An unexpected team configuration.
Four people in one squad.
Menma was at a loss for words, and so were the rest of the students. In their understanding, a graduating squad was supposed to be three Genin and one Jōnin leader, right?
Where did this four-person squad come from?
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise as they looked back and forth between Menma, Sasuke, and Naruto.
Even Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, surprised.
As for the usually invisible Sakura Haruno? The moment she heard the assignment, she let out an involuntary cheer.
"YAY!!!"
Being on the same team as her beloved Sasuke was already a dream come true. But to also have Naruto, the Hokage's son, and Menma, the eternal top student, as teammates?
Sakura had every reason to be ecstatic.
But her cheer drew countless envious and jealous glares from the rest of the class—mostly girls, but some boys too. After all, who wouldn't want to be on a team with the top performers?
Sensing the "hostility" directed at her, Sakura shrank her neck, gave an awkward but polite smile, sat back down, and shut her mouth tight.
She had no doubt that if she gloated any further, these lemon-eating classmates would jump her.
Don't look at me, don't look at me...
She muttered to herself, trying to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich.
After a moment of surprise, Naruto and Sasuke looked at Menma, a different light in their eyes.
"Whoa! We're on the same team! Sasuke, Menma, and Sakura-chan! Let's do our best together!"
Naruto flashed a bright, sunny smile and gave a thumbs-up to his new teammates.
In this life, due to his different upbringing and status, Naruto wasn't crazily obsessed with Sakura like in the original. His relationship with Hinata was also N-times better.
A shared traumatic childhood experience (the kidnapping incident) had led to a different outcome.
Most importantly, as the Fourth's son, the Hyūga Clan had no reason to oppose a relationship between Hinata and Naruto.
So, the two were quite close.
However, Naruto's nature meant he still had a fairly high opinion of Sakura.
"That's not fair, Iruka-sensei!"
"Why do Menma-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Master Naruto get to be on the same team?!"
"Ahhh! I can't accept this!"
"Sensei! This isn't scientific! And it's a four-person squad!"
"Sensei, say something!"
After the initial shock wore off, the classroom erupted.
Thanks to Iruka's gentle nature, the students felt free to voice their complaints. They might have been okay with a four-person squad, but having the top three students all on one team?
Menma and Sasuke were the permanent top two.
Naruto, despite being dragged down by theory, was solidly in the top five.
Who could accept such a stacked team?
Unless they were swapped into it, of course. The more they thought about it, the more resentment they felt toward Sakura.
The "Pink Pepper" was practically shivering under the weight of their envy.
"Ahem! Quiet down! Quiet down!"
Iruka coughed loudly and slapped the podium—not too hard, but firmly enough to get their attention.
"The assignment for Team 7 was personally arranged by Lord Hokage. So stop arguing."
"Ehhhh?!"
"Lord Hokage arranged it personally?"
"No way!"
"Actually, that makes sense. It is Sasuke-kun, Menma-kun, and Master Naruto, after all."
"Ahhhh! I still can't accept it!!!!"
"Then why does Sakura Haruno get to be in it?!"
"Argh! I don't get it!"
Unexpected, yet logical.
After his initial shock, Menma calmed down.
Should he marvel at the powerful inertia of the plot?
Or should he be impressed that the Third Hokage could pull this off?
It was a reasonable assignment. As mentioned before, if you had to pick a young Jōnin in the current Hidden Leaf suitable to lead these three, it had to be Kakashi Hatake!
Anyone else would have issues or shortcomings.
Only Kakashi was suitable—perhaps the only suitable choice!
So this is the arrangement? Well, it doesn't matter.
Menma sighed internally. Outwardly, he gave a calm nod to Naruto and glanced at Sasuke, who had also turned to look at him.
Noticing Menma's gaze, the Young Master Uchiha huffed lightly, turned his head back, and presented the back of his head to Menma.
Menma found it amusing.
Sasuke really was born with the tsundere attribute.
Regardless of the howling from the other students, the four-person Team 7 was a done deal.
Iruka put on his stern teacher face and suppressed the unrest; otherwise, they would have argued all day. He knew that from experience.
"Team 8: Hinata Hyūga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame."
"Team 9..."
"Team 10: Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Chōji Akimichi!"
After Team 7, there were no more surprises. Aside from Menma's seemingly intrusive addition, everything else mirrored the original story perfectly.
"That concludes the team assignments. Everyone has been called. Now, wait here for your Jōnin sensei to arrive. Finally, I wish you all good fortune in your ninja careers."
Iruka took one last, deep look at the dozens of students he had taught for six years—including Menma—then turned and strode out of the lecture hall.
Not long after Iruka left...
Ninjas wearing the standard Leaf flak jackets began to file in, calling out for their assigned teams one by one.
"Team 1, follow me."
"Team 3."
"Team 11."
"Team 5."
The graduates called out stood up and followed their new sensei out of the room.
The number of students dwindled rapidly.
Finally.
When the bearded Asuma and the young Kurenai Yuhi arrived together to take away Team 10 and Team 8...
The large classroom was empty except for four people: Menma, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.