Naruto withdrew his gaze from the unconscious Sound ninja trio and looked down at the Nine-Tails. "Wake them up for me. I want to make friends with them first."
The Nine-Tails immediately hopped down from Naruto's arms and approached Zaku. Then, without ceremony, he raised one paw and slapped the unconscious ninja hard across the face.
Naruto's expression: ???
Zaku sat up instantly with a sharp "Ouch!", his hand flying to his stinging cheek. He saw a small orange fox standing beside him. When he raised his hand instinctively to retaliate, Zaku caught himself and yelled, "Stop! I'm awake! I'm awake already!"
The Nine-Tails glanced at Zaku with something resembling satisfaction, then moved on to Dosu and Kin. He woke them using the same efficient method, one slap each.
"Naruto, I woke them up!" Kurama bounded back to Naruto happily, clearly expecting praise for a job well done.
The Sound ninja trio sat up slowly, looking at Naruto with expressions of pure dread. If they'd had the option, they would have hugged each other for comfort while trembling.
"Zaku, Dosu, Kin, good morning!" Naruto greeted all three with a bright, radiant smile. His expression shone like the morning sun, revealing a full set of neat, white teeth.
Greeting people properly was basic courtesy, after all.
"Naruto... good morning." The Sound trio mustered what courage they could, raised their heads to look at Naruto, and forced themselves to return his smile with frozen grins of their own.
In their minds, Naruto's cheerful smile at this moment probably looked no different from a demon's grin.
After the preliminary matches concluded, they'd decided to leave Konoha under cover of night. The plan had been to save their own flesh and blood from the inevitable beating that awaited them.
Once they'd made this decision, the three had waited until deep night when Konoha lay silent and everyone slept. They'd snuck out of the temporary guest quarters, intending to flee the village and return to their own homes.
After all, Orochimaru's invasion plan had been cancelled. They'd been notified of this change. Without any mission to complete, they had no reason to remain in Konoha and suffer.
When they'd reached the village entrance last night, they'd been only one step away from freedom. Joy had blossomed on their faces at the thought of escaping. But that happiness had lasted mere seconds before a small orange fox popped out from a nearby haystack, brandishing a brick. One by one, he'd knocked them all unconscious.
Now they'd woken to find Naruto's smiling face looming over them.
It didn't take much thought to realize Naruto had anticipated their escape attempt. Which meant this painful flesh-and-blood experience was completely inevitable.
Despair settled over the trio like a heavy blanket.
Seeing their expressions, Naruto's face immediately darkened. His features twisted into something genuinely ugly, and he spoke with deliberate emphasis on each word. "Zaku, Dosu, Kin. It seems like you don't actually want to be my friends?!"
Seeing Naruto's terrible expression, the three startled badly. They immediately forced their faces into bright smiles, speaking with artificial cheer. "No! Not at all! We're very willing to become friends with Naruto!"
"If that's true, then why did you try to sneak away last night?" Naruto didn't believe their obvious lies. Not unless they proved their sincerity through friendly discussion.
"Uh... well... Naruto, we suddenly received urgent news last night." Dosu's smile remained frozen on his face as he scrambled for an excuse. "There's an emergency situation back in our village, so we thought we'd return at night to handle it immediately."
His smiling expression had gone rigid and unnatural, but he couldn't stop smiling. If Naruto misunderstood and became unhappy, the beating afterward would probably be even worse.
Beside him, Zaku and Kin wore similarly frozen smiles.
If I keep smiling like this much longer, Zaku thought grimly, I could definitely get a job in customer service. I'd be able to smile all day without stopping.
"An urgent matter?" Naruto nodded, temporarily accepting this explanation. He continued, "Since there's urgent business, let's hurry up and complete the friendship process now. Zaku, Dosu, Kin, would you like to become my friends?"
"Yes! Absolutely yes!" All three spoke in perfect unison without a moment's hesitation.
