Chapter 11: First Meeting
Training Ground 3 was completely empty.
Naruto sprinted, his orange jacket flapping behind him, a half-eaten slice of bread still in his mouth.
"I'm screwed, I'm screwed! I'm late on the first day!"
When he burst into the training ground, there was no one there.
"Don't tell me... I'm in the wrong place?"
He scratched the back of his head, looking left and right. The wooden sign clearly said "Training Ground 3."
"No way... Did the sensei and everyone else meet up somewhere else?" he mumbled, chewing and swallowing the rest of his bread as he ran to the center of the field.
The clearing was empty, filled only with the sound of wind rustling through the grass. There wasn't a single person in sight. Iruka-sensei had definitely said, "Meet at Training Ground 3 tomorrow morning." He hadn't misheard.
Naruto started to panic. He pulled the crumpled note from his pocket—it was the summons from Iruka. It clearly read: "Training Ground 3, 8:00 AM."
He looked up at the sun. It was already pretty high. It had to be almost 8:30. "Did I come so late that everyone already left?"
He did a full sweep of the training ground, checking everywhere. No one was hiding in the trees, no one was behind the training posts. So where was everyone? Did they really change locations?
"Hey! Anyone here?!" Naruto yelled into the empty field. His voice carried far on the wind, but only echoes answered.
He deflated, his shoulders slumping. He kicked a small pebble at his feet. "Dammit! This happens on the first day... If everyone finds out, they'll laugh their heads off."
Just as Naruto was sighing on one of the training ground's benches, a set of footsteps approached from the distance.
He looked in the direction of the sound, hopeful. Could it be? Another latecomer?
Gradually, a green-jumpsuited kid with a bowl cut appeared.
Seeing him, Naruto's hopes fell, and he slumped back onto the bench.
He'd never seen this person before. Besides, dressed that weird... he probably wasn't even here for this training ground.
Unexpectedly, the person saw Naruto and sped up, running right over.
"Naruto! Naruto! I am so glad to see you are safe!" he shouted, waving as he ran. "My apologies! I ran a few extra laps to warm up! I am not late, am I?"
When he saw Naruto wasn't responding, he took a great leap and landed on the bench, throwing an arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Naruto! Why are you not speaking? Are you angry I kept you waiting?"
Naruto, startled by the sudden contact, turned his head to stare at the strange, bowl-cut kid next to him.
The green jumpsuit was stretched tight over solid muscles, and he wore a headband with the character for "Youth" on it. Everything about him screamed "conspicuous."
Naruto frowned, trying to pull his shoulder free. "Who are you? Do I know you?"
The show-off ignored Naruto's reaction and instead thrust out a thumb. "It is me! I am Rock Lee! Little Lee! You do not remember me?"
"Rock Lee?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, trying hard to place the name, but his mind was a total blank.
He paused, looked Lee up and down again, and muttered, "Dressed that weird, I wouldn't remember you even if I had."
When Lee heard that, his eyes instantly reddened. He let go of Naruto, clenched his fists, and stood up abruptly. "Naruto! How can you say that! My youthful style was forged in fire! Green represents vitality! It represents a passion that will never be extinguished! How can you call it weird!"
He got more agitated as he spoke, even starting to do high-knees on the spot. "I will prove it to you! My style and my Nindo are both the most dazzling!"
Naruto, freaked out by this sudden outburst, shrank back. "Whoa, hey, calm down! I just said it without thinking..."
"I cannot!" Lee stopped, planting his hands on his hips. "You must acknowledge my youthful style! If you do not... I will run one hundred laps around Konoha with you, until you do!"
Just then, a clear, female voice called out from the distance, "Lee! What are you doing now?"
Naruto looked up and saw a girl in a cheongsam with two buns in her hair walking over quickly.
She gave Lee an exasperated look, then turned to Naruto and smiled politely. "Sorry about that, Naruto. That's just how Lee is. He gets worked up easily when you mention 'youth'."
"And who are you? How do you know my name?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Me? I'm Tenten!"
Naruto looked at Tenten, and again, shook his head. "Doesn't ring a bell." He was even more bewildered now. Why did all these people keep popping up who knew him? Was his memory really that bad lately? Or... had they mistaken him for someone else?
Tenten paused, then smiled with understanding. "Looks like you forgot. That's okay. You'll remember once we spend more time together."
Suddenly, Naruto shot to his feet, pointing at the two of them. "Tenten? Rock Lee? I remember! You're..."
"You remember?"
"I knew Naruto would not forget us!"
Hearing Naruto's words, the two spoke at the same time.
"You're..." Naruto was still thinking hard. "You're... from the Konoha Special Tactical Squad! You're my classmates for today, right?"
"Right?" Lee looked confused. "Are we not..."
"Yes! Yes! That's exactly it!" Tenten immediately cut him off. "Naruto, you finally remembered! We're all classmates in the Konoha Special Tactical Squad. We'll be training and doing missions together from now on. It's nice to meet you!"
Tenten's words stopped Lee, who was now bright red, holding his breath.
Naruto saw this and asked, "But... it looks like this 'Green Watermelon' classmate still has something he wants to say."
"Hm? Lee? Did you have something to say?" Before Lee could speak, Tenten responded, cracking her knuckles ominously.
"N-Nothing! Tenten is right! We are all classmates in the Konoha Special Tactical Squad! We will be training and doing missions together!"
Seeing Tenten's expression, Lee didn't dare finish his thought. He just went along with what she said.
"Good." Tenten gave Lee a satisfied look. "Well then, let's re-introduce ourselves. We were members of the old Team 3. I'm Tenten, and this is Rock Lee."
"Tenten? Rock Lee? Got it! I'll remember!" Naruto slapped his chest, vowing to remember.
"But... what's 'Team 3'? Aren't we members of the Konoha Special Tactical Squad?"
The question made Lee want to speak up again. He opened his mouth, but Tenten shot him a look that shut him up. He just nodded silently beside her, as if to back up whatever she was about to say.
Tenten smiled and rubbed her temples, trying to explain it simply.
"Team 3 was the team we were assigned to when we first graduated the Academy. Guy-sensei was our leader, and we trained together for a while. But then Lady Tsunade came back and proposed the 'Konoha Special Tactical Squad,' right? So they just gathered everyone from all the different teams—that's us. So, we're partners from the old Team 3, and now we're classmates in the new special squad."
~~~~~
Please give this novel a 5-star review and drop some Power Stones!Your support really helps and means a lot — thank you!