Just when Naruto was feeling down, a figure suddenly rushed over from the mission department door toward them.
"Sakura!"
Sakura felt a rush of fragrance, and before she could react, a beige figure appeared in her arms.
Ino hugged Sakura with a big smile on her face.
"Sakura, what have you been up to lately?"
"You haven't come to find me at all!" Ino said playfully.
Sakura gently patted Ino's back and laughed lightly.
"Ah, yeah, I've been a bit busy lately..."
On the other side, Asuma, who was in charge of Team 10, handed a mission report to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
It was the C-rank mission they had just completed.
Seeing this, Naruto was immediately taken aback, exclaiming:
"A C-rank mission?"
Ino, hearing this, immediately pulled out of Sakura's embrace and looked at Naruto with a smug expression.
"That's right! It's a C-rank mission!"
"How about it? Are you jealous?"
Ino walked up to Naruto, playfully poking his forehead.
Naruto looked at Ino with dissatisfaction, wanting to argue, but couldn't find a retort.
Suddenly, Naruto turned his gaze to Sasuke and Sakura, a strange smile forming on his face.
At that moment, Naruto's intelligence exploded.
"Sasuke and I are in the same team."
Hearing this, Ino froze for a moment, then responded angrily:
"I just completed a C-rank mission!"
"Sakura is in my team too."
Ino couldn't believe it, her eyes darting to Sakura, looking for an answer.
Seeing Ino's betrayed expression, Sakura held back a laugh and, with a slightly helpless tone, said:
"Yeah, I'm actually in the same team as Naruto."
Ino felt like she'd been shot with an arrow straight to the heart. She fell to the ground, her whole body drained of color.
"D-damn it!"
"Don't get too cocky. Even if Sakura is in Team 7..."
"My leader is the famous Guardian Ninja Twelve!"
Ino, knowing Asuma's identity, tried to salvage her pride with this.
"My teammate is Sasuke."
Naruto, with an expressionless face, suddenly gave an eerie smile (similar to Anya).
"I completed a C-rank mission! C-rank!"
Ino, not willing to back down, angrily marched up to Naruto.
"My teammate is Sakura."
Naruto kept his eerie smile, looking at Ino, who was getting more and more frustrated.
"I, Chouji, and Shikamaru are the most famous team, the 'Pig, Deer, Butterfly' combo!"
Ino was on the verge of losing it. Why couldn't Naruto change the topic?
"You're the pig~~~"
Naruto struggled to suppress his smile, trying to maintain that weird expression.
"Pffft!"
Ino spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Damn it!"
Ino felt humiliated. When had the Yamanaka family's lady ever been insulted like this?
"The 'Pig, Deer, Butterfly' combo has family secret techniques that are super powerful!"
Ino swallowed her anger, her chest heaving, staring at Naruto.
"Sasuke and Sakura are my teammates."
Naruto's intelligence exploded once again.
"D-damn!"
"Can you stop talking about your teammates?!"
Ino was about to explode.
"Oh, you're the pig~~"
Game over!
Ino's health bar was completely drained!
The winner of this battle is... Uzumaki Naruto!
"Alright, Naruto, stop bullying Ino."
Sakura approached and comforted Ino, gently patting her beige hair.
It was rare that Ino was actually subdued by Naruto like this.
"Wuwuwu, Sakura~~"
Ino fell into Sakura's arms, looking heartbroken.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh, watching Ino snuggle into her for comfort.
"Alright, alright, enough of that. Let's go."
Kakashi, seeing that the commotion was over, scratched his head helplessly.
Before they left, Ino reluctantly said goodbye to Sakura and Sasuke.
"Damn Naruto!"
"If Sakura gets hurt even a little, I'll have words with you!"
Ino glared at Naruto, who smiled victoriously before turning to leave.
"No need for you to worry."
Naruto waved his hand without looking back.
As Team 7 disappeared around the corner, Ino pouted and muttered:
"Tch, what's he acting so smug for?"
Shikamaru, watching the pink-haired figure fade, looked thoughtful.
Sakura had graduated and become a Genin four years ago.
With her abilities, there was no way she could still be a Genin...
"Wahaha!"
"Ino really cracked me up!"
As soon as they left the mission office, Naruto couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into laughter.
"Naruto, you really..."
"Ino is actually pretty easygoing..."
Sakura looked at the golden-haired boy beside her with a headache.
Sometimes, Naruto and Ino's personalities were surprisingly similar, almost as if they were opposites.
"Hey, Sakura, back when you weren't in the ninja academy, Ino used to mess with me all the time..."
Looking at Naruto's pitiful expression, Sakura wisely chose to remain silent.
Ino, rather than bullying Naruto, actually enjoyed teasing him. She knew that Sakura always took care of Naruto, so she would occasionally joke with him to keep him from feeling lonely.
And with Ino's influence as the Yamanaka family's lady, she could also make sure that others wouldn't bully Naruto.
However, with Naruto's way of thinking, he probably didn't realize any of that.
"Never mind, let's go."
"Let's finish this river task, and then Sensei will treat us to a meal!"
Kakashi smiled, looking at the three kids in front of him.
It seemed that the 'Pig, Deer, Butterfly' combo and Naruto's team had a surprisingly good relationship.
"Yay!"
"Kakashi-sensei is the best!"
Naruto immediately cheered.
Only Sasuke remained silent, walking step by step.
For Sasuke, tasks like these felt like a waste of time. When would he gather enough strength to defeat that man?
Looking at Naruto and Sasuke rolling up their pants and sifting through the river for trash, Sakura walked up to them, standing in front of both.
"Do you know why I chose this mission?"
Seeing the puzzled looks from both boys, Sakura pointed to the ground beneath her feet.
"Sakura!"
"You're actually standing on the water!"
Naruto couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Yep, that's why I chose this mission."
Sakura stopped Naruto from making a scene, then turned her gaze toward Sasuke, who looked curious but hesitant to ask.
"By gathering chakra at the bottom of your feet and continuously stabilizing the flow, you can walk on walls, trees, or even water."
Sasuke hesitated before asking:
"Why are you telling me this..."
"Shouldn't Kakashi be the one teaching this...?"
Hearing that, Sakura smiled with a natural expression.
"Because we're teammates."
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