It wasn't fun. After opening the rewards yesterday, Naruto was confident that his melodic and sweet days had started. That, he was now only going to get stronger from here on.
But reality was harsher.
"Ugh...It hurts like hell." Naruto grunted, holding his legs as he fell onto the sofa, in his apartment. He had woken up at 4, at dawn. That alone was a feat he could never dream of achieving. Despite his energetic attitude and crazy antics, he was a sloth when it came to waking up.
However, not only had he woken up when the sun blinked, but he also did his Warm-Up quest! The people in the village couldn't believe their eyes, seeing the blonde running laps around the village with such dedication.
'Is this dangerous?' and 'Is this the start of a new world?' were two contrasting thoughts among the citizens. Because Naruto ACTUALLY doing something meaningful was not what they ever expected to witness.
And all that, from dawn to now, till 6 had made him limp. As if, someone was sitting on his entire body with all their might and weight.
'Allot 3 points to stamina' Naruto instructed the System. And Naruto could feel the change. The agonizing pain and his heavy body now felt more relaxed. He could move well.
Naruto sat straight and looked into the space, at the screen. "Open the random box" Naruto said, gulping down his excitement.
For Naruto who had never seen anything besides food, ramen, and free weapons in the academy, which were all identical, these rewards were so exciting that he always felt a lump form in his heart. He didn't even expect the rewards to be grand. He just wanted to see new stuff.
And as if his wish was granted, Naruto was again given something different. Unlike yesterday's 'Potion' he got an item today.
[ Leather Pouch
A pouch that can store up to 100,000 ryo ]
The leather pouch was now in the Inventory, visible to Naruto. The excitement on his face dropped soon. "Are you making fun of me?" Naruto muttered, a dark shade covering his eyes as his hair loomed on his forehead.
"Where am I gonna get that crazy amount of Money!!!" He shouted, raging at the white screen that seem to give no shit.
After a few seconds of punching the System and pacing through it in thin air, he calmed down. It was already 6:30 and the System seemed to just ignore his complaints. So Naruto decided to leave.
[ Leaving for the test without eating will only be a hindrance. After an intense workout, eating something will help you replenish some energy. ]
The System spoke only at such times when there was something to correct, advise, or suggest.
Naruto did not stop and exited the house. "I know that, but it's an order from Kakashi-sensei. And as a Shinobi, I should obey the orders of my leader." Naruto replied as he locked the apartment.
The System did try to convince him again, but Naruto was a stubborn kid, so it had no success.
Naruto arrived at ground 7, which was assigned for Team 7, temporarily. If they passed today's test, the ground would be theirs, forever, until they led their own teams. Naruto entered the ground and his eyes met the green freshness, the emeralds that he always loved.
Sakura had just arrived, a few minutes ago. She hadn't been able to sleep properly the whole night, so her eyes looked tired and red. She didn't want to be late and give a bad impression to her Sensei, since it could impact the result of the test. Unlike Sasuke, who was a prodigy, she had to consider every little aspect of the test. As for Naruto, she didn't know what he was thinking. She never really tried to understand, because he did the same. Or at least she thought so.
She believed that Naruto would be the only late one. And maybe even back to his usual self, boisterous, loud, and full of antics. And she wouldn't mind it, since it could help lessen her guilt.
But it seemed, Naruto had no intentions of sparing her any relief. He appeared on the ground just a few minutes later. And the moment their eyes met, she could see his emotions in those little oceans.
But she was surprised that the emotions were more of confusion and doubt, when she had expected to be met with anger and disgust. And in that split second, everything seemed like it was floating and she felt light. A thought trembled in her mind, causing her very reason to hate Naruto.
'Who is Naruto?'
Sure she hated him. And he gave her many reasons for that. He acted like a barbarian, like a pervert. He wasn't cool. He always told her how he loved her, but never tried anything to prove that. And mostly because he wasn't Sasuke.
But the moments since yesterday, when she didn't see a smile on his face and a smug look,...she felt like she was seeing a Human. Someone real and raw. Maybe she was going crazy because of the pressure from the upcoming test, but whenever she thought of him, only his tears were drawn to her mind.
And right now, when she saw his eyes, it felt like she had lost that stable footing in her own conscience.
