Chapter 12: Team Assignments
"Hm?"
While lost in thought, Naruto suddenly noticed a strange-looking section of wall ahead, with a pair of small feet sticking out from the bottom.
"Konohamaru, come out."
"As expected of Big Brother Naruto! Even my flawless stealth technique was seen through!"
"..."
Naruto was speechless. Any normal person could see through that disguise.
Konohamaru dropped his camouflage and looked at Naruto with pure admiration. "Big Brother, teach me ninjutsu today too! I want to become as strong as you soon!"
"Today?"
Naruto remembered he had team assignments in the morning and would be waiting for his jonin instructor in the afternoon. He only had time around noon and in the evening.
"If you treat me to a big meal at lunch, I can consider giving you some guidance tonight," Naruto said after thinking for a moment.
"Really?!"
"Then it's a deal!"
Konohamaru replied excitedly.
"Alright. Meet me at the school gate at noon. I have to get to the academy for team assignments now — I've got less than ten minutes. I'm leaving first, Konohamaru!"
"Yata Mirror!"
Naruto formed a circle with his hands. A golden mirror of light appeared at the center, shooting out beams that reflected and created a pathway of light.
He moved along the light trails at incredible speed and vanished from the spot in an instant.
Konohamaru only saw golden flashes reflecting off the windows of nearby buildings before both Naruto and the light disappeared. His eyes were filled with envy.
"So cool~"
"It's a shame Big Brother says I can't learn this technique."
He felt a little down for a moment, but quickly cheered up again.
"Even if I can't be as cool as Big Brother, he said the Seduction Technique and its upgraded version can defeat every man in Konoha!"
"As long as I master those two techniques, I, Konohamaru, can still become the strongest ninja in the village!"
...
It only took Naruto a few seconds to travel several streets and arrive at the Ninja Academy.
When he entered the classroom, most seats were already taken. He scanned the room — these classmates felt both familiar and completely foreign to him.
In a way, he had only seen them once before.
"Naruto? What are you doing here? Today's briefing is only for graduates," Shikamaru asked, looking puzzled when he saw him.
"Shikamaru?" Naruto stared at the boy with the ponytail and asked back.
"Huh? Yeah, it's me. What's wrong? You don't even recognize me?" Shikamaru looked surprised.
"It's nothing."
Naruto replied expressionlessly and walked past him to find a random seat.
To avoid getting involved in any drama between Sakura and Sasuke, he deliberately chose a seat far away from Sasuke. Although he had no memories of him, he still recognized Sasuke's appearance from the graduation exam day.
"What a weird guy," Shikamaru muttered, scratching his cheek, then returned to his own seat.
After a while, loud noise came from the doorway.
Naruto saw a pink-haired girl in a red outfit and a blonde girl in a purple outfit hurriedly squeezing into the classroom.
"Made it!"
"Made it!"
Both girls shouted at the same time, then stood there panting heavily.
They looked exhausted.
"I won again, Sakura!"
"What are you talking about? My foot clearly entered the classroom one centimeter ahead of yours!"
"No way! Are you blind?!"
...
"So noisy."
Naruto glanced at the two girls and quickly looked away.
Compared to the rest of the class, Sakura and Ino were indeed attractive. But their personalities were far from feminine.
If he had any choice in teammates, he would have preferred to swap Sakura out.
While Sakura and Ino were arguing, they suddenly spotted Sasuke and immediately rushed over.
"G-good morning, Sasuke-kun~"
"Can I sit next to you, Sasuke~?"
"Hey! The seat next to Sasuke should be mine!"
"First come, first served, right?"
"I entered the classroom first!"
"No, it was me!"
"I want to sit next to Sasuke!"
...
Watching a group of girls suddenly stand up and fight over the seat beside Sasuke, Naruto felt utterly speechless.
"So damn loud."
He turned his head away, only to meet a pair of shy eyes staring at him.
"G-good morning, Naruto-kun~"
Hinata's face was flushed red as she looked at him timidly.
Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly.
White eyes, short hair.
"Hinata?"
"Y-yes!"
He hadn't even noticed when Hinata had sat down next to him.
"Don't be so nervous. Good morning."
"Y-yes, Naruto-kun~"
Hinata's face grew even redder as she continued stealing glances at him.
Naruto-kun is so gentle~
Compared to Sakura and Ino, Hinata's gentle personality was much more likable. At least being around her felt comfortable.
Girls like Sakura and Ino were troublesome whether they liked you or hated you. If they liked you, they were noisy all day. If they hated you, they could say the cruelest things.
Naruto still remembered Sakura had more than once said hurtful words — including mocking another orphan in front of an orphan about not having parents.
As for Ino, she was slightly less annoying than Sakura, probably because she had less screen time in the original story. Still, the two had similar personalities, which explained why they could be best friends.
In short, Naruto didn't particularly like either of them. His first impression was quite poor.
At that moment, Iruka entered the classroom. The girls quickly sat down and stopped fighting over Sasuke's seat.
"Congratulations! Starting today, you are all official ninjas! However, you are still only rookie Genin. Your real test has just begun!"
"From now on, you will be divided into teams of three and assigned to a jonin instructor to carry out missions!"
"To balance the strength of each team, the assignments will be decided by the teachers!"
"First team…"
The earlier teams were grouped with students of similar skill levels.
Until—
"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke!"
Hearing the lineup, Naruto let out a dry laugh.
Balanced strength?
Do the three of us look balanced to you?
This was clearly rigged.
He glanced to the side.
Hinata looked disappointed that she wasn't in the same team as him.
Sakura looked disappointed that she was in the same team as him.
Even though the current Naruto hadn't offended Sakura by competing with Sasuke, the original Naruto had been an annoying, obsessive dead last, so she still disliked him.
"I wish I could switch teams," Naruto thought.
--------------------------
Want to read ahead of Webnovel?
Head over to my Patreon and unlock chapters in advance:
patreon.com/inkshield