, but couldn't come up with a proper retort.
Suddenly, he glanced over at Sasuke and Sakura standing nearby and smirked mysteriously.
In a rare moment of cunning, Naruto's brain kicked into overdrive.
"Sasuke is on the same team as me."
Ino's smile instantly froze. Her eyes widened, and her cheerful expression turned to one of disbelief.
"I just completed a C-rank mission!" she protested, clearly flustered.
"Sakura is also on my team."
"…What?"
Ino stared at Sakura with a betrayed expression, silently begging her to deny Naruto's words.
But Sakura couldn't help the slight amusement tugging at her lips. She sighed softly and nodded.
"Yes. I'm on the same team as Naruto."
Pfft~~
It felt like an arrow had pierced Ino straight through the heart. She staggered to her knees dramatically, her whole body drained of color like a wilted flower.
"D-dammit."
"Don't get cocky! E-even if Sakura is on your team—"
"Our teacher is one of the renowned Twelve Guardian Ninja!" she declared, trying to recover some ground by boasting about Asuma's credentials.
"My teammate is Sasuke." Naruto responded, still wearing that eerie, smug grin—his expression now reminiscent of Anya from Spy x Family.
"I just completed a C-rank mission! A C-rank mission!" Ino leaned closer, glaring at Naruto in defiance.
"My teammate is Sakura." Naruto maintained the same unsettling grin.
"Shikamaru and Choji are part of the legendary Ino–Shika–Cho trio!" Ino was practically tearing her hair out in frustration. Could this guy stop repeating the same thing?!
"You're the Ino, which sounds like pig~~" Naruto teased, struggling to suppress a grin as his lips twitched uncontrollably.
Pfft!
Ino spat out metaphorical blood.
Dammit, you bastard!
When had the proud heiress of the Yamanaka clan ever been humiliated like this?
"Our trio each has unique family secret techniques—super powerful ones!" she snapped, desperately trying to reclaim some dignity.
But Naruto remained completely unfazed, replying calmly:
"Sasuke and Sakura are my teammates."
At this moment, Naruto's mischievous intellect was in full bloom.
"You bastard!!!"
"Can you stop bragging about your teammates for five seconds?!"
Ino was about to explode from rage.
"Oh, by the way… you're pig~~"
Game over.
Yamanaka Ino's HP bar: 0%.
Winner of this battle: Uzumaki Naruto!
---
"Alright, Naruto, that's enough. Stop bullying Ino," Sakura scolded lightly, stepping beside Ino and stroking her light-blonde hair to comfort her.
She found it hilarious, though—Naruto actually managing to get the upper hand against Ino? That was a rare sight.
"Waaah, Sakura~~~"
Ino dramatically collapsed into Sakura's arms, wearing a pitiful, teary-eyed expression that could melt stone.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh as she watched her friend seek comfort like a sulking cat.
"Alright, alright. Enough messing around. It's time to go," Kakashi finally interrupted, scratching his head at the end of this ridiculous spectacle.
As Team 7 prepared to leave, Ino reluctantly waved goodbye to Sakura and Sasuke.
"Damn you, Naruto!" she yelled one last time.
"If Sakura even gets a scratch, I'm holding you responsible!"
Naruto didn't even turn around. He simply waved dismissively.
"Yeah, yeah. You don't need to say it."
Watching Team 7 disappear around the corner, Ino pouted.
"Tch… acting all cool now, huh?"
Shikamaru, meanwhile, was quietly watching the departing pink-haired girl.
Something wasn't right.
Sakura graduated as a genin four years ago…
With her abilities, how could she still be a genin now…?
---
"Wahahahaha!"
The moment they left the mission assignment hall, Naruto burst into loud laughter.
"That was hilarious! Ino totally lost it!"
"Naruto, honestly…" Sakura sighed.
"Ino's actually really nice if you get to know her."
She looked at the grinning blond troublemaker beside her with mild exasperation.
Their personalities clashed in a funny way. Maybe they were too similar—like repelling magnets.
"Hey, back when you weren't at the Academy, Ino used to bully me all the time~~" Naruto complained with a pitiful look.
Sakura wisely chose to remain silent.
Ino didn't actually bully Naruto. If anything, she teased him.
Knowing that Sakura looked after Naruto, Ino would occasionally joke around with him to keep him company, making sure he didn't feel too lonely.
And thanks to her status as the Yamanaka heiress, Ino's influence helped keep some of the more narrow-minded kids from picking on him too much.
But with Naruto's brain… well, he probably never realized that.
"Whatever. Let's go," Sakura said.
"Once we finish this river cleanup mission, Sensei's treating us to a meal~~~"
Kakashi smiled at his three energetic students.
This generation's Ino–Shika–Cho trio seemed to get along surprisingly well with Naruto...
"Yay! Kakashi-sensei is the best!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist in excitement.
Only Sasuke stayed silent, walking quietly beside them.
He didn't care about food or jokes.
All he wanted was power.
Enough power to defeat that man...
---
Later, as Naruto and Sasuke rolled up their pant legs and waded into the river to pick up trash, Sakura approached them with a question.
"Do you know why I chose this mission?"
She looked at the two boys, who tilted their heads in confusion.
Then she pointed down at her feet.
!!
"Sakura!" Naruto gasped.
"You're standing… on water?!"
"Yep. That's exactly why I picked this mission."
Sakura smiled, silencing Naruto's excited shouting with a raised hand.
Her green eyes shifted to Sasuke, who clearly wanted to know more but was too proud to ask.
"If you focus your chakra on the soles of your feet and maintain a steady, constant flow, you can walk on surfaces like walls, trees, and even water."
Sasuke stared at the pink-haired girl, uncertain.
"Why… are you telling me this?"
This was something their sensei was supposed to teach them, right?
Sakura gave him a simple, sincere smile.
"Because we're teammates, aren't we?"
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(End of Chapter)
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