'That must be Konohamaru's doing again,'
Naruto thought with a chuckle.
He approached the box, pointed at it, and said in a teasing tone,
"Hey, Konohamaru! Your disguise is terrible! Where did you find a perfectly square rock with two small peepholes in it? Too obvious, you know!"
A familiar little boy's voice came from inside the box,
"Heh! You're indeed worthy of being my chosen big brother, Boss Naruto! And of course, worthy of being my matched rival!"
Immediately after, the strange rock exploded with a 'POOF!' sound, creating a cloud of dust and thick smoke that billowed into the air.
In the midst of the smoke, three small figures were vaguely visible, coughing continuously from inhaling too much smoke.
"Cough, cough, cough! It seems we used too much gunpowder this time, Konohamaru-kun!" one of the tiny voices complained between coughs.
"Quiet, Udon! This is all part of the dramatic effect for our cool appearance!" replied another voice, just as small.
As the thick smoke gradually cleared, Naruto and Sakura could finally see the scene clearly.
It turned out that the people standing there were three very familiar little ninja candidates from Konoha Village – Moegi, Udon, and of course, Konohamaru Sarutobi, the grandson of the Third Hokage.
Currently, they were all covered in dust and dirt from the explosion, but they held back their coughs, trying to stand tall, and posed in various styles they considered the coolest and most impressive.
Moegi, with her orange twin-pigtail hair, placed both hands on her hips confidently and said in a high-pitched, childlike voice, "Alluring Adult Kunoichi Charm! - Moegi is here!"
Udon, with his round glasses slightly askew, pushed them up with a serious detective-like gesture and announced loudly, "I am Udon! The team's best data analyst and strategist!"
Finally, Konohamaru, with his signature long blue scarf wrapped around his neck, proudly lifted his head high and shouted in the loudest voice among them:
"The strongest genius ninja in the village, future Hokage, Konohamaru! And the three of us are collectively known as the Invincible Konohamaru Detective Squad! Come on, Naruto-niichan! Join us on a super-secret investigation mission today!"
Seeing their cute and adorable appearance, though a bit messy from the dust, Naruto and Sakura couldn't help but exchange amused smiles, with helpless yet warm expressions on their faces.
Naruto walked closer, gently ruffling Konohamaru's hair, and said with an amused smile:
"You guys... you're always up to something every day."
Konohamaru immediately surrounded Naruto enthusiastically, tugging at the hem of Naruto's orange jacket and acting spoiled.
"Play with us from now on! There's a big case we have to solve!"
Well, somehow from there, things got a bit strange and awkward.
Konohamaru, in his innocence, asked if Naruto was Sakura's boyfriend.
Naruto, with a mischievous grin, hinted at a "yes," which, of course, immediately made Sakura furious.
She reflexively hit Naruto and Konohamaru on their heads until they had bumps.
The kids and a pained Naruto ran helter-skelter in fear, chased by Sakura who threatened to give them an extra lesson.
In his escape, Konohamaru accidentally bumped into a fierce-looking Genin from Sunagakure dressed all in black with purple face paint, named Kankuro.
An annoyed Kankuro was about to hit Konohamaru if Sasuke hadn't suddenly appeared and thrown a stone at Kankuro's hand, stopping him.
The situation became tense until finally, a red-haired boy with cold eyes carrying a large gourd on his back, named Gaara, arrived.
With him was also a blonde-haired girl with a large fan, Temari.
"Yes, we are Genin candidates from the Village Hidden in the Sand,"
Temari answered Sasuke's question about their identity with a slightly haughty tone.
She held up a certificate and showed it to Sasuke.
"These are our exam passes. Are you from Konoha also participating in the Chunin Exams this time?"
"Chunin Exams?"
Sasuke muttered, slightly interested.
"Yes, we will also take this exam, if there is one."
Sasuke's mouth curved slightly into a thin smirk.
"Hey, what's your name, you with the big gourd on your back!" he asked Gaara directly.
"I... am Sabaku no Gaara..."
Gaara turned slowly and stared deeply at Sasuke with his emotionless green eyes.
"I am also interested in you. What is your name?"
Sasuke smiled faintly, sensing a different aura of strength from Gaara.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke!"
Gaara nodded slightly, as if committing the name to memory, then turned and left with Kankuro and Temari.
"Hey! Wait a minute! Why didn't you ask for my name too?!"
Naruto suddenly shouted, feeling ignored.
