Konohagakure No Sato :
Konoha Academy :
The sterile, empty halls of the Academy echoed with the soft, rhythmic footfalls of Team 7. Naruto walked at the rear of the formation, his eyes tracking the movements of the three people who were now, for better or worse, his Teammates.
( .....even in canon , The so called Team 7 didn't last a year , Sasuke left , Naruto too .......and later it was Sai in the team ......as for Sakura )
Walking while behind everyone , Naruto's first target of observation was Haruno Sakura. She walked slightly behind Sasuke, her entire posture angled toward him. Her eyes were practically glued to the back of the Uchiha's head, completely devoid of any situational awareness or tactical spacing.
She had offered Kakashi a brief, perfunctory bow upon his arrival—a mere formality drilled into her by her civilian parents—but the moment they had stepped into the hallway, the Jonin commander had ceased to exist in her reality.
She wasn't checking their right or left , she wasn't looking at the route, and she certainly wasn't looking back at Naruto. She was in her own world already.
Next was Uchiha Sasuke. He walked with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his posture rigid. From his vantage point in the rear, Naruto couldn't see Sasuke's face, but the boy's gait told a complete story. Sasuke's movements were hurried, clipped, and aggressive. His gaze was fixed like a laser on Kakashi's back.
(Always in a hurry,) Naruto noted, his internal voice clinically detached.
(Like he has something incredibly important to do, and the rest of the world is just an obstacle in his way. One bad variable and he'll snap.)
A dull throb flared in Naruto's abdomen. The lingering aftereffects of the "Hell-Kitchen Mosaic Meal" were still waging a localized insurgency in his digestive tract.
However, years of brutal, punishing physical conditioning under Hattori Sensei had taught him how to compartmentalize pain. To Naruto, the stomachache was a minor distraction, a background noise that he easily tuned out.
His primary focus, and the subject of his most intense scrutiny, was Hatake Kakashi.
The famous Copy Ninja was currently walking like a lethargic, hungover civilian who had been dragged out of bed in the middle of a deep sleep. He slouched, his shoulders were rounded, and his steps seemed almost completely devoid of purpose. To an untrained Academy student, he looked like a joke.
But Naruto had been trained by hattori sensei over the years it was different .
Outwardly, the blonde's face remained a mask of perfectly composed, bishounen indifference. Inwardly, his sensory net and tactical mind were dissecting the Jonin piece by piece.
(The slouch is a lie,) Naruto realized, a cold respect blossoming in his chest.
(His core is tight. His center of gravity is kept low. His weight is perfectly, flawlessly distributed so that he can launch into a lateral lunge or a backward evasion at a microsecond's notice. And his chakra... it's completely suppressed, but I can feel it coiled just beneath the surface like a high-tension spring. He's projecting vulnerability to draw an attack.)
Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly, a shadow crossing his sky-blue irises.
(So this is the man. This is the elite operative who let my father's son stand outside his door in the cold for hours, refusing to answer.)
Naruto's stomach gave another small, traitorous growl—a sharp reminder of Ino, Hinata, and Karin's terrifying culinary devotion—but his gaze remained iron-cold, fixed on the silver hair of his new captain.
Soon, Naruto's internal map flagged an anomaly. The route they were taking was diverging significantly from standard protocol.
(Wait. The Academy roof should be the place where the introductions are to be had ........ Why are we leaving the compound entirely?)
Puzzled but maintaining silence, Naruto followed as Kakashi led the team out of the Academy gates and onto the bustling streets of Konoha. Suddenly, Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks. He turned slowly, his visible eye curving in a deceptive smile.
"As your new captain," Kakashi drawled, his voice carrying clearly over the ambient noise of the street, "I need to establish your baselines. I will now test your speed and endurance. In simple terms: just follow me from here on out."
Before the Genin could even process the sudden shift in protocol, Kakashi turned and began to jog down the street.
Sasuke didn't hesitate; his competitive drive flared instantly, and he bolted after the Jonin. Sakura, driven entirely by her need to remain in Sasuke's orbit, immediately sprinted after the Uchiha. Naruto let out a quiet, controlled breath and fell into step behind them, matching their pace with effortless grace.
At first, the pace was manageable. The fresh Genin had undergone six years of meticulous physical conditioning under the Academy instructors. But as they cleared the commercial district, Kakashi began to systematically increase his speed.
It quickly shifted from a brisk jog to a demanding run. For Sasuke and Naruto, this was a comfortable cruising speed. For Sakura, however, it required a full, lung-burning sprint just to keep the boys in sight.
