"Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke!"
Hearing his team assignment, Naruto's gaze flickered, landing on a boy in the front row clad in blue, a red-and-white fan emblem emblazoned on his back.
To use the girls' typical assessment, this boy was simply handsome.
However, from Naruto's male perspective, his evaluation was a single word: cocky.
For girls of this age, aloofness seemed to be a devastatingly effective weapon. Unquestionably, classmate Sasuke, while holding the title of their year's top student, also enjoyed the reputation of being the campus heartthrob.
"Yes!" Upon hearing she was teamed with her crush, Sakura shot up from her desk, her joy palpable.
"Why?!" In contrast, Ino's reaction was the polar opposite. She glanced at her own teammates – one sprawled out asleep on his desk, the other munching away furiously – and slammed her head onto her desk, mourning a love life that had ended before it even began.
All in all, the team assignments were a mixed bag of joy and sorrow.
After the assignments were announced, the students waited for their respective supervising instructors to lead them away and begin their proper shinobi training.
"Why isn't our teacher here yet?!" Sakura complained, though inwardly she was thrilled, her eyes darting constantly towards Sasuke at the next table. "Naruto, do you think our teacher got lost?"
Naruto, meditating in the last row, shook his head slightly. "Don't know."
"Ugh…" Sakura's mouth twitched. She'd known him for a while now, but she still couldn't quite get used to his temperament.
If you said he was indifferent to everything, well, he was the most enthusiastic one at their picnics. But if you said he was enthusiastic, then he seemed indifferent to everything else, like right now.
A very contradictory person – that was her assessment of him.
A long while later, just as Sakura was still racking her brains for ways to engage Sasuke in conversation, the long-awaited sound of the door opening finally came.
"Yo! I seem to have gotten lost on the road of life for a bit," a silver-haired man in a jonin uniform said as he walked in, greeting the three of them.
Sasuke: "…"
Naruto: "…"
Sakura managed a polite, albeit awkward, smile. "Hello, Sensei!"
[So, he's the source of that prying gaze I felt before…]
Naruto carefully observed the man who was still offering apologies.
Simultaneously, the silver-haired man was scrutinizing the three genin, sighing inwardly: Looks like an unlovable bunch of disciples.
On the rooftop of the Ninja Academy.
[Did this cheapskate teacher show up so late just so he could get this rooftop spot?!] Naruto speculated, though not with any real malice.
"Since we'll be working together from now on, let's start with some self-introductions. Your name, hobbies, dreams – anything goes," the silver-haired man said.
The three of them: "…"
"Ahem, let me start then." The silver-haired man coughed lightly. He retracted his earlier assessment; this was a very unlovable bunch of disciples. "My name is Hatake Kakashi…"
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto interjected suddenly.
"Er…" Kakashi had a thousand things he wanted to say, but for a moment, he didn't know where to begin.
"Please continue, Sensei. Naruto's usually like this," Sakura said with a polite smile, though she secretly gave Naruto a thumbs-up in her mind. Nice one, Naruto!
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have no hobbies. My dream is to kill a certain man." Sasuke's icy tone was laden with killing intent. It should have been an intimidating, awe-inspiring moment.
Little did anyone know the immense impact his cool demeanor was having on a certain young girl's impressionable heart.
[So cool!!] Sakura swooned internally.
Kakashi gently covered the small portion of his face that was visible. There are quite a few problem children here.
"My turn!" Sakura sat up straight. "My name is Haruno Sakura, and what I like is…"
"My hobbies are… and my dream is to…"
As she spoke, her eyes unconsciously drifted towards the cool-looking boy, her cheeks inexplicably flushing red. Who knew what mischievous thoughts were running through her head?
Witnessing this, Kakashi pressed his hand against his face a little harder. They're all problem children.
"Alright, that's about it. Meet at Training Ground Seven tomorrow morning," Kakashi said, getting up. Before his words had even faded, he had vanished.
"Sasuke, would you…" Sensing her chance, Sakura looked at Sasuke coyly.
"Oh, right. Friendly reminder: don't eat breakfast."
The vanished Kakashi suddenly reappeared.
If a heart breaking could make a sound, Sakura's would have been quite loud.
The next day.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and wisps of evening mist still clung to the pathways.
After a quick wash-up, Naruto retrieved a long, black cloth-wrapped object from under his bed. Unwrapping the cloth, he revealed a sheathed long sword.
With a slight push from his left thumb, the bone-white blade was slowly drawn. Its name was Kusabimaru, both its name and design modeled after the sword he had wielded in his previous life.
Originally, he had planned to earn the funds to forge a sword through ninja work after graduation.
But last October tenth, the old man who occasionally delivered his living expenses had suddenly asked him if there was anything he wanted.
Naruto had mentioned it casually, not expecting much, but the old man had actually had a Kusabimaru forged for him.
Though puzzled, the limitations of his current age made it difficult to dig deeper into such matters.
Training Ground Seven. The mist here was even thicker than in the village.
When he arrived, the training ground was still deserted, not a soul in sight.
*[Am I early…?] *Naruto thought. It didn't matter, though. This was his usual morning training time anyway. The only difference was perhaps the location.
To say he was 'training' was more like 'reviewing.'
His swordsmanship was learned from his adoptive father, Owl, and perfected under Isshin Ashina. The teachings of both men had benefited him greatly.
The Ashina Style, in particular, with its philosophy of adopting the best from a hundred different schools, had spurred the creation of his own sword style: Kanshin-ryu – the Way of the Focused Heart.
Kanshin-ryu originated with the sword but was not confined to it. He had also absorbed the fist techniques of Senpou Temple. The 'Kanshin' in the name signified the very essence of his will; anything he deemed useful could be absorbed and incorporated into it.
After a long while, the boy, endlessly swinging his blade, had cheeks faintly flushed with warmth. The moisture on his forehead was indiscernible – was it from the mist, or from his morning exertions?
"Naruto, how long have you been here?"
He stopped his blade, sheathed it, and turned. Looking at the two approaching figures, Naruto's expression was slightly odd. Kids in this world mature so fast? If I remember correctly, they should be about my age…
"Not long."
Sakura nodded, then turned her face towards her heartthrob. "Sasuke-kun, let's go rest over there."
"No." Sasuke silently walked to a spot nearby and began his own morning training.
He had never beaten Sakura in theoretical scores, nor had he ever bested Naruto in practical combat training.
Being less skilled wasn't terrifying. What was terrifying was being less skilled and still making excuses. Sasuke glanced at a patch of damp ground not far from Naruto. He probably started training right after leaving home.
He was proud, and he had reason to be: a prodigy of the Uchiha clan, the top student of his year – all were sources of his pride. But pride never meant arrogance.
If, with equal effort, one still lost to another, it could be attributed to a lack of talent. But to lose because one's effort didn't measure up to another's – that was nothing more than a normal, expected outcome.
Before this, after losing to Naruto several times, he had entertained the thought that his own talent was inferior. But now, he understood.
His efforts were still not enough.
[Damn it all…]
Watching the two of them engrossed in their training, Sakura didn't know whether to sit or stand.
She had spent all morning meticulously getting ready, waiting for so long on Sasuke's usual route, all for the chance to walk with him. Although she'd done all the talking on the way here, at least there had been some progress.
How had the atmosphere changed so drastically once they reached the training ground?
Watching the two of them train so seriously, she felt like a complete outsider. She wanted to train with Sasuke too, but she worried about getting sweaty and being disliked by him. Besides, her makeup would be ruined, and then she wouldn't look good.