As expected, the four of them were scolded by Tsunade, and she was really fierce about it. Even Shizune was left stunned. Recently, Tsunade's mood had been all over the place, like she was on her period, and these four just happened to catch her in a bad moment. They could only accept it.
"Stop, stop, the kid's already stunned, sob sob sob~"
When the four of them walked out of the Hokage office, they were still a bit dazed, feeling like they had narrowly escaped death.
Dazed or not, they still had to finish the tasks at hand.
Shizune went to the mission hall to submit their mission, while the other three went to find Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru, as Tsunade had asked them to. It seemed like she wanted these Genin to go after the four Otogakure ninjas, and Izumo and Kotetsu were both stunned.
About ten minutes later, Naruto, who had been training, arrived at the Hokage office without knocking. "Granny Tsunade, I'm here. Got any missions for me?"
Then he saw Sakura and Shikamaru standing inside. Naruto walked in, looking confused.
Tsunade sat at her desk, looking exhausted and uninterested. "Mission: Retrieve Sasuke. Lead ninja: Shikamaru. Pick whoever you want from the Genin, notify them, and then get out."
Naruto: "…"
Just a side note, Shikamaru was the only one who had successfully been promoted to Chunin.
Shikamaru, scratching the back of his head, said with some reluctance, "Tsunade-sama, mission permit?"
Without the mission scroll and permit, they couldn't leave the village casually, or else it would be considered desertion.
What? Sasuke?
His situation is special, no need for a mission permit.
Tsunade, clearly annoyed, dug through the piles of paperwork on her desk. After a few seconds, she found a piece of paper, wrote something on it with her Daimyo's seal, and threw it to Shikamaru. Shikamaru caught it, took a look, and sighed again.
"Tsunade-sama… this is the mission permit for another task."
It clearly said, "Mission: Postpartum care for a sow, village exit permit."
"I don't have time to write a new one for you," Tsunade shouted, slamming her fist on the desk. "Get out now, or stay and handle all these documents. I'll go after Sasuke myself, you decide."
Shikamaru: "…"
Exhausted, he glanced at the mountain of paperwork on the desk and quietly put the mission permit away. I'll go with "Postpartum care for a sow"... Wait, no, it's supposed to be "Retrieve Sasuke."
Naruto, who had been about to say something, glanced at Tsunade's furious expression and quietly swallowed his words. Without Kurama around to encourage him, Naruto's emotional intelligence had clearly improved.
"Tsunade-sama? Sasuke… really defected?" Naruto asked, his emotional intelligence +1. However, Sakura, overwhelmed with worry, lost control of her emotions and cried,
"Sasuke... did he really leave the village?"
Tsunade, looking at the wide-eyed girl in front of her, got even more annoyed. "Either get out now or head to the hospital."
Under Tsunade's glaring eyes, Naruto and Shikamaru each grabbed one of Sakura's hands and awkwardly dragged her out of the Hokage office. As they left, Naruto politely closed the door behind them.
I have to say, Naruto's emotional intelligence has really gone up.
Of course, that wasn't the main point. Once they left the Hokage office, Naruto and Shikamaru both sighed in relief. Shikamaru wiped an imaginary sweat from his forehead.
"Women are scary. I thought Temari was bad, but Tsunade-sama is even scarier." Naruto's face turned pale.
"Granny Tsunade is in a really bad mood right now. I think I'll keep my distance and not make her angry for a while."
You still have some self-awareness, Shikamaru glanced at him before looking at the mission permit in his hand. "So what exactly is going on? How did Sasuke end up leaving the village?"
"How would I know?" Naruto shrugged and whistled nonchalantly.
Shikamaru glanced at Sakura, who looked downcast, and said softly, "Knowing your personality, if you knew Sasuke had left the village, you'd be the first to confront Tsunade-sama, no matter how upset she is. But now you're acting so obediently. That means you're not worried at all."
Naruto stiffened.
Sakura's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly grabbed Naruto's arm. "Naruto, what happened to Sasuke? Can you tell me? Please!"
At that moment, Naruto wasn't happy at all to have his arm grabbed by the girl he liked. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that Sasuke won't let me."
Sakura's face brightened. "So you mean... Sasuke didn't really betray the village?"
Naruto hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Well, Sasuke didn't want me to tell you, but I can say this. Sasuke left to improve his strength. He originally planned to report to Granny Tsunade and then sneak off without telling anyone, but for some reason, the village found out."
"I see."
Shikamaru nodded in understanding. With his sharp mind, he could guess Sasuke's plan.
"In that case, the only enemies we have to face are the four Otogakure ninjas."
"That's great!" Unlike Shikamaru, Sakura only cared whether Sasuke was okay. She had thought Sasuke had lied to her last night, but now it seemed he was truly just training, though in a rather unusual way.
As long as he didn't betray the village, Sakura sighed in relief.
Shikamaru glanced at Sakura and shook his head slightly. Then he turned back to Naruto.
"Naruto, do you have any preferences for the team?"
Naruto nodded. "If possible, you guys—Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji—can take on one. Neji and Tenten can take another, and then we can bring in Shino, Kiba, and Hinata for the third. The last one is mine."
Since Tsunade didn't set a limit on the number of people, they might as well bring in everyone who was available and make a righteous mob.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto, slightly surprised, but then realized this wasn't the time for jokes. He nodded. "Sounds reasonable."
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio was far stronger than they appeared when working together. Their teamwork maximized their strengths, and their fighting power was much higher than what their individual levels suggested.
Neji was strong on his own, and with Tenten, a Taijutsu-type support ninja, they would be a powerful team. Naruto, as a Jinchuriki, was also reasonable to handle one by himself. However, Hinata's team, Class 8, would need to put in more effort, as they were a sensory-type team.
Shikamaru made a decision on the spot. "Alright, let's do this. We'll each go notify the three teams. I'll find Ino and Choji, Sakura, you go find Class 8, Naruto, you go look for Neji. Let's meet at the Konoha gate in 20 minutes."
"Got it." Naruto gave a thumbs up"
Sakura silently covered her hands. "...Don't I get to fight?"
They had basically arranged everyone, except for her and Lee. Lee couldn't fight because of his injury, and as for her... she was simply too weak.
Shikamaru didn't say anything. If you asked who was the weakest among the Twelve Young Ninjas, Sakura would be the answer. Ino, at the very least, was part of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and Ino was also a support-type ninja. Beating her wouldn't be a big deal, let alone Sakura, who hadn't even won against Ino.
Naruto seemed unaware of the disappointment on Sakura's face and looked at her in surprise. "Of course, our Class 9 will fight together. What, Sakura, do you plan to fight with someone else?"
Sakura looked at Naruto, who had a pitiful expression on his face, and couldn't help but laugh. But as she laughed, her expression slowly turned gloomy.
After a while, Sakura shook her head under Shikamaru's watchful gaze. "Naruto, I'm sorry, I'm still too weak. I won't participate in this battle... I'll stay in the village and cheer you all on."
She was afraid—afraid that, just like in the second round of the Chunin Exams, she'd slow down Naruto and Sasuke. Since that's the case, it would be better to stay here.
Seeing that Naruto seemed like he wanted to say something, Sakura spoke up first with a smile. "So, Naruto, please take care of Sasuke for me."
She didn't have the qualifications to fight. She didn't have the strength, so the only thing she could do was put her trust in the person she trusted the most.
Naruto couldn't smile. He took a deep breath, his eyes filled with determination as he clenched his fist. "It's a promise."
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