Konoha: Starting with a sign-in for Hashirama cells

"Meat," Naruto said. "As long as it's meat, I'm not picky."

7:52.

Rubbing his hands together and breathing on them to leave a trail of footprints in the snow, Naruto ran home, took out his keys, and prepared to open the door.

I was startled to suddenly catch a glimpse of a dark figure at the doorway, and almost tripped and tumbled down the stairs.

Upon recognizing who it was, Naruto exclaimed in surprise, "Sakura?"

The one curled up in a ball, shivering in front of the door, is none other than Sakura.

"What are you doing here! It's so cold outside, let's go inside first."

Seeing that Sakura didn't react, and noticing the snow piled up on her hat and shoulders, Naruto guessed that she was probably frozen stiff. He said, "Can you get up? Come on, let me help you. Uh... you're so stiff!"

Finally, Naruto carried Sakura into the house, wrapped her in a blanket, and moved a stove next to her to heat it up and keep her warm.

Next to where Sakura was squatting, there was a bag, semi-transparent, which contained meat and vegetables, and the meat was still raw.

“This is…” Naruto pondered.

Chapter 16 Naruto: It's Not a Loss

"I didn't know you'd be coming tonight. If I had known, I would have come back earlier," Naruto said.

"Besides, why didn't you tell me you were coming to celebrate? It wouldn't have been a problem to pass a note."

"Besides, since I'm not home, you don't need to wait anymore. You're usually a smart person, why would you be so stupid as to wait outside the door until you freeze?"

Directly opposite, Sakura, who had recovered and was eating instant noodles while blowing on them, suddenly slammed down her bowl, a slit appearing on her forehead.

"Ah! Yes! I wanted to surprise you, so I didn't pass you a note."

"I think you'll be back soon, just wait a little longer."

"Thinking like that makes me look like an idiot, incredibly stupid!"

"Ahem, sorry, really sorry," Naruto said with a forced laugh. "How can I make you feel better and calm down?"

"It has nothing to do with you, I'm just angry with myself," Sakura sighed, feeling distressed.

“I lied to my parents that I was going to have dinner with friends, turned down Ino’s party invitation, and then waited outside like a fool for almost an hour and a half.”

"I brought this on myself. I don't know what I was thinking, was I crazy? I actually wanted to celebrate you getting into the top three, I..."

"Forget it, I'm going back."

Naruto is taking so long to come back, making me wait and suffer like this.

I'm so angry at myself for getting my brain caught in a door, abandoning my warm and comfortable home to come here and suffer from hunger and cold.

Sakura, feeling fuming with nowhere to vent, didn't want to say anything more and got up to go home.

Seeing Sakura heading towards the entrance, Naruto didn't have time to think and instinctively chased after her to stop her.

"What?" Sakura frowned.

"Uh, well..." Naruto racked his brains to recall.

I suddenly remembered Sakura from the story; she seemed to hit Naruto quite often, especially when she was angry or annoyed.

Thinking of his own physique, thick-skinned and tough, he figured he could take a couple of hits without any serious injury. Naruto said, "Ugly monster."

“??” Sakura was stunned.

after awhile.

"What did you say? I think I just misheard," Sakura said stiffly.

If you let Sakura hit you to vent her anger, Sakura might not actually do it, and besides, that would be strange.

The solution is simple: just provoke her.

Thinking this, Naruto chuckled and said, "Ugly monster."

"I actually came back a while ago, but I didn't show up after I saw you. I wanted to see you shivering from the cold, it would be so funny, haha!"

Sakura was stunned. After she came to her senses, you can imagine how intense her anger was.

"Naruto!!"

With a powerful punch, she slammed Naruto across the face, knocking him to the ground. Then, Sakura pounced on him like a hungry tiger, attacking him from both sides.

"What did you say, you bastard!"

"I even changed my opinion of you, thinking that there must be some misunderstanding that you were ostracized by so many people."

"I've never seen you play a prank before, and I once thought all the rumors about you were just rumors."

"I never expected this, I never expected this..."

"Terrible! Using pranks like this to hurt people is the worst thing you can do!"

They fought until they were panting and exhausted.

