Early the next morning, Naruto got up bright and early.
He completely ignored Kakashi's instructions and immediately started preparing breakfast.
Not only was he going to eat, he was going to eat well.
First, he took out some pre-cut beef from the fridge.
This was from the Forest of Death, something he had hunted himself—a type of black bull, its entire body packed with muscle.
Naruto didn't know exactly what species it was, but the taste was superb and its nutritional value extremely high.
It was thanks in no small part to the generous contribution of these black bulls that Naruto had already grown past 1.7 meters tall by the age of twelve.
Unfortunately, over the past half year, these bulls had grown scarce in the Forest of Death. He now had to search a long time just to find one or two stragglers.
And whenever they saw Naruto, they bolted as if they'd seen a demon.
He tossed the beef cubes into a pan, heated up some oil, and opened his Transparent World, beginning to cook.
Before long, an oversized beef-and-tomato pancake was finished and plated.
Just as Naruto was about to dig in, a knock came at the door.
Outside stood Sasuke and Sakura.
Naruto opened the door. Sasuke walked in naturally, while Sakura looked a little awkward. After all, she had loudly declared last time that she didn't want to stay in this place.
But the moment she saw the steaming, fragrant beef pancake on Naruto's table, her eyes went wide.
"Naruto! What are you doing? Didn't Kakashi-sensei say no breakfast?"
As she spoke, Sakura couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
In order to show her best side to Sasuke, she hadn't just skipped breakfast—she'd even skipped dinner the night before.
Now she was starving, her stomach practically touching her back. Not that she had much to begin with.
Naruto, as usual, ignored her and simply started eating his pancake in big bites.
That instantly triggered Sasuke and Sakura's appetites.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "If you want to eat, make it yourself. There's still beef and batter in the fridge."
Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then headed toward the kitchen.
Sakura, meanwhile, froze in place, unsure what to do.
In the end, she braced herself and followed Sasuke.
But Naruto stopped her. "I never said you could eat."
His blunt words made Sakura's face burn bright red.
She instinctively grew angry, silently cursing Naruto as a stingy jerk countless times in her heart, though she didn't dare say it out loud.
'This guy's personality is awful, but his strength… there's no denying it…'
Thinking of how she'd be teammates with Naruto from now on, and how she might need his help someday, she thought to herself:
'When there's nothing happening, it's Sasuke-kun~ but when something comes up, it's Naruto, do you get it girl?!'
Sakura decided to let go of her past grudges. She tucked her pink hair behind her ear, turned to Naruto, and gave what she thought was a ladylike smile.
"Naruto, we'll be teammates for quite a while. Maybe I said some wrong things before, but I apologize. Let's get along well from now on."
That smile, that fake girly voice—Naruto immediately broke out in goosebumps.
He waved his hands quickly. "Spare me that crap. You want to eat, right? Clean my room first."
Sakura clenched her pink fists, veins bulging on her forehead.
She glared at Naruto, but when she looked at his handsome face, her anger subsided a little.
A wave of helplessness washed over her. She realized there was absolutely nothing she could do against this guy.
He wasn't swayed by force, nor by softness—and even her "beauty" was completely ignored.
She swallowed down her frustration. "It's not that I don't want to clean, but… we're almost at the meeting time."
Naruto set his pancake down and took a sip of milk.
"You really think, after yesterday, that guy will show up on time today?"
Naruto's words made both Sasuke and Sakura pause in thought.
After a moment, Sakura sighed and reluctantly picked up a broom from the wall, starting to clean.
She did it for breakfast—and also so her relationship with Naruto wouldn't be so strained going forward.
At first, she nervously hoped she might uncover some secret of Naruto's while cleaning.
But the result disappointed her.
After half an hour of tidying, Sakura stretched her back. "Wow, didn't expect a boy's room to be this clean."
By now, Sasuke was already eating his pancake.
Sakura washed her hands and began cooking her own.
But she poured oil into the pan before it had dried completely.
The loud sizzle was followed by her shriek.
Oil splattered onto her hand, stinging sharply.
Behind her came Naruto's voice: "When you're done, clean the kitchen too."
Hearing that, Sakura pouted in grievance.
When her pancake was finally done, it was pitch black—a stark contrast to Naruto's golden-brown one.
By the time she finished eating, it was already close to 9:30.
Sakura checked the time, her voice anxious. "We're already an hour and a half late. Is this really okay?"
"If you're scared, you can go ahead," Naruto said flatly.
Sakura looked out at the blazing sun, then decided to stay. After all, if they were punished, at least she wouldn't be alone.
What she didn't know was that Naruto didn't care at all about Kakashi's opinion. Whether he could become a Leaf shinobi meant nothing to him.
Sasuke felt much the same. His only goal was to become stronger—and then kill his brother.
He had already found his shortcut: learning from Naruto.
Not until past ten did Naruto finally rise.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief. She had been restless with worry.
The rendezvous point Kakashi mentioned yesterday was at a grassy area in the training field.
On the way there, the three ran into Kakashi…
He was strolling leisurely, reading Icha Icha Paradise as he walked.
"Kakashi-sensei! You're late—two and a half hours late! Don't you think that's too much? Naruto even guessed you'd be late and told us to come later!"
Feeling she had the moral high ground, Sakura vented her anger on their unreliable teacher.
Kakashi scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Ha… haha, well, it seems we've all lost our way in life."
Lost our way, my ass, the three grumbled inwardly.
But then Kakashi's dead-fish eyes landed on Naruto, surprised that not only had Naruto predicted he'd be late, but had even guessed the approximate time.
The four arrived at the meeting point. Not far ahead stood three old wooden posts, weathered by time.
One glance was enough to know they'd been used countless times.
Naruto remembered—they had been around since the time of Hiruzen Sarutobi, passed down as a trial.
Kakashi pulled out two bells, narrowing his eyes at the three.
"Next, you have three minutes to take these bells from me. Whoever succeeds passes. Those who fail will be sent back to the Academy to repeat a year!"
So compared to the original test, there's now a three-minutes limit… harsher than before. Is that because he's already seen my strength? Naruto wondered.
And indeed, that was the case.
When Kakashi learned he'd be leading Naruto's team, he felt pressured.
After all, having witnessed Naruto's ridiculous techniques, even Kakashi wasn't fully confident he could beat him.
Seeing there were only two bells, with such a severe punishment for failure, Sakura began to panic.