**Volume 1, Chapter 4: This Joke Went Too Far**
"Hey, where's our teacher?" Naruto asked, bored and sprawled across his desk, lazily looking around the classroom.
"Ugh, Naruto, you're so annoying! Can't you just be quiet for once?" Sakura glared at him, her anger still simmering over Naruto stealing her first kiss.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Naruto wisely kept his mouth shut, deciding it was better to try and cheer Sakura up.
*Sakura seems to like pranks...* he thought, his eyes darting to the blackboard eraser nearby. *I've got an idea!*
With a grin, Naruto flipped off his desk and grabbed the eraser.
As expected, he immediately caught Sakura's attention.
"Hey, Naruto! What are you doing?" she demanded, unable to suppress her curiosity despite her reluctance to speak to him.
"Latecomers deserve a little punishment, don't you think?"
Naruto wore an air of smug satisfaction as he retrieved a bottle of super glue from some corner of the classroom and smeared it across the front of the chalkboard eraser.
"Naruto, isn't this a bit much?" Sakura asked, her voice tinged with worry as she watched him wedge the eraser into the doorway.
"Relax, he's a Jonin. He'll be fine," Naruto grinned.
"Hmm, you're right," Sakura nodded, though a strange sense of disappointment lingered in her heart.
*Whoosh...*
The sliding door creaked open slowly. As Kakashi's head poked through the gap, the chalkboard eraser slammed into him.
"Ugh..."
Sakura and Sasuke froze in shock, while Naruto erupted in unrestrained glee.
"Is he really a Jonin?" Sasuke muttered, his voice dripping with skepticism and disdain for Kakashi.
"Well, let's just say my first impression of you guys was... pretty awful. And..." Kakashi paused, struggling to pry the eraser off his head. "What?! They used glue?! You bratty little punks!"
Kakashi's exposed eye widened in disbelief, and he roared, his voice filled with frustration, "To think I was outsmarted by a bunch of brats who just graduated from the Ninja Academy... What a failure..."
"Alright, let's start with introductions. Tell me your names, hobbies, and dreams."
His once-stylish white hair now noticeably shorter, Kakashi reluctantly addressed the three students sitting across from him.
"Kakashi-sensei, shouldn't you introduce yourself first before asking about our names, hobbies, and dreams?" Sakura protested, feeling slighted.
"Fine. My name is Hatake Kakashi... As for my dreams... I don't feel like sharing them. My hobbies... well, they're varied."
Kakashi lazily rattled off a few words before adding, "Alright, your turn."
"What the heck... In the end, we only learned his name..." Sakura grumbled under her breath, still annoyed.
"Well... I'll go first. My name is Haruno Sakura. As for what I like, I'd rather say who I like... And what I hate? I'm not telling you!"
Sakura deliberately drew out her words, then paused dramatically, leaving Kakashi utterly exasperated. "Kids these days... they just love to imitate."
"Next," Kakashi announced, his tone tinged with boredom.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have anything I like or hate. My dream is to become stronger. And... I will definitely kill that man."
Sasuke spoke in a flat, emotionless tone.
"Oh, it's my turn now, right? My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I love fried rice cakes, fried noodles, fried wontons, fried lotus root powder, fried eggs, fried..."
"Stop!" Kakashi immediately interrupted, his voice weary. "Can we please not talk about food anymore?"
"Sure!" Naruto grinned and nodded. "But I have to mention one last dish. It's Ichiraku Ramen! Especially the toppings... oh man..."
"Stop!"
Kakashi suppressed his urge to snap and smiled at Naruto. "Could you tell us more about your dream?"
"My dream? To become the owner of Ichiraku Ramen!"
"Naruto!"
Kakashi was on the verge of losing it.
"Okay, okay, just kidding!"
Seeing Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke looking like they couldn't take any more, Naruto immediately stopped. He didn't want a group beatdown.
"My real dream is... to become Hokage!" Naruto declared reluctantly. Though he wasn't particularly interested in becoming Hokage, he couldn't exactly say his dream was to flirt with every girl in the world, could he?
*What a bunch of problem students...* Kakashi thought to himself, his lazy eye half-open.
"Alright, that's enough for today. Meet at the training grounds tomorrow morning at 7:00 sharp."
As if staying another moment would be torture, Kakashi vanished in a flash, darting off into the distance.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, wait up! I haven't told you what I hate yet! Hey!..."
Naruto shouted at a distant black dot, secretly annoyed. "Damn it! He vanished before I could even finish talking!"
"Sakura, you..."
Once Kakashi was out of sight, Naruto turned to Sakura with a sunny smile.
"Ah... Naruto, I have something at home. Gotta go!"
Startled by Naruto's gaze, Sakura quickly made up an excuse to leave.
She was still terrified by Naruto's relentless introductions.
"Hmph! Idiot!"
Seeing Naruto look his way, Sasuke scoffed and turned away, but his hasty movements betrayed his unease.
"Am I really that scary?" Naruto muttered, feeling indignant. "A bunch of humorless jerks."
"Nine-Tailed Beast..."
Bored and restless, Naruto actively initiated a conversation with the Nine-Tailed Beast to pass the time.
"brat! This great one was sleeping! Don't bother me!"
The Nine-Tailed Beast's slightly panicked roar shook Naruto's consciousness, causing it to tremble.
"Damn it! I'll never make such a lame joke again!"
Naruto let out a frustrated yell at the sky. "So lonely!"