"Alright, that should do it, before Kakashi-sensei gets back."
Naruto slightly loosened the ropes binding Sakura, allowing her to barely free her hands to move and eat. His own bento, which he had barely touched, was taken by Satsuki without a second thought.
"Mm… Thank you both so much…"
Sakura's eyes were a little red, her voice choked with emotion, as she carefully took Satsuki's lunchbox and began to eat in small bites. The warm food not only dispelled her hunger but also brought a surge of warmth.
On the other side, Satsuki held Naruto's bento box, a faint blush on her cheeks that was hard to detect. She feigned composure as she picked up a piece of tamagoyaki with her chopsticks, her gaze somewhat unfocused, but she forced herself to act as if it were perfectly natural.
"Alright, Naruto, come here. Since there's only one pair of chopsticks, this can't be helped."
She slightly raised her hand, offering the food to Naruto, her posture clearly indicating she intended to feed him personally.
Naruto paused for a moment, then smiled knowingly, cooperatively lowering his head and opening his mouth to approach the chopsticks.
Watching Naruto's face get closer and closer, his lips about to touch the food, Satsuki's heart involuntarily sped up. An uncontrollable surge of joy and excitement welled up inside her, and she almost couldn't suppress the curve of her lips—
"Bang!"
The next moment, a huge thud exploded! Accompanied by scattering smoke and a fierce aura, a silver figure appeared like a ghost in front of the three of them!
Kakashi had clearly seen the "violation" that just occurred, landing heavily with an oppressive presence, making the ground tremble slightly. A terrifying low pressure emanated from him; although his mask covered most of his face, his exposed eye was filled with "anger" and "disappointment."
"You three!"
This sudden roar and Kakashi's appearance instantly froze the subtly tense atmosphere! Sakura was so startled she almost dropped her lunchbox, her face drained of color.
Satsuki's chopsticks, holding the food, trembled violently. She quickly pulled her hand back, instinctively trying to hide the bento box behind her.
"How dare you!"
Kakashi's deliberately released Chakra formed a tangible pressure, causing a faint, low thunder to rumble in the clear sky, and dark clouds began to gather.
"You actually dared to openly violate the rules I set? You should know what this means, right?"
The substantial pressure made Sakura shiver, but seeing Kakashi truly on the verge of thunderous rage, an unprecedented courage suddenly erupted from her heart.
"W-wait a minute!" she almost shrieked.
"Hm?" Kakashi's oppressive gaze instantly locked onto her. "What is it? Little rule-breaker, do you have anything else to say?"
"That… it's not their fault! It wasn't Naruto-kun and Satsuki who decided on their own!"
Sakura mustered all her courage, her voice growing louder. "It… it was me! I begged them to share some food with me! Everything is my responsibility!"
Watching Sakura step forward at such a moment, trying to take all the responsibility upon herself, Kakashi's lips under his mask almost couldn't help but curl upwards; he was immensely pleased.
But he maintained his outwardly furious, storm-is-coming demeanor, his gaze slowly turning to Naruto and Satsuki.
"Oh? Is that so?" He awaited their answers.
Satsuki, beside him, bit her lower lip tightly. Why? Why did a sensei always have to pop up and mess things up at such a crucial moment!
A strong sense of unwillingness and irritation surged within her. It was so… so close! She had finally found a legitimate reason…
"That's not how it is at all!" Satsuki, as if a fuse had been lit, suddenly raised her head and loudly retorted, throwing caution to the wind, gripping Naruto's sleeve tightly.
"This was all my idea! I was the one who wanted to give her the bento! Fine, I was already prepared to repeat the year anyway!" she shouted, as if giving up. "Failing is failing! What's the big deal!"
Naruto had already promised her! If anything unexpected happened, he would repeat the year with her!
This thought gave her infinite confidence. It didn't matter where she was! As long as Naruto was there, that was all that mattered!
And… Naruto loved her the most! He would definitely side with her!
Finally, Kakashi directed his oppressive gaze towards Naruto, who had remained silent.
Naruto looked at the Jonin sensei, who was scaring the children, feeling a little amused, but decided to give his sensei enough face.
"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. We violated your rules, and we admit that. But…"
His gaze swept over Satsuki, who was tightly gripping his sleeve, then to Sakura, who, despite her fear, still tried to straighten her back, and finally back to Kakashi.
"I'm just not the kind of person who can abandon my comrades! To watch my teammates starve and suffer, yet stand by for the sake of passing… I, Uzumaki Naruto, can absolutely not do such a thing!"
"Is that so…"
The next second, Kakashi's terrifying Chakra pressure and icy anger receded like a tide, and even the thunder in the sky quietly dissipated.
The next second, a smile of immense relief and warmth appeared on his face.
"Then you all—pass!"
"…Eh? P-pass? W-why?"
This sudden, shocking reversal completely bewildered Sakura. Her eyes widened, unable to comprehend the abrupt turn of events.
Satsuki, beside her, also froze, her hand gripping Naruto's sleeve unconsciously loosening a bit.
"Because this was the real test—a test of teamwork." Kakashi's smile faded, his tone becoming gentle and serious. "In the past, too many kids would rigidly follow superficial rules, and to pass themselves, they would watch their comrades starve and be punished, even celebrating that it wasn't them who were eliminated…"
His gaze became distant.
"Indeed, those who break the rules and iron laws of the Ninja world, we call them trash… But—those who don't value their comrades are even worse than trash!"
…Although Naruto had no fondness for that scoundrel Uchiha Obito, he thought that particular line was well said.
"Therefore, I declare—everyone passes! Team 7 will officially begin missions starting tomorrow!"
"Th-that's great!!"
A huge wave of joy instantly washed away the fear and unease in Sakura's heart. Tears of excitement glistened in her eyes, and she couldn't help but cheer.
Just then, Naruto suddenly felt a weight, carrying a faint fragrance, gently lean against his arm.
He looked down to see Satsuki burying her face deeply into his arm, her black hair brushing against his skin, her voice muffled, softly repeating.
"That's great…"
Naruto smiled, just about to suggest they go eat something to celebrate when—
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host: You have established an initial bond with the original character "Kakashi Hatake"!]
[Points gained: 350 points!]
This unexpected gain lifted Naruto's spirits even more. He immediately looked up and enthusiastically suggested.
"Then, Kakashi-sensei! To celebrate the official formation of Team 7! I'll treat everyone to a meal! Let sensei try my cooking!"
"Hm?"
Kakashi blinked his exposed eye in confusion, subconsciously looking at the bento he had prepared. "Is the bento I prepared not to your liking?"
Logically, his cooking skills were quite good; Rin and Obito used to enjoy his food…
"It won't go to waste!"
Naruto quickly waved his hands. "It's been sitting out all morning, sensei's bento must be completely cold by now! The taste would definitely be much worse! Come on, come on, trust me, sensei definitely won't be disappointed!"
"…You're impossible."
Kakashi looked at the three excited students in front of him, especially Naruto's expectant and confident eyes, and finally shook his head with a smile, accepting the suggestion. "Alright, then I'll look forward to your cooking."
Watching Naruto happily go to completely unbind the cheering Sakura, Kakashi stood in place, a strange warmth and sense of responsibility welling up inside him.
He, too, had finally… become a sensei.
Just like Minato-sensei…
He subtly turned his head, hiding the deeper smile on his lips, then habitually pulled out an orange-covered, extremely risqué-looking book from his Ninja pouch, casually flipping through it as he slowly followed behind his three laughing students.