Kakashi didn't head in a straight line. He ran the team in wide, punishing circles through the village's residential sectors, forcing them to navigate uneven terrain, sudden turns, and varied elevations.
By the time they reached the halfway point toward the village's outer perimeter, the physical toll became obvious. Sakura's natural stamina had bottomed out; she was now actively channeling chakra to her legs just to keep moving, her breathing ragged and desperate.
Sasuke, determined not to fall behind the Jonin, also began to bleed chakra into his musculature to maintain the grueling pace.
Naruto remained entirely physical, his breath perfectly regulated, his wrapped combat boots pounding the pavement in a steady, metronomic rhythm.
Suddenly, Kakashi picked up the pace exponentially, his voice floating back to them on the wind. "We are heading to the Third Training Ground. Let's see who arrives first."
With a burst of pure, Jonin-level Shunshin speed, Kakashi simply vanished from their line of sight, leaving a swirl of dust in his wake.
Sasuke bit his lip so hard it nearly bled. Refusing to be beaten, he flooded his legs with chakra and launched himself forward at absolute maximum velocity, his dark silhouette disappearing around a bend in the road.
Sakura watched Sasuke vanish. Desperation clawed at her. She tried to force more chakra into her exhausted muscles, caught in a mental genjutsu of her own making where she could somehow catch up to her beloved.
But reality, harsh and unforgiving, slapped her in the face. Her legs turned to lead. Her lungs burned like they were filled with acid.
Slowly, agonizingly, her sprint degraded to a jog, then a walk, until she finally collapsed. She dropped to her knees on the hard cobblestone street, huffing violently, her eyes still desperately scanning the empty road for a silhouette of Sasuke-kun.
A few moments later, a shadow fell over her.
"Are you planning to sit there the whole day?"
Sakura's head jolted up. Standing casually beside her, looking down with an expression of mild, detached amusement, was Naruto. He wasn't sweating. He wasn't breathing hard. He looked as though he had just stepped out for a leisurely stroll.
Sakura's mind raced. She remembered the physical exams at the Academy. Whether it was the obstacle course, the marathon, or the agility drills, Naruto always placed first. He was a physical anomaly.
Her pride, fragile and defensive, flared up instantly. She looked down at the dusty street, her voice a low, hostile murmur. "Don't mock me, Naruto."
Naruto stared at the top of her pink head. He gave her a deeply pitiful, profoundly amused look—an expression entirely wasted on her, as she was currently hyper-focused on a line of ants crawling near her knee.
Looking at the twelve-year-old banshee-child shivering on the pavement, Naruto let out a slow, internal sigh.
(A marathon test right out of the gate?) Naruto calculated, (No. Kakashi's focus on camaraderie. This isn't a race. It's a test to see if the fast will abandon the slow. It's a test of teamwork.)
Deciding to play the role of the mature person—and acting as the perfect, textbook inheritor of the 'Will of Fire' (at least for the duration of this test)—Naruto addressed her.
Despite her historical uselessness and the venom she had spat at him over the years, Naruto looked at her not with anger, but with the detached patience of a veteran observing a totally green Kid
"Like I said," Naruto spoke, his voice calm and level, cutting through her heavy breathing. "The Captain said he is going to be at Training Ground Three. So, I'll ask again: are you going to sit here in the dirt all day, or are you going to go back home and quit?"
Sakura's head snapped up, her eyes flashing with spoiled, bratty indignation. Her voice was sharp and shrill. "Why do you even care anyway?! Just go ahead and leave me alone!"
Naruto closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, mourning the loss of the quiet he had enjoyed over the last three years. When he opened them, he spoke in the only language he knew she would process.
"We are a team now, Sakura," Naruto said, his tone deliberately heavy. "And... Sasuke is going to be there, too. You know that, right?"
The name was a magic spell. Hearing that Sasuke was waiting at the destination, Sakura bit her lip until it turned white. She forcefully gathered the dregs of her courage and her remaining chakra. With a dramatic groan, she hauled herself up from the street and launched back into a full sprint.
Naruto watched her go, a small smirk playing on his lips.
Her heroic burst of romantic adrenaline lasted exactly two minutes.
A block and a half later, Naruto found her kneeling on the roadside once again, clutching her stomach and quietly cursing the unfairness of the universe, shinobi biology, and Kakashi's existence.
Naruto strolled up beside her, looking down at the brainwashed, love-drunk civilian girl with a mixture of amusement and clinical concern.
