Naruto regretted his words the second they left his mouth. Sakura's response caught him completely off guard.
She tugged her pants down without a second thought, slipping a hand inside as she glanced down to check.
'I think I got some dirt in my eyes!' Naruto immediately looks up, 'The moon looks weird today...'
"Damn, you scared me half to death. I really thought I'd turned into a boy." Sakura patted her flat chest, her voice still trembling.
Naruto just stared, speechless.
Kurama erupted in laughter inside his head. "Hahaha, you little punk, karma's a bitch, isn't it?"
But the fox's glee didn't last. A moment later, even he went quiet.
'Hey, big fox, what's got you cracking up?' In the seal's vast space, Kid Goku tilted his head, eyeing Kurama with pure confusion. "You look pretty fired up. Wanna go a few rounds?"
Kurama crossed his arms in defense moving away slowly. "Think I'll sit this one out."
Kid Goku paused, then lit up. "I could take you down with one hand!"
Kurama's voice boomed through the space, thick with arrogance. "Today I'll show you what it means to be the First of the Nine‑Tailed Beasts!"
"Thanks for getting me out of there," Sakura said, clenching her small fist with a fierce glare, "but pull a stunt like that again, and I'll pound you into the ground."
"Got it, Sakura-bro. All good, Sakura-bro."
Sakura snapped, "Naruto Uzumaki, you damn-"
"You're being way too loud." The door to the next room swung open, and Sasuke stepped out, blinking away the remnants of sleep.
Before anyone could react, Sakura pulled another unexpected move. She grabbed Sasuke by the collar and planted a solid kiss on his cheek. The surprise left him frozen in place.
She gave his shoulder a pat, sounding almost worldly. "Not bad at all. Keep it up."
"Hehehe... I've been waiting forever to do that," she whispered, thinking she was being quiet.
Naruto caught it clear as day. In his mind: Konoha's ultimate wildcard ninja, title bestowed.
--**--**
Team 7 wrapped up their missions with such efficiency that new C-rank assignments piled up almost immediately.
For genin handling C-ranks, the toughest foes were usually just rogue ninja or common bandits. Without fail, Sakura took the lead on every single one.
That even included some fool who called himself 'The Bandit King', she dropped him in a single move.
Ever since that inner shift, her strength had surged ahead. She'd seen how much Sasuke took to his spiked club, and it sparked her own obsession with the flail.
As Sakura put it, the two weapons paired up like they were meant to be. That way, she could keep Sasuke right in her sights, no slipping away.
Pure brute force-that was her reputation now.
"She's like night and day from before," Kakashi muttered. "Still the same girl with her crush, but the drive... it's on another level. Did she get... stimulated during the Land of Waves battle?"
"It's a good thing, I guess."
The team's usual slacker had lapsed back into his lazy routine. As jonin lead, Kakashi didn't mind lightening the load, bit by bit.
Days blurred into one another.
While Team 7 churned through C-ranks back in Konoha, things moved fast elsewhere.
In the Land of Demons, with help from Izumi and Inabi, the shrine maiden finally brought down the freed Moryo and locked it away in the Box of Ultimate Bliss. The shipping Company they'd taken over in the Land of Waves expanded quickly, backed by the Fuma Clan's resources. They snapped up most of the shinobi world's sea trade routes in no time, funneling money and supplies straight to the Land of Snow for churning out chakra armor on a massive scale.
It wasn't long before the Land of Bears, and even Hoshigakure, came under Uchiha influence.
These out-of-the-way nations sat up in the frozen north, far from any major villages, so news traveled slow. The five great powers hadn't caught wind of a thing.
Iwagakure stayed quiet after Onoki clamped down on leaks, though they'd been leaning harder into ties with Akatsuki.
Kumogakure's ninja scoured the world for "Kashin Koji" who'd raided their graveyard and snatched the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.
Sunagakure, meanwhile, had been getting chummy with Otogakure's bunch, who could say what scheme they were brewing.
On a rare day off, both Team 7 and Team 8 found themselves without missions. Naruto asked Hinata to walk a quiet path in the forest. "So why'd you two have to crash this one chance for a real date?"
Sasuke and Sakura trailed close behind, or more precisely, Sakura hoped for some time alone with Sasuke, while he itched to pull Naruto aside for extra training. Naruto, though, wanted nothing more than his walk with Hinata. Sasuke figured he'd wait them out, then drag Naruto off once they wrapped up.
Karin was off on Root mission, so she couldn't join.
"Hey, brat!" A gruff shout cut through from the path ahead. "What do you say when you bump into someone? Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"
The guy wore a sleek black jumpsuit, his face smeared with wild camouflage paint, his build on the stocky side. He hoisted a shorter boy up by one hand. Next to him stood a blonde girl with a fan almost as tall as she was strapped to her back.
Naruto recognized the boy instantly, Konohamaru, the Third Hokage's grandson.
And the other one? The Kazekage's eldest, Kankuro.
'Hahaha! the Kazekage's son is beating up the Hokage's grandson.'
'Talk about timing.' Naruto eyed the scene, his gaze flicking to the big tree by the road. 'If it weren't for those ANBU lurking around...'
A grandson of the Hokage wouldn't go unprotected. The ANBU were there, just hanging back, watching.
'Waiting for someone to jump in? Like me?'
'Fine then...'
"Hey Fatass, put him down!"
The hot‑tempered girl sprinted forward, faster than Naruto could react.
"Are all Konoha ninja this rude?"
The fatass jab lit a fire under Kankuro.
*Pa!*
A pebble zipped out of nowhere, smacking Kankuro's wrist dead-on. His right hand went numb, and Konohamaru dropped free.
"Village. Not. Release. Hn." Sasuke had appeared on a branch, casually flicking two pebbles between his fingers.
'Here comes the showboat, trying hard to look cool.' Naruto thought, rolling his eyes.
"What he means-"
"I got it!" Sakura jumped in before Naruto could explain, thrusting a fist up like she'd won something. "Sasuke means if you don't step away from that kid, he'll boot your sorry ass into next week. And in front of the lovely, graceful Sakura, he'll strike a cool pose and ride off into the sunset for the perfect date."
How'd she squeeze all that out of three words? And Sasuke's in sandals, not boots, not to mention that last part's pure invention.
Naruto shook his head, "What he really meant is, don't get arrogant in someone else's village and release the kid."
Sasuke nodded, backing it up.
Sakura crossed her arms with a pout. "Tch, figures."
"Annoying prick." Kankuro glared at Sasuke, unwrapping the bandages from his back as he grumbled. "I'll teach you a proper lesson."
Temari cut in quick. "Wait, you planning to using Crow in the middle of this?"
Sasuke's eyes sharpened, his chakra flaring without warning. Both Temari and Kankuro braced for an attack.
"Stand. Move. Kill."
Naruto chimed in, "What he means is, if anyone moves a muscle, I'll kill them."
--**--**
(E/N: For those doubting Sasuke acting like this, Sasuke's whole character is based off on trying to act cool and edgy. You could totally expect him to act like this before Chunin exams and also expect him to cringe about it later.)
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