When Hinata woke up...
The sun was already setting.
The house, spotless, gleamed with cleanliness.
Swish... swish...
Aoba was sweeping the entrance, her eyes red from crying.
"Asa did a great job~!"
Naruto, smiling, startled the maid.
"Next time, bring her along, okay?"
Clear implication.
Aoba paled, but Hinata gladly agreed.
As long as Naruto-kun is happy...
...
At Ichiraku...
Naruto lifted the curtain, immediately spotting Shisui.
*The Uchiha saw him... and left without finishing his ramen.
"He really doesn't like you," snickered the Kyūbi.
Two attempts... two failures.
Plan A (Shisui) = abandoned.
Luckily, there's still...
Plan B: Sako → Itachi.
And if that fails?
*Then I'll save the Uchiha myself.
Back home...
Under a streetlamp, a figure was waiting for him.
"U-zu-ma-ki Na-ru-to!"
Sako, her expression serious, announced:
"I can't play with you anymore."
Then she turned on her heel.
---
The next morning, Uchiha district...
A visitor knocked on the Uchiha's door.
"Is Itachi here?"
Fugaku, surprised, finally recognized Hazuki's daughter.
Married to a non-Uchiha, returned after her husband's death during the Kyūbi attack...
Her daughter, Izumi, had grown up well.
"Itachi."
Fugaku called his son, watching their interaction with a fatherly smile.
Does my son finally have a girlfriend?
A stark contrast with...
Sako, dragging her feet, emerged from her room.
Her disheveled appearance made Fugaku frown.
"Such behavior!"
Grr...
Mikoto stepped in, pulling Sako aside.
"Why do you upset your father?"
"Mom..."
Sako, downcast, then spotted Izumi.
The one who was with Itachi during the Kumo visit...
His girlfriend?
"Hello, Aunt Mikoto!"
Izumi greeted politely.
Then, to Sako:
"I'm Uchiha Izumi."
"Sako! Nice to meet you!"
Sako, suddenly energized, noticed Izumi's forehead protector.
She became a genin?
Previous scene:
Naruto, forcefully thrown out of a women's lingerie shop, landed on the sidewalk.
Sako, triumphant, pointed at his humiliating failure:
"See? He's stalking us!"
Izumi, embarrassed, could only acknowledge the obvious.
Naruto, covered in bras, tried to explain:
"I... was looking for a gift for my aunt."
His excuse was rejected by the outraged crowd.
"Sexist pig!"
"You're assuming my gender!"
Arguments incomprehensible in this world...
Result:
Projectile #12 – a lace panty – landed on his face.
Final expulsion.
...
On Konoha's outskirts...
Hideout of Kiri's ninjas.
Disguised as mediocre candidates, they had barely passed the first two trials.
But patience had limits.
"Jūzō, when do we move?!"
The time was near.
The plan:
1. Exploit the tourist influx during the 3rd round.
2. Use the Hidden Mist Jutsu to create chaos.
3. Steal classified documents.
4. Eliminate Jūzō after the mission.
*What Jūzō didn't know...
Or pretended not to know.
*Because he, too, had his own plan...
To kidnap Fugaku's daughter, under Zetsu's guidance.
...
Noon...
Izumi left, leaving Sako alone.
Resistant to her father's scolding, she wandered the streets.
Inner conflict:
Loyalty to Itachi VS Promise to Naruto.
"Why this frustration?!"
Creeeak...
The swing in the park creaked under her weight.
Empty — the other children were playing elsewhere.
Perfect for...
"You again!"
*Naruto, pretending to train on the monkey bars, had been watching her.
"I told you — no more contact!"
Naruto, nonchalant:
"Hello. What a coincidence."
Sako suddenly realized:
He doesn't even know my name.
Unfair!
But Itachi's words echoed, stifling her anger.
"You're so annoying!"
"You spoke to me first."
Critical logic failure.
*Sako, trapped in her own reasoning, exploded:
"That's not the point!"
*Naruto, calmly:
"Then what is the point?"
Silence.
The real problem...
She couldn't say it.
Itachi had forbidden her from seeing him.
But why?
Naruto just seemed like a clumsy idiot.
*Not a monster.
So...
"Why, brother...?"
*Her fist tightened.
Naruto, stepping closer:
"If you want me to leave... just say it clearly."
*His blue eyes piercing.
"Not 'we're not playing anymore'...
"But 'I don't want to see you again.'"
*Sako flinched.
The difference?
*One was a friendly break.
*The other, total rejection.
Could she really say it?
*Her heart raced.
*Naruto waited, still.
The wind blew between them.
Finally...
*Sako looked away.
"...Go away."
A barely audible whisper.
*Naruto smiled — not out of triumph, but understanding.
"All right."
He turned to leave.
But before he went...
"By the way..."
*He turned back, pointing to her forehead:
"Congrats on becoming a genin."
*Sako blinked.
How...?
She wasn't even wearing her forehead protector today!
Naruto was already gone, leaving that mystery behind.
*Sako remained still, her heart strangely heavy.
As if she had just lost something...
*She didn't yet understand.