The next day.
Naruto was urgently summoned by Kakashi early in the morning, as Team 7 was regrouping to prepare for a new mission.
At the agreed meeting spot under the large oak tree, Sasuke arrived first, with cold face and strange eyes, as if something was bothering him. The moment he saw Naruto, he merely scoffed and turned his head away without saying anything.
Naruto didn't seem to mind. He found a place on the grass to sit and rest with a calm expression.
"Sasuke, I suggest you sit down and wait. Kakashi will definitely find some eye-rolling excuse for being late."
Hearing this, Sasuke shot Naruto a blank look in response.
"Idiot."
Ten minutes later, Sasuke sat obediently on the grass.
Twenty minutes later, the two lay on the ground a short distance apart, like two neatly placed corpses.
"Sorry!!! I... I'm late."
Sakura came rushing over, her short pink hair bouncing as she hurriedly bowed in apology with her eyes closed.
"A sudden influx of patients at the hospital kept me back to help."
She opened her eyes, only to see her two companions lying side by side on the ground.
"Huh?"
Ten minutes later, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were all lying on the grass.
Naruto turned his head slightly, meeting Sakura's gaze, and they exchanged an awkward but friendly smile.
Sakura looked much the same, with her short hair casually tied up, giving her a more capable appearance. Her exposed arms were slender and pale, and her chest had a slight curve to it. Her smile was confident and gentle.
Sakura seemed to have matured quite a bit while working in the medical division, shedding her previous immaturity and panic.
"Naruto, you seem to have grown a little taller?"
"Maybe." Naruto touched the top of his head with his hand, "Probably because I've been eating my vegetables, and my appetite has definitely increased."
"However, Sakura, your skin seems to have gotten even better."
"Eh? Really?"
"Yeah, if you don't believe me, just ask Sasuke."
"Boring."
"Well, everyone's early, so I guess no one's late." Kakashi suddenly appeared on the tree above, startling the three people below.
"Kakashi-sensei, do you even realize what time it is?" Sakura said helplessly.
"You're clearly the one who's late!" Naruto complained.
"35 minutes." Sasuke added with disdain.
Kakashi jumped down from the tree, giving a lazy smile, his dead-fish eye narrowing as he scratched the back of his head, "A black cat just crossed my path, so I..."
…
"The mission is over. I'll head back to the Hokage Tower to submit the report." Kakashi said lazily, "You all performed well, especially Sakura, your progress is impressive."
"In any case, you're dismissed. There should be a new mission tomorrow. Since the Godaime Hokage took office, we have a backlog of missions to complete. The other teams are in a similar situation to ours."
"Yes!" The three of them took a long time to respond, and then they all chuckled.
Kakashi scratched his head and smiled too. Team 7 was the first team of Genin he had ever led, and it might be the last. As he turned to leave, his gaze lingered briefly on Sasuke.
During this mission, Sasuke's behavior had been a bit unusual. He's too eager and impatient.
The four of them dispersed in their respective directions. Sakura had to return to the medical department, Sasuke went off to train, Kakashi went to report the mission, and Naruto planned to head home and relax.
Konoha Street.
After wandering aimlessly for a while, Naruto found himself entering the old, abandoned building.
However, after searching around, he realized that it was now completely empty.
'It seemed that Tayuya was no longer hiding here, and all traces of her disappeared completely.'
As dusk approached, the last rays of sunlight were swallowed up by the darkness.
In an instant, the abandoned building was shrouded in pitch blackness.
Naruto stood in that corner and watched for a while, 'Tayuya had likely reunited with the other three members of the Sound Four. Sasuke's eyes also seemed a little strange in the morning, so he might be planning to defect soon.'
Descending the stairs, he left.
Naruto casually found a place to grab some food, as he's not in the mood to cook for himself. He still has missions to complete tomorrow, so he figured it was best to get some rest and sleep early.
…
The next day, Naruto arrived at the same meeting spot from the day before, only to be met with a temporary notice from Kakashi.
The mission was canceled.
"Why was it cancelled?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know." Sakura said helplessly, "Kakashi-sensei just said the mission was canceled. It seemed like something important came up, so he told me to inform you all and then left without explaining further."
"Maybe it's a more dangerous S-Rank mission."
"Then I guess we're done for today." Naruto said with a yawn, waving his hand, "I didn't sleep well last night, so I'll go back and catch up on some sleep."
"Mm." Sasuke turned and walked away.
"See you later, Sakura." Naruto was about to leave, but was stopped by Sakura.
"Naruto, can you do me a favor?" She asked.
Konoha Hospital, corridor.
The white walls reflected a bright glow, and the strong smell of disinfectant lingered in the air. The hallway was wet, clearly just mopped, with caution signs placed at both ends.
"I'm really sorry, but the medical department is completely swamped." Sakura said with guilty look, "If we have a mission tomorrow, I might be late again."
"It's just organizing some files, no big deal." Naruto replied, glancing at the stack of papers on the desk.
He wanted to say that there might not be a mission tomorrow. Although teams without a Jonin Instructor still had to take on simple C-Rank missions, they couldn't do so if they were missing a team member.
"Thank you, Naruto," Sakura said, somewhat nervously.
"Sakura, hurry up!" A head popped out from the end of the corridor, and the Medical-nin in the medical department uniform urgently waving at her, "Come and help!"
"Yes, Senpai!" Sakura quickly ran off, then turned back to call out to Naruto, "I'll treat you to barbecue once we're done."
"Okay."
Naruto walked into the empty office, pulled out a chair, and started organizing the files one by one. These were all left behind during the Konoha Crush, as there were too many patients to keep up with the paperwork.
Organizing them wasn't too tiring, just a bit tedious, which Sakura had told him in advance. Following the established procedure, Naruto worked through the files, and time flew by.
By noon, Sakura returned to the office, stretching with her joints cracking, and collapsed into the chair opposite Naruto, visibly exhausted. She grabbed a large stack of files and started to sort them out too.
"The medical department is so busy, I'm so sorry to trouble you." Sakura said with a hint of guilt, "I was going to ask Ino, but she's out on a mission today."
When Naruto heard Sakura mention Ino, he couldn't help but recall the incident from the other night, and he couldn't help but feels helpless. If he had known earlier, he would have never brought up Temari's matter. In the end, he hadn't even managed to explain it properly.
Ino had stormed back into the shop angrily, and the matter was left unresolved.