Sakura felt extremely wronged and angry, thinking that she had been waiting in the snow for so long while Naruto watched her make a fool of herself. She looked at Naruto with disgust.

"From now on, you don't need to help me pursue Sasuke anymore. I can do it myself."

"That should calm you down by now," Naruto said softly, his face bruised and swollen.

"Huh?" Sakura was taken aback.

quite a while…

In a daze, she understood something, but Sakura felt a lump in her throat and couldn't utter a single word.

Naruto sniffed, wiped his nose with his right hand, and blood started flowing out.

"When I'm depressed, angry, or irritable, I want to hit something to vent my frustration," Naruto said. "I wonder if you feel the same way?"

“There’s no need for that…” Sakura murmured, “You could have let me hit someone else. Why did you deliberately provoke me to hit you? Do you like being hit?”

"After all, I'm the direct cause of your stuffiness and coldness," Naruto said apologetically.

"I'll need to trouble you with the written test again. I don't want our relationship to cool down because of this, even if it's just for a while."

"If you hit me and then clear up the misunderstanding later, you will feel a little bit apologetic towards me."

"Not only will this matter be completely resolved, but it will also make you more dedicated to helping me. To be honest, I'm not at a loss."

Sakura remained silent.

My mood was like a rollercoaster, fluctuating wildly.

She was truly disappointed just now; you could tell from the force of her blow that she had used all her strength.

But in the blink of an eye, she learned of Naruto's intentions, leaving her speechless.

"You got beaten up for nothing and you still say you didn't lose out? Are you an idiot?" After saying that, Sakura went home to get her medicine.

To everyone's surprise, the wound on Naruto's face healed and recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"What! What happened?" Sakura exclaimed in shock.

"Heh, I remember I mentioned that my physique is rather special," Naruto chuckled.

"What kind of constitution could be so special?" Sakura looked utterly bewildered.

Regardless of the process, Sakura's anger has subsided, that's a fact.

After filling their stomachs and chatting for a while about school-related topics, Naruto transformed and followed Sakura home, and then…

He returned home and examined the newly acquired ninjutsu: Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall.

Why go to such lengths to appease Sakura?

Could it be that Naruto has a hidden hobby where he gets a sense of satisfaction from being beaten up?

Not that far-fetched.

On one hand, it's because Sakura is his future companion, and even further down the line, his in-law.

On the other hand, in completing the mission of the third generation, the academic genius Sakura can help him fill in the gaps in his knowledge to the greatest extent.

The Third Hokage stipulated from the beginning that the top three in the written exam could only be achieved through the physical body, not through shadow clones.

No matter how meticulous a person is, there will inevitably be times when they make a mistake. To prevent such accidents, Sakura's existence is very necessary.

Finally, Naruto deduced from the Third Hokage's intention in issuing the mission that he was fully aware of it.

Because of a small conflict, his relationship with Sakura became cold, and the bond between them did not meet the expectations of the Third Hokage. It is hard to say whether the Third Hokage will come up with other new tricks.

In conclusion, maintaining his friendship with Sakura is more beneficial than harmful to him.

Naruto had no reason to stand by and watch Sakura leave, seething with anger and unable to vent her frustration.

The longer the night, the more unpredictable things might happen; who knows what unexpected troubles might arise?

The sooner it's resolved, the sooner you can have peace of mind.

"I see. Earth Release is not as versatile as Water Release, but it has its own advantages."

Naruto secretly observed that he could create hundreds of shadow clones in the shortest amount of time and use them in the open space downstairs, comparing the characteristics of the water array wall.

"The water curtain created by Water Release will immediately collapse and turn into a puddle of water if the chakra injected into it is withdrawn."

“The material created by Earth Release, as long as its density is high enough, will remain unchanged even if the chakra is removed.”

Naruto poked at the half-meter-high earthen wall in front of him, which seemed to drain his chakra, and a multitude of thoughts arose within him.

Chapter 17 First Encounter with the Nine-Tailed Fox

About half a year later.

Konoha back mountain.

"Water escape, water formation wall."

On the gently flowing stream, Naruto stood steadily, his hands forming hand seals as he activated a ninjutsu.

Instantly, the water beneath their feet was drawn in, boiling and surging, forming a waterspout.

The rotation speed increases over time.