"I'm much stronger than Sasuke, you know! Really! Hey! Turn around and fight me!"
This was Naruto's confident yet slightly desperate voice.
Gaara paused for a moment without turning.
"...I'm not interested in noisy fools!" he said in a cold, flat voice, then continued on his way.
Sakura and Naruto, hearing that, were instantly stunned and stared at each other in silence: "..."
'I'm so great, why do I always lose out to Sasuke and am always considered a fool...'
Naruto muttered to himself in frustration, his shoulders slumped.
"Sakura,"
Sasuke turned and asked Sakura, whom he thought must know many things due to her reputation as the smartest student in the academy.
"What's going on with those Chunin Exams? I've never heard of them."
Sakura tapped her red lips with her index finger, thinking for a moment to formulate an easily understandable explanation.
Then she said,
"Simply put, the Chunin Exam is a major test held periodically to select and promote Genin who are deemed worthy of becoming Chunin. This exam will generally be divided into several stages, usually there's a team competition and then individual battles."
She continued,
"Those who show outstanding performance and successfully pass all stages will be promoted to Chunin! Besides Genin from Konoha, other major ninja villages like Suna will also send their best Genin representatives to participate in this exam. So, there will be many strong people participating in the exam every year! And reportedly, this exam will be watched by many important people. So, you could say this competition is very formal and prestigious!"
"Individual battles?"
Naruto interjected with great curiosity, forgetting his annoyance at Gaara for a moment.
"Does that mean people in the same group can also meet and fight each other, Sakura-chan?"
"Yes, that's right, Naruto!" Sakura nodded with a smile. "And usually, the individual competition will adopt a knockout system! So, only the strongest will advance!"
Sasuke's eyes sparkled upon hearing the explanation.
"In other words," he said with a tone full of anticipation,
"as long as we keep winning in each stage, I will definitely have a chance to meet and fight with you and also Naruto in the individual rounds, is that right, Sakura?"
Sakura nodded again.
"The possibility is very high."
"Hmph. Finally, I can see how strong you two really are..."
Sasuke looked at Sakura and Naruto with an intimidating, challenging gaze, then said slowly,
"Sakura! Naruto! I've wanted to fight seriously with both of you for a long time! Don't you dare lose before meeting me in the final rounds!"
Naruto was stunned to hear that.
This was the first time he had seen Sasuke openly express his desire to fight him so seriously!
'Sasuke... are you finally starting to acknowledge me as your worthy rival...'
Naruto felt a strange warmth spreading in his heart!
"Hmph, don't worry, Teme!"
Naruto said with a confident smile, clenching his fist.
"I won't lose before meeting you and Sakura-chan too!"
Sakura chuckled softly seeing the competitive spirit of her two teammates.
"You two!" Sakura said, shaking her head, but with an amused smile on her face.
"So arrogant. You don't even know what strong opponents you'll face later in the exam, yet you already dare to say that you'll definitely win! But, I must admit..."
she looked at Sasuke, then Naruto, "...I've also always wanted to see the full power of your Sharingan, Sasuke-kun. And also your true hidden strength, Naruto!"
"This Chunin Exam... seems like it will be even more interesting!" Sasuke couldn't suppress his joy and enthusiasm at the thought of competing with so many strong opponents from various villages! This was a golden opportunity to test his abilities.
"By the way, Sasuke-kun," Sakura asked, remembering Naruto's earlier invitation.
"Are you really not going to join us for the ramen dinner party at Ichiraku?"
"...I have something to do. I'm going home first! Goodbye!"
Sasuke answered briefly, then turned and left just like that, leaving Naruto and Sakura.
For some reason, Sakura realized that her feelings for Sasuke were no longer as intense and fervent as they used to be when she was still a blind fangirl.
She was also confused by this change.
Before, she had always felt she liked Sasuke very much; every action seemed to be just to attract Sasuke's attention.
But it seemed this change was also a good thing.
So, she could focus more on developing herself into a stronger and more independent Kunoichi.
It was just... why did the System always give her missions related to getting closer to Naruto?!
That was still a mystery to her.
Sakura could only sigh deeply, then turned to Naruto who was still looking at her expectantly.
"Alright, Naruto. Let's go to Ichiraku. I'm hungry too."
Naruto immediately cheered joyfully.
"Yosh! Let's go, Sakura-chan!"
And the two of them walked side by side towards Ichiraku ramen shop, leaving long shadows under the warm afternoon sun of Konoha.