"With Sensei's speed, he should have already reached the training ground," Naruto observed casually, looking up at the sun's position. "Sasuke should be arriving shortly too. We are officially falling behind."
Sakura didn't have the breath to formulate a biting reply; she was too busy trying not to hyperventilate.
Naruto took a moment to truly assess her physical state. He recalled an offhand, critical remark Ino had made a few months prior during one of their secret training sessions: "Can you believe Sakura? She's actively dieting to look slim for Sasuke, right in the middle of our physical conditioning phase. It's suicidal."
Naruto's sky-blue eyes swept over her frame. Despite coming from a stable, well-off civilian merchant family, the girl was virtually skin and bones.
(She's not clinically malnourished,) Naruto noted, (but she is absolutely not operating at a healthy caloric surplus required for shinobi combat. Her stamina pool is abysmal. The only reason she hasn't entirely collapsed from chakra exhaustion is because her natural, innate chakra control is frighteningly precise. She's squeezing every drop out of a very small well.)
Naruto watched Sakura shake her head, entering a state of absolute denial as she tried to force her trembling legs to stand.
Naruto had seen enough. The test of teamwork required them all to arrive. He wasn't going to fail because of a crash diet.
Without a word of warning, Naruto stepped fluidly to her side, bent his knees, and hoisted her off the ground. He didn't offer a piggyback ride or a bridal carry; he simply scooped her up by the waist and tucked her firmly under his right arm like a sack of potatoes.
"Kyaaa! Wh-What are you doing, you idiot?! Put me down!"
Ignoring the banshee wailing directly into his ear, Naruto focused his chakra, his boots gripping the earth, and launched himself toward the training ground at a terrifying speed.
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Training Ground No. 3 :
Uchiha Sasuke broke through the tree line, his chest heaving, sweat dripping from his chin. He stumbled into the clearing of Training Ground No. 3, his eyes instantly locking onto his target.
Hatake Kakashi was leaning comfortably against a thick oak tree, lazily flipping a page in his little orange book. He didn't look tired. He didn't even look like he had run.
Kakashi's visible eye drifted slowly from the text, landing on the exhausted Uchiha.
"Second," Kakashi noted dryly, his voice perfectly flat.
Sasuke's onyx eyes widened to the point of pain. Impossible nearly escaped his lips. He had run at absolute maximum speed. He had pushed his chakra to the limit. He hadn't seen Kakashi pass him, and he definitely hadn't seen the blond idiot pass him either. How could he possibly be second?
Jerking his head to the side, Sasuke's gaze swept the clearing.
There, sitting comfortably in the shade of a large memorial stone—a blind spot you would naturally overlook when sprinting aggressively through the main entrance—sat Uzumaki Naruto.
The blond was leaning back against the cool stone, his legs stretched out, his arms crossed casually behind his head as he gazed thoughtfully up at the passing clouds. He wasn't sweating. He wasn't panting. He looked as though he had been there for an hour.
Sasuke's fists clenched so tightly his fingernails dug into his palms. The obvious, glaring difference in their physical capabilities hit him like a physical blow. He froze, standing entirely still like a carved statue, the bitter taste of defeat thick in his mouth.
Kakashi, observing over the top of his book, offered a silent, clinical evaluation of the Uchiha heir.
(Sasuke hates to lose,) Kakashi deduced, taking in the boy's rigid posture and glaring eyes. (He is highly competitive, but his pride is brittle. He refuses to accept an obvious defeat, and he actively refuses to acknowledge the victor, despite the reality standing right in front of him. A dangerous, isolating mindset.)
Kakashi's gaze then drifted to the blond boy lounging by the stone.
(And then there is the Sensei's son,) Kakashi thought, a bead of sweat forming under his headband. (He arrived first, effortlessly. But he shows absolutely no drive for teamwork. just like Sasuke , He hasn't communicated with his teammates , just like sasuke ...... Naruto simply won the race and sat down to watch the clouds. Sasuke is consumed by a lust for winning, and Naruto seems consumed by total apathy toward his squad. How am I supposed to manage—)
Kakashi's internal monologue was violently derailed by the sound of rapid, heavy footfalls approaching through the forest, accompanied by a high-pitched, echoing scream.
Sasuke snapped his head toward the tree line, his eyes widening in shock. Kakashi lowered his book, genuinely startled.
Bursting through the foliage was Uzumaki Naruto. He was running at an elite, sustained pace, and clamped firmly beneath his arm was a wildly flailing, screaming Haruno Sakura.
"Naruto, you jerk! Put me down! You're wrinkling my skirt! Sasuke-kun is going to see—!"
