The other day, I was really looking forward to going to class. My mother even surprised me at breakfast by asking me about it at the table.
"Wow, what's got you so excited? I've never seen you this excited about going to school..."
"Mom, today I'm going to become a real ninja, who wouldn't be excited? I replied.
"Right, I was pretty excited also when I became a genin back in the day, go on, son, you'll be late otherwise."
I quickly finished my breakfast and headed off to class.
When I got to the classroom, I could see a group of students gathered around something. As I made my way around the circle, I noticed Naruto right in front of Sasuke, staring at him and teasing him.
"Urgh" Naruto grumbled, looking at Sasuke with his eyes wide.
"Hey, Naruto, knock it off with the staring at Sasuke, okay?" Sakura told Naruto.
Naruto listened to Sakura but didn't say anything. He just kept looking at Sasuke, and the girls around him started complaining more.
I noticed the boy on Naruto's back looking back seeing Naruto and drawing the attention of his friends, who were talking to him on the side.
I saw that he had attracted the attention of his friends, probably causing trouble, so I quickly went to the open side of the two and stayed on guard.
When the boy pushed Naruto, I've acted.
*Smack!
I managed to get my hand between their kiss.
"Hey, Spiff... what did you done?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, that's gross" said Sasuke, not really caring.
"I'm sorry guys, I just wanted to avoid the worst" I said, trying to get out of the awkward situation.
They both looked at me for a moment, surprised that I had the speed to stop the awkward kiss.
"Naruto !"
Naruto looked in the direction of the sound and saw Iruka sensei.
"Get down from the table right now"
When his sensei started scolding him, Naruto got down from the table with his head down.
Once the students had calmed down, Iruka Sensei said.
"SILENCE !"
"As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you've had to go through many trials and challenges, but that's nothing compared to what's to come. What's to come will be much more difficult. You're still just Genin, so you'll all be grouped into teams of three and led by a Jounin, an elite ninja."
The room fell silent as everyone waited to find out which teams they would be in.
After a while, Iruka Sensei said.
"We have tried to make the teams as balanced as possible, the teams are..."
After the first teams were announced, Team 7 was revealed.
"Team 7: Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and..."
Sakura and Naruto's faces were filled with different emotions when they heard the names of their teams. Of all the people there, only Sasuke seemed to really care which team he was on.
"...Shin."
"What?" I thought to myself when I heard Iruka Sensei.
The room became quite lively and one voice stood out from the rest.
"Sensei, why are there four people in team 7?" The student asked.
"We only have an even number of students, so some groups would have to have an extra member or some teams would have fewer members, given the inherent dangers of being a ninja, we decided to go with a team of four students instead of reducing the strength of some teams, we think it's safer this way, but don't worry, Team 7, We chose your sensei very carefully to be able to deal with so many students" Iruka replied.
"This is the complete list of the teams and their mentors who will be introduced at a future orientation. I suggest that you use the day to get to know each other. You'll be working with these people for a long time, so it's important to get to know them, You're all free to go."
*Plim
While I was listening to Iruka Sensei's speech right after he finished, I got a notification from my system. I took the opportunity when the class was dismissed and the buzz in the room had started. I took a moment to close my eyes and check the system message.
------
[ Extra Mission ]
[ Gain the trust of your new teammates ]
[ Progress = 0/3 ]
[ Reward = 5 coins / 1 free attribute point ].
------
I was surprised to see the mission notification. This reward was really useful for the difficulty of the mission. I'd practically get two free points for eating and chatting. I was really excited until I heard this.
"Sasukee ! ! !"
When I opened my eyes, I saw Sakura trying to get Sasuke's attention, he was already on his way out of the room meanwhile, Naruto was still depressed at his desk, i didn't have much time to go after Sakura and Sasuke, so I decided to talk to Naruto about our team and try to gain his trust.
Naruto and I weren't close, so I tried to avoid any awkwardness by treating him like a colleague, i never treated him disrespectfully, but I always went along with what people expected from someone like Naruto, who was considered cursed, i never really understood why the villagers had such a negative view of Naruto.
Naruto was literally the receptacle that held the beast that ever attacked the village, if it wasn't for him, the beast would still be out there... that made me feel pretty sad.
I went over to Naruto and asked him.
"Hey Naruto, what do you think about our team ? We're pretty unique since we're the only four-member team!" I replied with a big smile on my face.
"Ahh Shin I was happy with our team, Sakura's on board, but... Sasuke too. I really don't like that guy. He's way too confident and I don't understand why girls find him attractive" Naruto said in a despondent tone.
To buy Naruto's trust I said.
"He thinks he's the best just because he's an Uchiha, relax, we'll make him look foolish on future missions, i'm sure of it"
Naruto looks at me a little confused for a moment, but then gives an optimistic smile and says out loud.
"Yeah, I'm not going to let that prick get ahead of us! We're going to be stronger and one day I'm going to become a Hokage, you'll see his face !" Said Naruto, climbing back onto the table.
I couldn't hide the smile on my face after Naruto's grimace, but as soon as he finished the sentence, everyone heard.
"NARUTO I ALREADY TOLD YOU!" Said Iruka sensei scolding.
"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry, Sensei" Naruto replied, squirming in his chair as everyone in the room laughed at the awkward situation.
When Naruto sat down, they could hear him.
*Plim!
I had just received a new message.
I took the opportunity to close my eyes and check my notifications while Naruto was busy dealing with the embarrassing situation. At first, there was nothing different except for the mission, which had the following information.
------
[ Extra Mission ]
[ Gain the trust of your new teammates ]
~[ Progress = 1/3 ]~
[ Reward = 5 coins / 1 free attribute point ]
------
After gaining Naruto's trust and making progress, I thought about the next step, which was to find Sasuke.
Sakura is only happy in Sasuke's presence, so making such a wish that would give me 2/3 progress would probably make Sasuke very angry, which would ruin my chances of completing this mission today.
So, Sasuke, I have to find you first.
"Hey, Naruto! I have to get home early to help my mom with some errands. She's going shopping and I promised to help her. Is that okay with you?" I asked.
"Uh... okay Shin go there" Naruto replied, still a little embarrassed.
//
Author note
If we hit 100 power stones by Saturday, I'll post 1 extra chapter
Chapter 12 is already released on Patreon!
p@treon.com/persima
Have some idea about my story ? Comment it and let me know.
Like it ? Add to the library.