How did things end up like this?
Haruno Sakura felt like she was on the verge of breaking down.
Being placed in the same class as the person she liked, and beating Ino-Pig to the punch—
Two happy things had overlapped, and those two happy things should have brought her even more happiness.
So what she was supposed to get was a dreamlike stretch of bliss!
But then why—
Why had it turned into this?
Sakura's eyes drifted, completely against her will, toward Naruto in the back row.
If this were the old Naruto, she could practically predict exactly what would happen next:
That gloomy idiot who thought he was funny would definitely come shambling over to spout some painfully unfunny joke, or pull some attention-seeking prank that would ruin the entire atmosphere of the team before it even started.
Just imagining it made her feel suffocated.
She secretly glanced at Sasuke.
He was still wearing that same icy expression, leaning by the window with his gaze turned outside, as though the team assignments had nothing to do with him at all.
That cool indifference made Sakura's heart skip another beat.
Ah… Sasuke-kun really is amazing. He looks cool no matter what he does!
But the moment she thought about having to team up with gloomy, depressing Naruto for the long term, her future instantly turned gray.
Yes, he had shocked everyone that morning with some strange clone technique—but so what?
Using clone techniques did not change the fact that his personality was awful, his grades were terrible, and no one liked him!
Wouldn't being grouped with him drag down the whole class of Team 7? Sasuke-kun must be bothered by this too!
With that thought, Sakura put on what she believed was her sweetest smile and walked toward Sasuke.
"Um, Sasuke-kun, I didn't expect we'd end up in the same team. Please take care of me from now on…"
Sasuke did not even lift his eyelids.
He only let out an almost inaudible "Mm," which barely counted as a response.
Sakura's smile stiffened on her face, while the tiny Sakura inside her mind screamed in agony:
As expected, Sasuke-kun is still so hard to approach!
At that moment, Naruto finally moved.
He slowly rose to his feet, adjusted the forehead protector on his brow, and began walking toward Sasuke and Sakura.
His footsteps sounded especially clear in the quiet classroom.
Sakura immediately grew wary. Almost instinctively, she shifted half a step, subtly placing herself in front of Sasuke.
She glared at Naruto. "Hey, Naruto, don't think that just because you're on the same team as us, you can—"
Her words cut off abruptly.
Because Naruto did not walk straight up to them and make some embarrassing declaration like she had expected.
He stopped two or three steps away and said,
"Sorry to bother you, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan. I have something to take care of first, so I'll be leaving early. Is that okay?"
Sakura and Sasuke both froze.
Even their pupils contracted.
He's actually this polite?! Sasuke thought, genuinely surprised.
This was completely different from the Naruto he remembered—the one who was either dark and brooding or acting out in bizarre ways.
He actually has this much tact?! Sakura practically rejoiced inside.
At that moment, she wanted to applaud him.
As long as he did not interfere with her and Sasuke's "alone time," Naruto was a comrade worthy of respect!
Perhaps because Naruto was being so unexpectedly… normal, even Sasuke's tone softened a little.
"It's fine. Just don't be late this afternoon."
"Thanks."
Naruto gave a slight nod, then walked straight past them.
He did not spare Sakura a second glance, nor did he show Sasuke any particular interest. It was as if he had simply informed two ordinary classmates of his plans.
Then he left the classroom without looking back.
Watching Naruto's figure disappear through the doorway, Sakura let out a long breath of relief.
She immediately turned back, her bright smile blooming again.
"Sasuke-kun, now it's just the two of us! How about we go somewhere and—"
"I have something to do too."
Sasuke cut her off coldly. In the next instant, his figure flashed, and he leapt out the window, disappearing from the school rooftop in just a few bounds.
"Eh?! Sasuke-kun! Wait for me!"
Sakura's outstretched hand froze helplessly in midair.
After leaving the classroom, Naruto did not go do anything especially dramatic.
With both hands in his pockets, he strolled slowly through the streets of Konoha.
Sunlight spilled through the gaps in the trees, scattering mottled patterns across the road. Pedestrians came and went, and most of them still instinctively averted their eyes when they saw him.
Which made sense.
In canon, Naruto was not truly accepted until after Pain's assault on the village. Just putting on a forehead protector was never going to change people overnight.
But Naruto did not have the time to waste on such trivial things.
He had something far more important to focus on.
[Ding!]
[New Story Mission released: Pass the survival exercise.]
[Mission Requirement: Successfully pass Kakashi Hatake's Bell Test and earn his acknowledgment.]
[Mission Reward: +100 gold.]
A hundred gold.
A whole hundred gold!
Naruto's starting conditions in this world were even worse than canon Naruto's. That meant every single chance to grow stronger had to be seized.
That was why he had not wasted time hanging around the classroom.
And of course, he was not going to shut himself up at a village training ground and stumble forward blindly either. That would have been a waste of time too.
After returning home and eating a cup of instant ramen, Naruto lay down on his bed, closed his eyes, and let his consciousness sink into the system interface.
A transmigrator could use his knowledge of the plot as a reference—but relying on it blindly was dangerous.
What if the survival exercise happened this very afternoon?
In that case, Naruto, who severely lacked real combat experience, might end up doing even worse than canon Naruto.
That was something he absolutely could not tolerate.
Since improving raw stats had not produced any obvious leap in combat power, he decided to spar against AI opponents in the system's exclusive training arena.
Just then, a new line of text popped up before his eyes.
[Detected: Host currently has practical combat needs. Convert to ninjutsu combat mode? First-time completion—win or lose—will reward the Substitution Technique and unlock Secret Scroll: Chakra.]
There was a deal like that too?
Naruto accepted on the spot.
The scenery before his eyes blurred and twisted.
In the next moment, he found himself standing on a street lined with drifting cherry blossoms.
[Welcome to the Duel Arena, trainee ninja Uzumaki Naruto.]
Naruto looked around in surprise at the stage-like battlefield and the rotating blue circle beneath his feet, then drew a kunai and prepared himself.
At best, he currently counted as a C-rank ninja in the system's scaling.
So which C-rank ninja would his opponent be?
[Randomly matching you with an evenly matched opponent…]
A bad feeling rose in Naruto's chest.
Please don't let it be some absurd monster like Shinki or Edo Tayuya…
[Match found!]
Standing before Naruto was none other than A-rank Kakashi Hatake — "True Face Frenzy", with a full set of six skills.
Naruto nearly lost his mind.
"Trash system, you've got to be kidding me!"
That afternoon, in the classroom where Team 7 was supposed to gather—
Sakura arrived early. She had carefully fixed her hair and clothes and sat there full of anticipation, waiting for Sasuke and…
Well. Mostly Sasuke.
Sasuke entered after her, expressionless as ever, and chose a seat that was neither too close to Sakura nor too close to the door.
Then, one minute before the appointed time, Naruto pushed open the door and walked in.
Both of them were surprised.
Because what they saw was not Naruto's usual deadpan face—
It was the face of someone who had completely lost the will to live.
What had he done during lunch?
They were curious, but the truth was that they were not close enough to ask. Since Naruto did not say anything, neither of them felt comfortable bringing it up.
And so the classroom atmosphere sank once again into that same eerie silence.
Time ticked by little by little.
The sun gradually slanted westward.
"What is going on?!" Sakura finally burst out. "Why is our jōnin instructor still not here?!"
Sasuke also frowned slightly, clearly annoyed by such a pointless waste of time.
By this point, Kakashi should have already arrived, Naruto thought.
After a moment, he reached into his ninja pouch, pulled out a small box, and said to the other two,
"Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan, I bought some dango. Want some?"
Dango?
That was something that man liked…
Uchiha Sasuke frowned and refused coldly. "No."
Sakura had actually been tempted to try one, but seeing that Sasuke seemed to be in a bad mood, she waved her hand too.
"I don't want any either."
Were my interpersonal relationships really this terrible before I transmigrated?
Naruto scratched his head and said, "I see. Then I'll save one for the teacher."
"Do whatever you want," Sasuke replied with his eyes closed.
What Sasuke and Sakura did not know was that their assigned jōnin instructor, Kakashi Hatake, had actually arrived long ago.
He simply had not shown himself yet, because he wanted to observe how this team differed from the previous classes he had led.
The result left him deeply disappointed.
The teacher's son was one thing. Considering the kind of environment Naruto had grown up in, the fact that he already knew how to show consideration for teammates was impressive enough. Especially after what Kakashi had seen the night before.
But Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura were far worse.
One did not care about teammates at all.
The other had a head full of nothing but Sasuke.
There was no point observing any longer.
So Kakashi finally pushed open the classroom door.
"Ah, are you our instructor?" Naruto asked at exactly the right moment.
Kakashi nodded.
Sakura could not help complaining. "You're way too late, Sensei!"
Sasuke opened his eyes as well, scrutinizing this jōnin instructor who looked unbelievably unreliable.
Kakashi swept a glance over the two of them, pinched his chin, and struck a thoughtful pose.
"How should I put this? My first impression of you all… is that I kind of dislike you."
The veins on Sakura and Sasuke's foreheads immediately twitched.
And you have the nerve to say that?