Chapter 049: With a Voice That Soft, You Still Want to Be a Ninja?

“The habitually late white-haired guy?” Sakura Haruno was stunned. The word “late” shouldn’t have anything to do with being a jonin, right? After all, the ninja village was a military organization; someone who was always late could never become a jonin!

“Oh, you mean Kakashi…” Sasuke finally reacted, his expression oddly complicated.

“Who is Kakashi?” Sakura asked in a small voice. She felt a twinge of embarrassment and frustration—both of her teammates knew something she didn’t. It meant she wasn’t worthy, didn’t it? Yet she was also curious. Why was this Jonin Kakashi called habitually late?

Sakura’s question made Sasuke a bit impatient. He had no interest in taking the trouble to explain something so involved. Sensing the look on his face, Sakura instinctively grew hesitant. It wasn’t just Sasuke—she never wanted to make anyone unhappy.

Naruto cleared his throat and said, “Sasuke, sharing key information with your teammates is really important! You know, differences in information can decide victory or defeat.”

Sasuke dropped his head, forced to find the words to tell Sakura what he knew. Sakura, meanwhile, shot Naruto a grateful look, her impression of him rising considerably.

When she learned that their Jonin instructor had once been the Fourth Hokage’s student, Sakura was actually a little overwhelmed. She had never imagined she would be assigned such a heavyweight teacher.

And when she discovered Naruto was the orphaned son of the Fourth Hokage, Sakura was even more at a loss for words.

The prince is by my side?

But when she considered the rumors about Naruto in the village, his low-key presence, and his sunny, optimistic nature, Sakura couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. How had he managed to grow up so cheerful, after all the coldness and resentment he’d faced? And the worst part—it was all betrayal and manipulation!

Naruto had no idea what Sakura was thinking. While Sasuke shared what he knew about Kakashi, Naruto was privately wondering: why was Kakashi late again today? Was it the release day for “Paradise Something”? Or had he once more lost his way on the path of life? Maybe a black cat had blocked his path?

But it was more likely he was standing before the memorial stone, punishing himself as he looked at the names of Rin Nohara and Sakuya Hatake.

As time ticked by and sunset approached with no sign of Kakashi, Naruto grew impatient and pulled out a device, tinkering with it on the spot. Sakura, meanwhile, tried to strike up a romantic conversation with Sasuke to get closer to him. Unexpectedly, after just a few sentences, Sasuke complained that she was too weak and began outlining a plan to help her grow stronger, which left Sakura dizzy with confusion.

But Naruto understood: this was Sasuke’s way of reluctantly accepting Sakura as a teammate and trying to help her shore up her weaknesses. If Sasuke didn’t accept her, he wouldn’t bother at all. He hoped Sakura would seize this chance—otherwise, with Sasuke’s personality, she’d never win his heart in this lifetime.

A while later, Naruto suddenly spoke up without looking up: “You’re finally here? We’ve been waiting all day.”

His words startled Sakura; she looked around but saw no one, and nearly thought Naruto was hallucinating. Sasuke, however, was used to this—Naruto’s senses were so sharp that you had to get used to being startled by him.

With a hiss, a puff of white smoke exploded behind the lectern. When the smoke cleared, a head of white hair appeared in Sakura’s line of sight. Kakashi scratched the back of his head and quickly stuffed a suspiciously colored book into his ninja tool pouch.

“Ah, I was a bit busy—don’t be so stingy,” Kakashi said with deliberate cheer. “The old man, the Third, was short on manpower. Even though I told him I was taking on students this morning, he insisted on sending me on an errand.”

“When I finally finished, a calico cat blocked my path. Then I turned around and—what do you know!—the deluxe edition of ‘Tactical Paradise’ was on sale at Ryuzaodo! I wasted a bit of time waiting in line.”

“Look, as soon as I bought my book, I came right over.”

Sakura couldn’t quite understand why Kakashi was so anxious to explain himself. After all, the three of them were just students, and as genin, they were merely subordinates to this jonin; there was no need for such a serious explanation.

But Kakashi had his reasons. The device Naruto was fiddling with was one of the core components of his spiritual-mechanical longsword. Kakashi regularly entrusted his weapons to Naruto for maintenance and upgrades. Though it hadn’t happened yet, Kakashi knew if his explanation didn’t satisfy Naruto, he’d be in for a rough time.

Whether Naruto bought Kakashi’s excuse was unclear, but Sasuke certainly didn’t. He’d seen the dog-eared pages of the book Kakashi had just hidden; clearly, Kakashi had been reading it on the way over.

Kakashi cleared his throat. “Ahem. Hello, everyone. According to the village’s arrangement, from now until you can stand on your own, I’ll be your team leader.”

He wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. If he wasn’t embarrassed, then it was everyone else who would feel awkward.

“Come on, let’s talk somewhere else.”

A short while later, Kakashi led Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to the rooftop of a tall building outside the school.

“Starting today, we’re teammates on the same squad. Let’s introduce ourselves so we can get to know one another.” Kakashi crossed his arms and surveyed the three little shrimp. “Each of you, tell us your name, preferences, and self-assessment.”

Name, preferences, and self-assessment? Sakura’s face instantly flushed crimson. To her, it sounded as though Kakashi was asking who she liked and disliked. Who did she like? Wasn’t it obvious? But did she really have to say it here?

Sakura shot a bashful glance at Sasuke. He showed no reaction.

Kakashi pointed at Sakura. “We’ll start with you!”

“Yes! Graduate of the Leaf Village’s Ninja Academy—”

“Can’t hear you! Say it again! Your voice is too small!” Kakashi suddenly shouted. “How do you expect to be a ninja if you can’t speak up? If your captain says he can’t hear after graduation, then he can’t! Again!”

“Yes!” Sakura was now beet-red, her voice echoing down the street. “Leaf Village Ninja Academy graduate! Sakura Haruno!”

Almost shouting herself hoarse, she declared, “I like Sasuke! I hate Ino, I—”

“Why are you shouting so loud! And who asked you that?” Kakashi cut her off, looking exasperated. “I meant your preferences as in your tactical preferences, and how you see your role on the team! I have no interest in your love life!”

“You girls, honestly—one after the other…”

Sakura’s face first burned as though it would bleed, then she let out a scream that almost sounded murderous.