Chapter 47: Graduation Exam and Team Assignments
As expected, Mizuki and Iruka's noses bled instantly upon seeing the posing beauty.
The boys in the class started jeering, while the girls had various reactions; some lowered their heads in embarrassment, represented by Hinata; some cursed Naruto for being shameless, represented by Sakura; and others covered their faces, unable to look, represented by Ino.
Naruto, seeing Iruka and Mizuki plugging their noses, said with a smile, "Teachers, how were my Transformation Jutsu and Clone Jutsu? Did I pass?"
Iruka, his face flushed, nodded and said, "You passed the Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu. Next is the Substitution Jutsu."
As soon as Iruka finished speaking, Naruto waved from his seat and said, "Looks like my Substitution Jutsu passed too!"
As soon as Naruto's voice fell, the Naruto in front of Iruka turned into a substitution log.
Neither Iruka nor Mizuki had noticed when Narutoused the Substitution Jutsu, so he naturally passed the exam.
Iruka picked up a forehead protector from the desk and tossed it directly to Naruto.
"Congratulations, you are now a Genin."
After Naruto caught the forehead protector with a smile, he said, "Congratulations to you too! And congratulations to Iruka-sensei, you won't have to see this student you loathe anymore."
Iruka glared at Naruto without saying a word. In truth, he knew very well that it wasn't Naruto who killed his parents, but the Nine-Tailed sealed within Naruto's body; however, he still couldn't fully accept Naruto as his student.
The subsequent exams were quite interesting. Because Naruto had performed the Reverse Harem Jutsu, some mischievous students followed his lead.
One thick-skulled kid actually transformed into his mother taking a bath, nearly making Iruka and Mizuki throw up their dinner from the night before.
Iruka and Mizuki were inclined not to let this student pass, but the Transformation Jutsu itself was flawless, so they could only close their eyes and hand the Ninja forehead protector to that student.
After the exam ended, Iruka leaned against the school gate, seemingly waiting for someone.
Naruto and the others didn't pay much attention, but just as they were about to leave, Irukasuddenly said, "I'm sorry, Naruto! I know I shouldn't hate you, but my parents' death... I just can't let it go. I know I shouldn't blame you, but I've always..."
Iruka's words were interrupted by Naruto before he could finish.
"It's all in the past, no need to apologize to me. Anyway, we probably won't have much interaction in the future. Goodbye... no! It should be 'never see you again'."
After saying that, Naruto led Shikamaru and the others away from the school and headed to their usual training ground.
Naruto looked at Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, and finally, Sasuke.
"We graduated from the Ninja Academy today, and tomorrow we'll be assigned to teams. Opportunities to gather like this will be fewer in the future. I hope that no matter which team you're assigned to, you'll persist in your cultivation. Even if you know all your Ninjutsu by heart, you must continue to train your Taijutsu and Chakra Precision Control. Alright, I've said my piece, who's next?"
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and looked at Naruto, saying, "Why so formal! It's not like we won't see each other again. Sigh, forget it, forget it! I'll say a few words too. Since meeting Naruto, I've found I'm not as lazy as I used to be. For that, I thank Naruto. Okay, I'm done, next."
The remaining five spoke a few words each before heading home. After all, of the seven here, only Sasuke and Naruto were without parents; the families of the others had likely already prepared feasts to celebrate their graduation from the Ninja Academy.
Hokage Building
The Jonin leaders of each team had already received the list of students they would be leading.
Kakashi Hatake's Team 7 would lead Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura Haruno.
Kurenai Yuhi's Team 8 would lead Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Shino Aburame.
Asuma Sarutobi's Team 10 would lead Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.
Just like in the original story, everyone's team assignments remained unchanged.
The next day, a background teacher at the Ninja Academy announced the team assignments for everyone.
When Naruto heard the assignments, he glanced at Sakura. He still couldn't figure out why Sakurawas still in a team with them.
In the original story, Sakura, Sasuke, and Narutowere assigned to the same team because they all had bonds with each other.
But now, there was no bond between Sakura and Naruto, so why were they still in the same team?
After all, Naruto and Sasuke trained together frequently and had long since formed a bond.
When Naruto looked at Sasuke, he roughly understood why Sakura was still assigned to their team.
It was likely for Sasuke's sake that Sakura was put in their team, to allow Sasuke and Sakura to form a bond.
As for whether Sakura could actually form a bond with Sasuke, the Third Hokage and the others probably held an indifferent attitude.
Regardless, Naruto didn't care anymore. If Sakurawas still like in the original—'Sasuke when there's trouble, Naruto when there's none'—Narutowouldn't indulge her.
While Naruto was lost in thought, the other Joninleaders had already taken their students away, leaving only the three from Team 7: Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.
Naruto found the situation somewhat speechless. After activating his Kagura Minds Eye, he discovered Kakashi was observing the three of them from the shadows.
Just then, Sakura clung to Sasuke's arm and said, "Sasuke, why hasn't our Jonin leader arrived yet? This is way too slow!"
Sasuke gave Sakura a faint glance, said nothing, and closed his eyes.
Ever since Sasuke had Naruto's guidance, while he usually looked like he was just closing his eyes and acting cool, he was actually refining Chakra.
Only the few who frequently trained with Sasukeknew this; everyone else thought Sasuke was just acting cool.
Seeing Sasuke ignore her, Sakura stopped asking and looked toward Naruto instead.
But seeing that Naruto also had his eyes closed, Sakura sighed and leaned against the desk, quietly waiting for their Jonin leader.
Naruto, getting truly bored waiting, also had no choice but to close his eyes and begin refining Chakra.
Outside, Kakashi saw the three of them showing no signs of communication and shook his head helplessly.
The girl wanted to communicate with the two boys, but the two boys were unwilling to communicate with her; the two boys had already formed a tacit understanding, invisibly excluding the girl. Such a team was the hardest to lead.
Kakashi also knew there was no point in continuing to observe; no matter how long he watched, nothing would change.
Kakashi lazily pushed open the classroom door, looked at the three of them, and said, "Hmm... how should I put this! My first impression of you... well, I quite hate you!"
Hearing Kakashi's words, Naruto almost laughed out loud. In the original story, Kakashi only said those words after getting hit by a chalkboard eraser.