They were terrified that if they delayed their agreement even slightly, they might receive an even worse beating. They couldn't afford to refuse, no matter how much they wanted to.
"I knew you wouldn't reject me." Seeing their agreement, Naruto's face brightened with genuine happiness. "Then let's begin verifying each other's sincerity."
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Forty-five minutes later, Zaku, Dosu, and Kin lay sprawled on the ground with thoroughly bruised and swollen faces. Yet despite their obvious pain, they kept smiling.
The extended duration required explanation. Normally, dividing the time equally among three people meant fifteen minutes each. Based on their strength level, Naruto could confirm their sincerity and officially establish friendship in about ten minutes per person.
However, because they'd rejected him twice—once in the Forest of Death, and again by attempting to flee last night—Naruto had decided to add an extra five minutes for each of them. This extension would properly demonstrate their commitment to friendship.
Five minutes was the absolute limit. If he added any more time, Naruto genuinely felt he might lose these three friends permanently.
While Naruto enthusiastically helped the Sound trio to their feet, the Nine-Tails sat atop a large boulder nearby. He'd crossed his legs casually and held a bag of melon seeds in his paws. Discarded shells littered the ground beneath him in a considerable pile.
Watching Naruto make friends was genuinely entertaining. The Nine-Tails looked thoroughly pleased with the morning's entertainment.
Naruto helped all three ninja stand, his voice warm and encouraging. "Zaku, Dosu, Kin, I've clearly seen your sincerity. Have you seen mine? If it's not enough, we can always add more time."
"Enough! It's enough! More than enough!" Hearing Naruto's offer, all three immediately waved their hands in panic. They spoke over each other frantically. "We've absolutely seen Naruto's sincerity! Crystal clear!"
Adding more time? If that happened, the three of them would probably turn to ash. Or die. Possibly both.
"Then we're friends now." Naruto extended his hand with a genuine smile. "Good friends. Forever."
"Good friends. Forever." The three exchanged glances, then reached out together. Their hands overlapped with Naruto's, and they forced smiles onto their battered faces.
Yes, their features were bruised and swollen beyond recognition. You could barely see their eyes through the swelling. But they smiled anyway, maintaining the atmosphere that friendship required.
"Oh, by the way!" Naruto suddenly remembered their earlier conversation. He looked at the three with concern. "Didn't you mention there was urgent business back in your village? If you need any help, please tell me. Friends don't need to be so formal with each other."
"Yes! Yes, there definitely is urgent business!" Dosu nodded quickly.
Although he'd been beaten and forced to become Naruto's friend, and although part of him desperately wanted to stay and watch Naruto beat up other people for entertainment, that simply wasn't an option. He'd specifically claimed urgent business as his excuse. If he now said there was nothing urgent after all, Naruto would definitely realize they'd lied to him. Then he'd beat them again for the deception.
Therefore, this particular show couldn't be witnessed. Painful as it was to miss.
Thinking this through, Dosu offered his farewells. "Naruto, I'm very glad to have you as a friend. I genuinely wish we could stay here longer, but the urgent matter in our village can't wait. We'll have to see you next time."
"Until next time, Naruto-kun." Kin and Zaku echoed the sentiment.
After speaking aloud, all three added silently in their hearts: Hopefully we never see Naruto again for the rest of our natural lives.
"That's fine, you should go handle your business." Naruto's response carried no hint of polite dismissal. He genuinely meant what he said next. "Next time, I'll come visit you in your village!"
He'd been planning this for quite some time, actually. Once he achieved complete unity of spirit, energy, and body, he would properly befriend the Third Hokage. Become friends across generations. Then befriend everyone in the entire village. After that? His ninja travel plan would begin in earnest.
The various ninja villages were absolute must-visit destinations.
After all, people from the same village were easier to befriend. They had common experiences and shared topics to discuss.
The Sound trio's internal reactions: Please don't! PLEASE DON'T EVER VISIT!
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