Naruto slid to a halt in the center of the clearing, directly in front of Kakashi and Sasuke. With a complete lack of ceremony, he unceremoniously dropped Sakura onto the soft grass. She landed with a muffled thud and an indignant squeak.
Sasuke stared. He looked at the Naruto standing in the center of the clearing, and then he looked at the Naruto lounging comfortably under the tree.
Sasuke was reeling. Another Naruto? Running with the nuisance , and yet he still wasn't out of breath or showing any signs of physical fatigue?
Before either the Jonin or the Uchiha could formulate a question, the Naruto sitting under the tree casually formed a single, one-handed seal.
*Poof*
The lounging Naruto vanished in a cloud of white smoke, leaving nothing behind but the rustling grass.
"What—?!" Sakura gasped, sitting up and rubbing her hip, finally registering what had just happened.
"A... .... Clone?" Sasuke whispered, his voice trembling with a toxic mix of rage and disbelief. "How is that even possible??"
Kakashi stepped forward, purposefully cutting off the rising panic and awe before it could fully take root.
"It seems like everyone is finally here," Kakashi said, his voice slicing through the tension. "Let's focus on the next part of our agenda."
Kakashi walked toward the center of the clearing, but before addressing the group as a whole, he stopped in front of Sakura. He looked down at the girl, who was still dusting off her dress, and fixed her with a sharp, utterly merciless glare.
"And of course," Kakashi stated, his tone dripping with disappointment, "even with the assistance of your teammate, you still arrived dead last, Haruno."
Sakura physically flinched, the Jonin's words stabbing into her fragile ego. The crushing realization dawned on her: despite her perfect test scores, she was undeniably the weakest link on this team. Naruto was an anomaly, Sasuke was an elite, and she was a burden.
(Well... at least I'm officially third!) Sakura's inner voice shrieked, desperately trying to construct a positive delusion out of a humiliating reality.
Kakashi gestured for them to follow and led the trio deeper into the clearing. He found a large, flat boulder and sat down, his posture reverting to his trademark slouch.
(Did Naruto use a high-level Shadow Clone just to secure first place, while his real body went back to carry Sakura?) Kakashi mused, his mind racing. (If so, his tactical awareness and chakra reserves are monstrous. But more importantly... he actually helped her. He didn't leave her behind. Perhaps this team isn't a total lost cause after all.)
But as Kakashi looked at the dynamic unfolding in front of him, his brief flicker of hope died.
Sakura hadn't offered a single word of thanks to the boy who had literally carried her across the finish line. From the moment she had been dropped, her eyes had instantly locked back onto Sasuke.
Sasuke, meanwhile, was ignoring Sakura entirely, his eyes burning holes into the side of Naruto's head with pure, unadulterated jealousy. And Naruto? Naruto was staring blankly at Kakashi, his expression screaming that he would rather be anywhere else.
(A circle of dysfunction,) Kakashi sighed internally.
Seeing Naruto's deadpan stare, Kakashi clapped his hands together loudly, the sharp smack echoing across the training ground.
"Alright!" Kakashi announced, his voice suddenly bright and energetic. "Let's start with introductions!"
The three Genin blinked, their attention finally converging on their instructor.
"Introductions?" Sakura asked, dusting her knees. "What are we supposed to say?"
"Oh, you know," Kakashi replied, waving a hand vaguely. "Your likes, your dislikes. Your dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that."
"Why don't you go first, Sensei?" Naruto suggested dryly, "You know, to show us how it's done. Establish a baseline."
Kakashi's visible eye curved into a crescent. "Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. A Jonin of Konohagakure no Sato. I like reading, and my absolute favorite author is the legendary Jiraiya-sama. I enjoy a good bowl of ramen and hot tomato soup. I dislike war, and I hold a deep, personal hatred for people who turn their backs on their comrades."
Kakashi's voice darkened slightly on the last sentence before snapping back to his cheerful tone. "As a shinobi, I excel in Ninjutsu. My combat specialty is rapid assault and suppression. And my dream... is to eventually live a quiet, peaceful life."
The three Genin stared at him.
"..." "..." "..."
(He told us his name and some food preferences,) Sasuke thought (And nothing else of value.)
"Alright," Kakashi clapped again, breaking the silence. "Time for your introductions. We will start with number one. You, Blondie. Go."