Sakura inhaled, a sharp and cold air infiltrating her nose. She felt her mind calming down, as if she was landing back on the ground.
She looked at Naruto, who was now walking to her, but his eyes didn't notice her anymore. Or more like, he avoided noticing her.
Her fists tightened their grip and she opened her mouth to speak. To apologize and accept that she was wrong.
But her words were blocked and she almost felt a choke, when Sasuke arrived too. And NOW she was met with that anger and disgust she had expected from Naruto. But instead, it was Sasuke.
And for the first time, when she wasn't worried about losing Sasuke's interest and genuinely wanted to apologize to Naruto, the atmosphere felt 'wrong' to even speak. Here stood two orphans, one she had berated in front of another. And no less, the one she had berated WAS the one listening.
Sasuke walked to them and stood a bit further away from them, as usual. He always kept a distance between himself and people. Sakura always found it kind of cool and even concerning. But for the first time, she was relieved about it. It was already difficult to stand among them without crying, so if they were closer, she didn't know what would become of her.
For the next hour, none of them spoke. And neither did Kakashi arrive. Naruto was already on the ground, tired and bored. He was doubting again, whether their Sensei was even legit.
Sasuke on the other hand was also irritated, but showed none. He was angry that his precious training time was being wasted.
Sakura was annoyed too. It was crazy enough to be together with Naruto and Sasuke after that incident. Kakashi was just adding more trouble to her life.
Sasuke got up from the ground, alerting both Sakura and Naruto. "I am leaving." he said and walked away.
"Sure, sure. We don't want to waste valuable time of our precious prince now, do we?" Naruto said, mockery densely fused in his words and tone.
Sasuke looked back, his glare so intense, one could see murderous intent in it. But facing it was Naruto, who couldn't even see much difference in Sasuke's attitude. The Sasuke scale in his mind was always: Grumpy, Too Grumpy, Lord Grumpy.
Sasuke was ready to drain a bit of his venomous words to silence Naruto, but a gust of wind quietened him. And before them stood Kakashi.
"Hey, Good Morning!" Kakashi said, with a very pleasant smile and tone. But it didn't connect well with his students.
"You are late!" It was Sakura, who spoke first. For her, it felt like she could finally breathe normally. With Kakashi there, the situation did not seem so uncomfortable.
"Ah, well I am sorry. I was helping a grandma on my way here, so I was late." He said, chuckling a little.
"Well, that's fine then." Naruto was easy to trick if the trick was kindness. But Sasuke and Sakura could see the blatant lie. Kakashi seemed too relaxed to have helped someone and come here, with a proper outfit and well-kept hair.
They both sighed.
"Alright, we will now begin the test! It's actually really simple. I will set a timer till noon. And before the timer ends, you have to snatch these bells from me." Kakashi explained as he showed them the bells on his waist.
"There are only 2 bells, so one of you who is not able to get a bell will fail the test, ultimately failing the test." His words hit them like a brick, hard and dangerous.
"So, don't hold back and attack me with all you have got. Unless you come at me with the intent to kill, forget the bells, even touching my hair will be a dream." Kakashi said as he hit the timer on the small clock he had brought with him.
"But...wouldn't that hurt you? If we tried to kill you?" Sakura asked. Even saying that sounded scary. But following her, Naruto said something similar.
"Yeah, even if we are Genin, what if we really kill you?" Naruto's voice didn't sound very concerned. Rather,...his hand was already on the kunai, which was tucked in the holders on his pants. All those times Kakashi had called him 'dead last' since yesterday were coming to his mind. It just wasn't good for his anger.
"Idiot,..." Sasuke muttered, which alerted Naruto a bit. But before he could understand why Sasuke said that, Kakashi disappeared in a blur. "You are too hasty" Only a voice could be heard.
And somehow, his body reacted in a brief second and ducked, when he felt a touch on his hands.
This resulted in Naruto ducking, but Kakashi had already gotten hold of his hand. But his other hand remained unattended in the air, where Naruto's head was supposed to be. "I haven't said 'Start' yet"
If observed intently, one could see the surprise on his face. 'His instincts are crazy...' Kakashi thought. But the other three's thoughts were the same, 'This is going to be difficult'
A sweat drop formed on their faces, as Kakashi stood behind Naruto, a looming figure like a demon.