Meeting Sasuke and Sakura for Real

At around 10:40 a.m.

On a large clearing with three stumps lined up that was a few dozens of meters away from a Kunai-shaped memorial stone for deceased shinobi. There was two teenagers that were standing near the stumps with black backpacks on their backs.

They were a handsome boy with black eyes, and spiky black hair with blue tint, and a beautiful girl with green eyes and long pink hair. They both seemed to have around 13 years old.

The boy was wearing a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar, a pair of white arm warmers, white shorts, and a pair of blue sandals. The boy had his hands in his pockets, and gave off a charismatic aura. He was Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor of his clan and this year number one rookie.

On the other hand, the girl was blushing non-stop and was trying very hard to create a sentence to communicate with Sasuke. It was bluntly clear that she was in love with the boy. The name of that beautiful young girl was Haruno Sakura.

She was one of the smartest ninja apprentices that managed to graduate this year. Also, her talent was not as high as the boy, but was still in the top ten among the twenty-seven graduates.

She wore a red qipao with a slit on both of its sides, a dark green, tight bike short and a pair of blue sandals. Both her and Sasuke wore a the forehead protector of Konoha, a ninja pouch on their waist and a shuriken holster on their right leg, more precisely on their shorts.

Suddenly, the attitude of Sakura changed and she had a displeased expression plastered on her face.

'Here comes Naruto!... I'm sure that he will be annoying me, try to pick a fight with Sasake again... Don't like this guy.... He even stole Sasuke's first kiss... My blood can't stop boiling every time that I think about that... Damn Naruto.'

Sasuke, on the other hand, didn't show any change in attitude and remained stoic. Naruto who was about fifty meters away, could not stop himself from smiling as he saw his two future teammates.

' To think that I would get the opportunity to meet Sasuke and Sakura today in flesh and bone... I will also be meeting with Hatake Kakashi in a few minutes.. This is the dream of every Naruto fan through the world.... '

"Good Morni-"

The greetings of Naruto was cut short by an irritated Sakura.

"Naruto, you idiot... Didn't Kakashi-sensei told us to come here at 9 o'clock... Why are you so late..."

"Sakura... You could have at least allowed me to greet everyone, don't you think... Also Kakashi-sensei is not here too... So, you have technically no reason to be angry, right..."

'Naruto is different today... He didn't listen to Sakura like a little puppy, but spoke his opinion... He is also dressed in a different style, though he is wearing his usual clothes and his forehead protector is tied around his neck.

He is even giving off a different vibe. Also what are those dark circles around his eyes.. If not for his special way of speaking, I would have thought that he was a different person.'

"Anyway, do you guys have any idea for tactics that we can use for the test... "

"Tactics!?.... We don't even have any idea, what the test will be about..."

"Not only Sakura... You too, Sasuke... Didn't guess the content of the test.. "

"What do you mean Naruto... Can you enlighten us?..."

The stoic Sasuke spoke for the first time, since Naruto came here, while Sakura stared daggers at Naruto. There was a bit of sarcasm in his voice. Naruto simply ignored them and started to them.

" Let me ask you guys a question... How do ninja normally perform mission according to our teaching in academy and through what we see on a daily baisis.."

" That's easy any one knows that ninja performed their missions alone or in teams that commonly consist at least of three-"

Both Sasuke and Sakura started at Naruto with their eyes wide open, and tge latter simply nodded.

"Do you get it now... The test will be testing our teamwork, so even if we don't know the exact content...

We can safely assume that Kakashi-sensei will be giving a test that will at first glance make us think that we are in competition with one another...

I think that just like you most of the other cadets overlook the fact that low rank Shinobi perform missions in teams, even though it is common knowledge."

"You... Are you really Naruto!?"

"Yeah! One and only Uzumaki Naruto at your service... Sasuke... It is just that I can't continue to play around like at the academy... I came that conclusion after think all the night... After all I have a big dream to achieve like you, so I had to change. "

Naruto stared at Sasuke as he pointed the dark circles underneath his eyes with his right index finger.

'Though these dark circles are because of the shadow clone technique that is still activated... As long as I can use that to convince this guy, it's fine to lie a little bit.'