Naruto looked at the man who was simultaneously projecting profound laziness and lethal, coiled energy. He debated giving a fake, textbook answer just to end the charade, but ultimately shrugged. He dropped his hand to his chin, tapping it thoughtfully.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," he began, his voice calm and resonant, entirely lacking the boisterous yelling Kakashi had read about in the older Academy reports.
"I'm a Genin of Konohagakure. I like good food. I like my pets. I value spending quiet time with my friends, and I also like Ichiraku Ramen."
Naruto paused, a tiny, almost imperceptible smirk touching his lips. "Oh, and I also really like my toy- I mean, my weapons and I enjoy cooking, too."
Sakura let out a quiet, disbelieving scoff at the mention of cooking, but Naruto ignored her.
"As for dislikes," Naruto's voice dropped an octave, his sky-blue eyes locking directly onto Kakashi's lone dark eye. "I hate waiting. Especially the three minutes it takes for instant ramen to boil. But more than that... I hate people who make promises they don't keep, and people who turn their backs on their friends when it matters most."
Kakashi shifted uncomfortably on his boulder, the weight of the boy's stare feeling entirely too heavy for a twelve-year-old. Sasuke and Sakura were listening with rapt, uncomfortable attention; Naruto's presence was suddenly commanding the entire clearing.
"As a shinobi," Naruto concluded smoothly, "I excel in the manipulation of the five elemental Ninjutsu, and advanced Sealing Arts. I plan to become a localized Ninjutsu artillery specialist. And my dream... is to become the Hokage "
Naruto took a deliberate step back, signaling he was finished.
Kakashi offered a slow, lazy nod, his mind racing to process the sheer volume of controlled ambition the boy had just displayed.
( well he left quite a few things ........forget it , maybe over time things may change )
"Alright..... next."
Kakashi pointed a finger at the brooding boy.
Sasuke took a slow, deep breath. He didn't look at Kakashi, nor did he look at his teammates. His dark eyes were focused on the grass beneath his feet.
"My name is..." A heavy, dramatic pause hung in the air. "Sasuke Uchiha."
He lifted his head, his onyx eyes cold and devoid of any childish warmth. "I don't have many likes. I have an abundance of dislikes. And what I have is not a dream... because I will make it a reality. What I have is an absolute goal."
The temperature in the clearing seemed to drop.
"My goal," Sasuke stated, his voice ringing with a chilling, fanatic conviction, "is to restore the honor of my clan... and to kill a certain someone."
Silence rushed back into the clearing, heavier than before.
Despite having read the psychological profile and working hard to maintain a light, manageable mood, Kakashi still felt a deep, troubling ache in his chest.
(He really has built walls of impenetrable ice,) Kakashi thought mournfully. (He is entirely consumed by the darkness.)
Naruto didn't bat an eyelid, his face remaining a perfect mask of indifference. He had known Sasuke's goal for years; hearing it out loud changed nothing about his operational parameters.
Sakura, however, was in a completely different reality. Her mind selectively filtered the terrifying, homicidal undertones of Sasuke's speech, leaving only the dark, brooding aesthetic. She clasped her hands together, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.
(So cool...) she sighed internally.
Kakashi shook his head lazily, trying to dispel the gloom. He pointed a finger at the final member of the squad. "Alright. The last one. You're up."
Sakura felt a brief, irrational sting of annoyance at being addressed as an afterthought, but she quickly suppressed it. This was her moment. She straightened her posture instinctively, placing her hands neatly in front of her waist to appear composed and mature.
Beneath her calm exterior, her heart was hammering against her ribs. (This is it. I need to make a flawless impression. Sasuke-kun needs to see I'm dedicated.)
She took a small, stabilizing breath.
"My name is Sakura Haruno," she announced, her voice clear and practiced.
But then, just for a fraction of a second, her practiced confidence wavered. Her emerald eyes flickered sideways, almost involuntarily, drawn like a magnet to the dark-haired boy standing rigid beside her. Sasuke stood with his usual, detached expression, staring straight ahead as if none of this mattered.
Sakura's cheeks warmed with a sudden, fierce heat.
"What I like... I mean—" She stumbled over her words, suddenly hyper-aware of how transparent she might sound. Her fingers tightened slightly against her skirt as she tried to correct her trajectory. "The person I like is..."
Her voice softened, drifting away as her internal monologue utterly betrayed her. For a brief, intoxicating second, the training ground, Kakashi, and Naruto completely disappeared from her mind.
They were replaced by quiet, idealized, romanticized images of a future with Sasuke—images she didn't dare speak out loud, but which painted her face with a dopey, infatuated grin.
Then, she snapped back to reality, realizing the silence had stretched too long.
"My dream for the future is..."
Again, she trailed off. She let out a high-pitched, entirely un-ninja-like squeal, burying her face in her hands as she giggled, her shoulders shaking.
Whatever that dream was, it clearly involved a wedding dress and the Uchiha crest, and she wasn't sharing it with anyone.
A heavy, awkward pause settled over the group.
Then, a sudden, jarring shift occurred. Sakura dropped her hands from her face, her expression hardening almost instantly into a scowl, like a switch being violently flipped.
"As for what my dislikes are..."
Her emerald eyes moved with lethal intent, skipping right over Kakashi and landing directly on the blond boy standing quietly nearby. She opened her mouth, ready to unleash a torrent of insults about orphans, annoyances .
But as she looked at Naruto—truly looked at him—the words died in her throat. She looked at his sharp, composed features, the high-grade tactical gear, and the way he held himself with an aura of undeniable, elite danger.
She remembered how effortlessly he had carried her, and how he had arrived before their Jonin captain without breaking a sweat.
Her mind scrambled for an insult that fit the reality in front of her, and failed completely.
"Well..." she muttered weakly, her scowl faltering. "Oily food? I guess."
In the end, Sakura didn't say the hateful things out loud.
The introductions concluded, leaving an odd, suffocating sort of silence in their wake. It felt as though the training ground itself wasn't quite sure what to make of the three wildly disparate, deeply fractured personalities now bound together as a military unit.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Kakashi looked at his Genin. One was a lethal, apathetic prodigy harboring deep-seated mind-set.
One was an avenger walking a knife's edge over a cliff of darkness. And the last was a civilian girl playing ninja, entirely consumed by a prepubescent crush.
(Two complete lost causes, and one ticking time bomb.....for me ) Kakashi thought, resisting the urge to facepalm. (Minato-sensei... I am so sorry.)
Then—
Hatake Kakashi pushed himself off the boulder with a slow, deliberate stretch, his joints popping softly. He slipped his hands back into his pockets. His posture was still relaxed, almost entirely careless... but there was a sudden, subtle shift in the atmospheric pressure. A sharper, colder edge bled into the air beneath his casual demeanor.
"Alright," Kakashi said, his visible eye sweeping over the three of them. "That's enough for today. Good work."
Sakura's head snapped up, her romantic daydreaming instantly replaced by civilian entitlement.
"Eh? That's it?" Sakura blurted out, throwing her hands up. "We just introduced ourselves! Aren't we gonna do some missions or something?! I want to show Sasuke-kun my kunai throwing!"
Kakashi's visible eye curved into a shape that was undeniably a predatory smile.
"Oh, we will."
That single, softly spoken sentence carried a massive, crushing weight. It was enough to quiet the trio instantly, the sheer authority in Kakashi's voice demanding absolute obedience.
Kakashi stepped closer, his tone remaining light, but now laced with a deliberate, chilling promise.
"Tomorrow," he announced, "we will begin with a survival exercise."
The word survival hung in the air, thick and ominous, lingering far longer than it should have.
Sakura blinked, her brow furrowing in genuine confusion. "Survival... exercise? But we did survival training at the Academy! We know how to pitch tents and forage!"
Beside her, Sasuke didn't react outwardly. His face remained a mask of stone, but his posture shifted. His attention sharpened to a razor's edge, his dark eyes narrowing just a fraction as his combat instincts flared to life.
Naruto remained perfectly still, his sky-blue eyes locked onto Kakashi, already calculating the variables of a live-combat scenario against a Jonin .
Kakashi let the silence build for a full, agonizing second—just long enough to ensure he had their complete, undivided dread.
"Oh, and one more thing," Kakashi added casually, turning his back to them as if he were simply mentioning the weather. "Don't eat breakfast tomorrow morning."
He looked back over his shoulder, his lone eye dark and serious.
"You'll throw it all up."
Sakura went completely pale, her hands dropping to her sides.
"Meet me right back here, at Training Ground Three," Kakashi commanded, his voice echoing across the clearing. "Six o'clock in the morning sharp. For the final test."
The time hit them like a physical blow. Early. Brutally, punishingly early.
"Anyway..." Kakashi offered a final, lazy wave, entirely dismissing their mounting anxiety. "Don't be late."
And with a swirl of leaves and a rush of wind, the Copy Ninja vanished, leaving his three deeply flawed, entirely unprepared Genin alone in the silence of the training ground.
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Author's notes :
An extra long chapter for the introductions
Give me stones
or at least comment
Thank you
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