Sakura's harsh attitude toward Naruto didn't surprise Sasuke at all.
Even though Sakura usually kept up appearances, the truth was, Naruto had done something pretty awful in the manga's storyline—he had used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into Sasuke and trick Sakura into giving him a kiss. No matter the era, that was seriously creepy and disgusting, something you'd blacklist a person for life over.
Maybe Naruto thought it was just a prank, but "pranks" are only funny when both sides find them amusing. Otherwise, it's just one-sided hurt.
...
Time passed. Other graduates were gradually picked up by their assigned jonin instructors, but Team 7's jonin still hadn't shown up.
In the classroom, only Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura remained. Each kept their distance, acting like total strangers. The awkward atmosphere grew heavier by the minute.
Naruto tried to lighten the mood, but he wasn't exactly smooth and had no real idea how to go about it. So, like always, he tried to break the ice with another prank.
Grinning mischievously, Naruto wedged an eraser between the half-open door. Sakura noticed but didn't stop him. After all, she was still sore from being the last victim of one of his so-called "pranks." Her mood worsened immediately.
Thinking about the hints Ino had dropped earlier, Sakura forced herself to suppress her anger. Maybe Naruto's background was more complicated than it seemed, so—for now—she had to grit her teeth and put up with his behavior.
Still, calling Naruto's behavior "problematic" wasn't wrong. Skipping class, bad grades, sleeping through lessons—those were minor things. But defacing the Hokage Rock? That was sacrilege!
The Hokage Rock was like Konoha's "national flag." And Naruto had vandalized it like it was nothing. How could he expect people to see him in a better light after that?
And then there was the graduation exam. Naruto had failed it—blatantly—but showed up the next day wearing a forehead protector like he owned the place. Sakura couldn't understand what there was to be proud of about backdooring his way into becoming a ninja.
And recently, he'd used Sasuke's face to trick her. After that stunt, any remaining shred of good impression Sakura might've had of Naruto had completely shattered.
Meanwhile, Sasuke, indifferent to the tension, was busy communicating with the "shadow," planning the complete destruction of Konoha from its very roots.
Naruto stood behind the door, eagerly waiting. But the only audience for his little solo act was himself.
Finally, the door creaked open. In walked a silver-haired man wearing a mask. The eraser fell straight onto his head, bursting into a cloud of chalk dust.
"HAHAHAHA! Got him!" Naruto pointed and laughed loudly.
Sakura watched coldly from the side, thinking to herself:
Any jonin who can get tricked by Naruto... probably isn't someone you can rely on.
Sasuke just narrowed his eyes in confusion. As a jonin, shouldn't Kakashi have easily dodged that? Was he just humoring Naruto?
Kakashi, looking utterly lazy, scratched his masked chin and said,
"How should I put it... my first impression of you guys? You're a bunch of trouble."
Without waiting for a reaction, he added, "Follow me," and turned, leading them up to the rooftop.
Standing in front of them, Kakashi said,
"Let's start with introductions. Like... your likes, dislikes, hobbies, that kind of stuff."
"Aren't you supposed to go first, sensei? Right, Sakura-chan?" Naruto grinned eagerly, but Sakura ignored him completely, and his excitement immediately deflated.
Kakashi, for his part, launched into a long-winded speech that said absolutely nothing useful. Other than his name, he revealed nothing.
"Alright, your turn," he said lazily.
Naruto scratched the forehead protector on his head.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like cup ramen. I hate waiting three minutes for it to cook. My dream is..." He glanced at Sakura, then added seriously, "...to get everyone in the village to acknowledge me. As for my hobby, uh... pranks, I guess."
Kakashi's eyes shifted to Sasuke.
Calmly, Sasuke said, "My first goal is almost complete. I haven't decided on my next one yet."
"What the heck, you basically said nothing!" Naruto grumbled.
Kakashi stared at Sasuke for a long moment, a flicker of something—confusion, maybe—passing through his eye.
Finally, it was Sakura's turn. Having long ago been rejected by Sasuke, she kept it simple:
"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like my long hair. My dream is to become a capable kunoichi."
"What a half-hearted bunch," Kakashi muttered under his breath.
...
"Starting tomorrow, you'll begin missions," Kakashi announced. "First, we're doing a survival exercise. It's pretty brutal. Only nine out of twenty-seven graduates pass each year—the rest get sent back to the Academy for extra training."
Naruto's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me?! I worked so hard to graduate! Why even have a graduation exam, then?!"
Kakashi gave them a wicked grin.
"Be sure to bring all your ninja tools tomorrow—and don't be late. Oh, and don't eat breakfast... you'll just end up throwing it up."
...
The next morning, Team 7 arrived at the training ground on time—but there was no sign of Kakashi.
Time dragged on. Still, no one came.
Finally, Sasuke stood up, dusted himself off, and said,
"What a waste of my time."
"Sasuke-kun, where are you going?!"
"You idiot! What if you make us all fail and have to redo school?!"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto coolly. "Relax. No one's going to dare send you back to the Academy."
Naruto blinked in confusion, but Sakura paused, catching the subtle implication in Sasuke's words.
Whatever his reasons, Sasuke had no intention of wasting another second waiting around for Kakashi. He was already an enemy of Konoha in his heart; the sooner he severed ties, the better. There was no point pretending to care about "teacher-student bonds"—especially with someone like Kakashi, whom he didn't like to begin with.
As Sasuke's back receded into the distance, Naruto yelled after him,
"Hey! You're gonna regret it if you leave!"
Sakura glanced at Sasuke's retreating figure, then at Naruto... and calmly turned to leave the training ground herself.
"Sakura-chan, you too?!" Naruto reached out instinctively, but Sakura didn't even glance back.
Left alone, Naruto's face twisted into a look of pure, miserable frustration.
"Dammit! Why does everyone treat me like this?!"
He flopped down onto the ground, staring up at the gloomy sky. The sun, tinged orange by the clouds, bathed his face in its light.
Before long, Naruto bounced back to his feet, his usual energy surging back.
"Tch! I'm gonna be the Hokage, believe it! Like hell I'm gonna let something like this get me down! Someday, I'll get Sakura-chan—and everyone in the village—to recognize me!"
Naruto ran off, full of determination. A light breeze stirred the fallen leaves, and somewhere, a crow with glowing red eyes flitted past the sky.
By the time Kakashi, lost in his own crossroads of life, finally arrived at the training ground, it was completely deserted.
With only his uncovered dead-fish eye visible, Kakashi stared out at the empty field and murmured blandly,
"What a bunch of troublesome ....."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+60 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo